As the story goes (in a 2001 article in The Sunday Times), the Doidge angel photograph was found on some film Danny Sullivan purchased at a British junk shop. Accompanying the film were several letters from the 1950s that related stories of angel sightings dating back to World War I. The letters had supposedly belonged to William Doidge who had written an American soldier named Doug whose friend had seen an angel appear above a Gloucestershire lake prior to twenty soldiers dying there in a bridge collapse. Doidge searched Woodchester Mansion for the angel and in 1952, he captured this amazing angel photograph. It was thought that the famous Doidge angel photo would finally substantiate the Angels of Mons battle story from World War I.
-
The famous Doidge Angel Photograph...
More Behind the Doidge Angel Photo
Doidge purportedly wrote the letters to explain how British soldiers in 1914 were led into battle at Mons, France by angels. Doidge was put into contact with Doug after being smitten with the World War I story, allegedly. This led him to contact Doug after he had heard about his friend's story of the angel sighting at Gloucestershire's Woodchester Mansion.
Doidge was said to have searched Woodchester Mansion for the angel and, in 1952, he apparently was fortunate to capture the amazing angel photograph. Over the years, rumors had abounded that Danny had a movie deal in the works regarding the angel sighting stories. Sullivan would later come forth with a completely different story than what was originally told.
Doidge Angel: An Elaborate Hoax?
The story in The Sunday Times apparently spun a yarn of Doidge befriending an American soldier and the legendary angel sighting at Woodchester Mansion. Even Hollywood actors and studies were said to want to purchase the evidence to produce a movie. The news media blew it up to huge proportions.
Danny Sullivan who found the film in a vintage trunk in Monmouth, eventually confessed the tale to be false, created to promote tourism of Woodchester Mansion in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. Sadly, the soldier and photo were stated to be a hoax, according to a 2002 BBC radio documentary. Bummer.
References: The Making of an Urban Myth, BBC Radio