WW2 1941 Police officers note book

[Grimebox]

A police officers note book from 1941. I’m not sure if he was a regular, special or attached to the RAF. There are numerous references to the RAF, however, there are lots of mentions of civilian Police ranks and patrolling in public areas and the information in there suggests that he was civilian police as opposed to military. In the back few pages of the book it has the various cautions written out along with relevant phone numbers and officers to contact. The front of the book has various notes about his patrols, vehicles to look out for and a statement from the owner of a B&B who had a couple run off without paying. Quite a few of the pages are filled in although about a third is empty. It came with a couple of letters from later in the war which suggests that he is the RAF so I wonder if he joined up.

[Watchdog]

I would say without doubt that this is a Civil Police pocket book as the military used officially numbered forms even then. Plus the reference to returning it to Lincoln City Police Station if found is a bit of a clincher. He would have encountered a lot of RAF personnel in Lincolnshire aka "Bomber County" for sure.
I was especially pleased to see his aide memoire re the declaration to be made at the start of a statement and the 2nd caution (as it was then known - there were three). There still are three versions of the caution given at different stages but they are no longer strictly known as 1st, 2nd and 3rd. I have been doing that kind of thing long enough to have used the old cautions under the Judges Rules (before The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984) and every now and then I find myself when really tired slipping into the old version. That makes solicitors smile but I have so far always stopped myself!!

Interestingly, it should never just stop without being full and a "final" entry being made. A police officer may only keep one pocket book at a time and used books are accountable.

Thanks for showing this interesting (to me at least ) document

Regards

Mark

[Grimebox]

My reason for querying what he was / who he was attached is because there are a number of entries where it appears that he ‘stuck on’ servicemen for such heinous offences as “greatcoat unfastened”, “rifle unslung”, “civilian shoes” and worst of all “hands in pockets”. I’m not sure if that would be the role of a civilian officer on normal duties. A number of his patrols centre around visiting pubs and seeing who was in them.

[Watchdog]

That is interesting as they do seem to be purely military discipline offences and I expect that the ref to "no 1250" concerns the old RAF1250 which until relatively recently was the RAF identity document (they all use MoD Form 90 now) which would also be an infraction of wartime civil law. There seems to be a common thread that mentions 22 SQN North Coates which would have been RAF North Coates near Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire (22 SQN is now the Helicopter Operational Evaluation Unit at RAF Benson).

Then suddenly D'Oh! The first page makes reference to being on duty in the Guardroom. Also referenced is a posting from Uxbridge (a RAF station) to No 14 Balloon Centre (another RAF unit) and in '41 to the Service Security School at Halton for which read RAFP training at RAF Halton, Bucks (still a major RAF training school) so I think the answer is; if the book and uniform are from the same man; Civil Police subsequently enlisted in RAF and RAFP (if they are not connected then just RAF service) and this is likely an non-issue notebook. Maybe a matter of "RTFQ" here (for the uninitiated that's "Read the F****ng Question") I should have spotted that immediately. However, there is a huge difference between the early and later entries suggesting that the earlier entries were unhurried and relaxed, possibly in training whilst the later ones are hastily scribbled and likely operational.

Like I said, intriguing.

Regards

Mark

[Grimebox]

The other items are from my collection and are purely for background and not related to the book. He does mention meeting the Superintendent and Detective Sgt which I believe are civilian police ranks and not in the military police. I guess he could have been RAF police but going out and about keeping a close eye on servicemen in public, thus keeping a close relationship with the civilian police.

[Watchdog]

The other items are from my collection and are purely for background and not related to the book. He does mention meeting the Superintendent and Detective Sgt which I believe are civilian police ranks and not in the military police. I guess he could have been RAF police but going out and about keeping a close eye on servicemen in public, thus keeping a close relationship with the civilian police.

Ah, that maskes a big difference. I thought the uniform was connected to the book.
In that case, no doubt this relate to RAFP.

The mention of the Civil Police ranks is perfectly normal as liaison with the local force is a regular feature of service police activity in whichever country you are serving and is very much a reality today

Regards

MArk