rolt968 Posted 16 January , 2022 Share Posted 16 January , 2022 Does anyone know if conditions for service in and recruitment to the Metropolitan Police Special Constabulary (Reserve) were relaxed during WW1? If so when did the relaxation cease? I am interested since a certain habitual criminal and absentee whom I am researching managed to attest in the spring of 1920 more or less under his own name, although that name had appeared several times in the Police Gazette during the war. RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 16 January , 2022 Share Posted 16 January , 2022 6 minutes ago, rolt968 said: Does anyone know if conditions for service in and recruitment to the Metropolitan Police Special Constabulary (Reserve) were relaxed during WW1? If so when did the relaxation cease? I am interested since a certain habitual criminal and absentee whom I am researching managed to attest in the spring of 1920 more or less under his own name, although that name had appeared several times in the Police Gazette during the war. RM When it was formed in July 1919.https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001599/19190704/063/0004 Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 16 January , 2022 Author Share Posted 16 January , 2022 Many thanks, Craig! I hadn't realised that it was a new unit. If they were only looking for 40-50 men it seems careless to have recruited a "wrong 'un". RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 16 January , 2022 Share Posted 16 January , 2022 36 minutes ago, rolt968 said: Many thanks, Craig! I hadn't realised that it was a new unit. If they were only looking for 40-50 men it seems careless to have recruited a "wrong 'un". RM It's not something I've ever heard of before. It does seem odd he passed the verification checks with a criminal record but I suppose it's far easier to check these days. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 16 January , 2022 Author Share Posted 16 January , 2022 Apologies! Misread a date - should be the spring of 1921! I don't think it makes much difference. RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tullybrone Posted 16 January , 2022 Share Posted 16 January , 2022 2 hours ago, rolt968 said: Apologies! Misread a date - should be the spring of 1921! I don't think it makes much difference. RM Spring 1921 was a time of “industrial strife” - Defence Force activated April to July 1921 - so perhaps there was an urgency that lead to a less than thorough “vetting” process in this particular case. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toontraveller Posted 17 January , 2022 Share Posted 17 January , 2022 (edited) On 16/01/2022 at 14:10, rolt968 said: Does anyone know if conditions for service in and recruitment to the Metropolitan Police Special Constabulary (Reserve) were relaxed during WW1? If so when did the relaxation cease? I am interested since a certain habitual criminal and absentee whom I am researching managed to attest in the spring of 1920 more or less under his own name, although that name had appeared several times in the Police Gazette during the war. RM I am not sure there was a formal relaxation of conditions for recruitment into the Metropolitan Police Specials during WW1, it was taken quite seriously with Sir Edward Ward formally appointed as the Chief Staff Officer of the Metropolitan Police Special Constabulary, on 5 th August 1914 . They were organised along the same lines and geographical location as the Regular Force. In the initial stages there was an immediacy and a huge amount of recruitment which would have brought some administration, vetting and logistical “ problems.There was an amazing group of ex Military men brought into to bring the establishment up to speed quickly. Don’t get me wrong they were not well trained but certainly the majority were committed to the role. These “ problems” would have been identified fairly quickly and rooted out. The same would have been encountered during the General industrial unrest in 1921 when recruitment of Police Specials was again required quickly. The clip from the newspaper which Craig has kindly posted above refers to just one Police Station at Hendon rather than the whole of the Metropolitan Police area. I am not sure the standards were “relaxed “ likely a local error set against the backdrop of industrial strife as tullybrone has suggested. Edited 17 January , 2022 by Toontraveller Typo and factual error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 18 January , 2022 Author Share Posted 18 January , 2022 Thank you. It does make more sense that they wanted to recruit 40 -50 specials at one police station. My man attested at Harrow Road. About a month later he had been arrested for personating a police officer (CID and Special Branch!). It was suspected that he had been extorting money from prostitutes and soldiers. (What were the soldiers bribing him for?) RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 18 January , 2022 Share Posted 18 January , 2022 2 hours ago, rolt968 said: My man attested at Harrow Road. About a month later he had been arrested for personating a police officer (CID and Special Branch!). It was suspected that he had been extorting money from prostitutes and soldiers. I wonder if it was old habits or a deliberate attempt to manoeuvre himself in to an advantageous position. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 18 January , 2022 Author Share Posted 18 January , 2022 3 minutes ago, ss002d6252 said: I wonder if it was old habits or a deliberate attempt to manoeuvre himself in to an advantageous position. Craig Certainly old habits and he did it again! https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/228402-henry-bellamy-drakefield/#comment-2268786 RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 18 January , 2022 Share Posted 18 January , 2022 4 minutes ago, rolt968 said: Certainly old habits and he did it again! https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/228402-henry-bellamy-drakefield/#comment-2268786 RM He wasn't very good at not getting caught. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 18 January , 2022 Author Share Posted 18 January , 2022 15 minutes ago, ss002d6252 said: He wasn't very good at not getting caught. Craig Indeed no! His never seemed to realise when he had "over egged the pudding". In this case he claimed to have been an ex-sergeant instructor with the Black Watch! This was a particular mistake as the report of the case in the newspapers was read by a woman in Manchester whom he had married (legally as far as I can see), deserted and stolen money from. He seems to have been collected at the end of his sentence and taken to face charges in Manchester. RM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ss002d6252 Posted 18 January , 2022 Share Posted 18 January , 2022 21 minutes ago, rolt968 said: Indeed no! His never seemed to realise when he had "over egged the pudding". In this case he claimed to have been an ex-sergeant instructor with the Black Watch! This was a particular mistake as the report of the case in the newspapers was read by a woman in Manchester whom he had married (legally as far as I can see), deserted and stolen money from. He seems to have been collected at the end of his sentence and taken to face charges in Manchester. RM It's that interesting aspect among ww1 soldiers and how people reacted to the military, and the possibilities it gave them. Some embraced it in more ways than others. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 21 January , 2022 Author Share Posted 21 January , 2022 12 hours ago, ALAN MCMAHON said: There is a history of this unit, done internally for the Metropolitan Police and available at The National Archives in Kew: A short history of the Special Constabulary with a copy of Standing Orders dated 1887 Thank you! Another thing for my next visit to TNA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolt968 Posted 21 January , 2022 Author Share Posted 21 January , 2022 On 18/01/2022 at 14:07, ss002d6252 said: It's that interesting aspect among ww1 soldiers and how people reacted to the military, and the possibilities it gave them. Some embraced it in more ways than others. Craig That's a tactful way of putting it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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