The second part of my research into law, order and crime in Aberystwyth during the Second World War will focus on the general activities of the Cardiganshire Police Force. All of the information found in this article was gathered from the County of Cardigan Standing Joint Committee Minutes from 1939-44 and the second volume from 1944-48, which were found in the Ceredigion Archives. They contain reports from the Chief Constable of the Cardiganshire County Police Force who relayed information about local crime rates and statistics, as well as the general wartime activities of the police force which I found too interesting not to include! Whilst the books cover policing in Ceredigion as a whole (which will henceforth be referred to as the historic Cardiganshire county), the majority of the information relayed here is specific to the Aberystwyth area.
An advert was drafted on the 28th of January 1939 in search of applicants to fill the role of Chief Constable for the county of Cardigan. The successful applicant could earn up to £650 per annum, and the role required the ability to speak Welsh and previous police experience. The new Chief Constable was chosen in a meeting on the 25th of March 1939, and it was also mentioned in this meeting that the recently established Forensic Science Laboratory in Cardiff was the location where materials related to local crimes were to be sent for examination by the police force. Cardiganshire employed 42 members in its constabulary force, who were assigned across the county in Aberystwyth, Aberaeron, Aberporth, Adpar, Borth, Bow Street, Cardigan, Devil’s Bridge, Drefach, Goginan, Lampeter, Llanarth, Llanbadarn Fawr, Llanddewi Brefi, Llandysul, Llangeitho, Llanilar, Llanon, Llanychaiarn, Brynhoffnant, New Quay, Pontrhydygroes, Pontrhydfendigaid, Talybont, Tregaron and Ystrad. Out of the 42 members, 11 were stationed in Aberystwyth which included 8 of the 33 constables, 2 of the 6 sergeants and the superintendent. Out of the 21 station buildings, Aberystwyth had the most with 2 buildings in the area, whilst all other locations either had one or none at all.
In the months running up to the war inspectors began working on Air Raid Precautions duties, and there were continued calls for assistance by the Military and other forces owing to the political situation. A letter from the Home Office dated the 17th of February 1939 called for police forces to undertake additional duties if a war were to begin, including receiving evacuees and maintaining order amongst an increased population. However, the Chief Constable reported that the war was “a situation which we trust will not eventuate” (1).
Nevertheless, when the war broke out in September the Chief Constable took various actions, including the recruitment of a Police War Reserve and the purchasing of equipment which included 70 sets of uniform (64 men and 6 women), 100 truncheons, 100 police lanterns, 2 type-writers, 100 armlets, 1,500 handbooks, photography equipment, wireless receiving set, additional telephone, 4 motor cars and 2,500 gallons of petrol. The Special Constabulary was reorganised throughout the county with lectures being given in every district and parish, and coastal patrols would operate in conjunction with the naval and coastguard authorities to prevent the landing of enemy agents and the reporting of enemy submarines.
In the June of 1940 the police were asked to find temporary billets for approximately 3,000 members of the British Expeditionary Force at short notice, and most left in July with no reported cases of “drunkenness or disorder” (2). Several messages were received which gave warnings in connection with the landing of enemy parachute troops, and a group of Local Defence Volunteers formed as an extra safeguard. The Chief Constable recorded further activity throughout 1941, which included regular cooperation between the constabulary force, army, home guard and other services. For example, he noted how the police cooperated with medical authorities with regard to controlling venereal disease in the area, claiming that the number of contacts had been reduced in spite of the difficulty of controlling this form of contamination where large numbers of troops were quartered. The police also gave considerable assistance to the Food Enforcement Officer to enable him to detect certain cases of ‘illicit slaughtering’ and ‘black market’ in the county. Furthermore, with the establishment of firing practice ranges for soldiers between Ynyslas and Borth, every effort was made by the police to aid the army in warning individuals that objects found in that vicinity should be left alone. They even helped monitor floating mines on the sea front in Aberystwyth, which on occasion led to the closing of the Pier.
By 1942 members of the police force were being released to the Armed Forces, reducing the strength of the Force to 40 Regulars and 37 War Reserves, with a few officers asking permission to volunteer for the services. There were worries about a depletion of the police force as it would be difficult to police the county, especially given the rural location. Police training was undertaken, where an officer was trained in the classification of finger-prints during a 6-week course. The police also took part in the training of children at local schools about road safety and the highway code; this involved the use of a children’s motor car and a constable driving under the instruction of the child, who was shown necessary road signs and beacons. It was hoped that the skills learnt would help decrease infant mortality in terms of road safety.
The police force developed further by 1943, as the photography department had become proficient in the use of ultraviolet, infra-red and micro photography, all of which were of immense help in the scientific detection of crime. The Chief Constable believed that “this is the first county police force to be able to successfully undertake these forms of scientific photography” (3). The use of new scientific evidence even helped solve a case of anonymous letter writing, which had been prevalent in the county in recent years. Further techniques of crime detection used by the Cardiganshire Constabulary included introducing a scheme for the registration of pedal cycles, which they hoped would reduce the theft of bicycles and assist the police in tracing original owners. This scheme was brought to the notice of the public through the press and the cinema.
In 1944, the Home Office revoked the Fire Prevention Order, which was put in place at the beginning of the war. This put an end to the scheme for fire-guard duties on police premises, where members of the force stationed at Aberystwyth performed fire guard responsibilities in their off-duty time. Heroism in the local police force is also demonstrated by a constable receiving a bronze medal from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for his displays of courage when rescuing a dog from a disused lead mine shaft, 40 feet deep, at Grogwynion. The events at Grogwynion incentivised the police to investigate dangerous mining shafts in Cardiganshire, where a survey found that only 17 were protected, and 187 unprotected. Throughout 1945 police appealed to owners and occupiers of land where the mines were to be found to have the shaft mouth protected.
When the war ended in September 1945, soldiers who returned to the police force were able to take a refresher course in Cardiff for around a month. A report was released on the strength and distribution of the Cardiganshire Constabulary the following year which identified that there was one constable to 1,103 people and 8,863 acres of land, which demonstrated that there was a desperate need for more police. Following the war there were calls for a refocus on preventative policing and “the man on the beat”, where the presence of a patrolling constable acts as a deterrent for criminals. It was important for a constable to know what to do when a crime was discovered, and how to make the most of information and sources that may be available. The strength of the detective force left a great deal to be desired, as duties were mainly performed in Aberystwyth and the immediate neighbourhood with an occasional visit to some out-station to assist a crime. The Chief Constable stated that “during the last seven years our crime has increased greatly […] I do not see any prospect of a decrease; in fact, conditions are such that we must be prepared for a further increase” (4). After the war effort depleted the constabulary force and caused more crime to occur, it was essential to increase the Cardiganshire Constabulary by 21 members in order to “meet our post-war problems”(5).
Blog by Zoe Cashman
Notes:
(1) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1939-44, County of Cardiganshire
(2) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1939-44, County of Cardiganshire
(3) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1939-44, County of Cardiganshire
(4) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1944-48, County of Cardiganshire
(5) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1944-48, County of Cardiganshire
Sources:
Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1939-44, County of Cardiganshire, accessed from Ceredigion Archives.
Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1944-48, County of Cardiganshire, accessed from Ceredigion Archives.
No comments:
Post a Comment