The first part of my research into law, order and crime in Aberystwyth during the Second World War will focus on crime rates in the local area and how they were affected by wartime. I was lucky to have help from the Ceredigion Archives, who kindly provided me with the County of Cardigan Standing Joint Committee Minutes from 1939-44 and 1944-48. The books contain reports from the Chief Constable of the Cardiganshire County Police Force, who produced round-up of crime at the end of every March, June, September and December of each year in question. Whilst the books cover policing in Ceredigion as a whole (which will henceforth be referred to as the historic Cardiganshire county), they contain valuable information and statistics about local wartime crime rates, the type of crimes that were committed and how certain crimes were dealt with by local police forces.
Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the tasks of local police forces largely involved dealing with petty criminals, controlling traffic and keeping the peace in their district. Approximately sixty crimes were reported in both 1937 and 1938 according to the County of Cardigan Standing Joint Committee Minutes 1939-44, and during the first half of 1939 the main crimes that were committed involved Civil Cases, Road Traffic Acts, Lights on Vehicles, Dogs Acts and Disobeying Bastardy Orders. When Britain declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September there was a slight increase in crime, especially in cases of Larceny, Road Traffic Acts and with the introduction of the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act, which “allowed the government to issue whatever controls and regulations it felt were necessary to pursue the war effectively on the Home Front” (1). The acts that have been mentioned thus far held the highest numbers of convictions throughout the entire war, though there are some interesting additions over the years. Some of the additions were results of government intervention during the war, but others are demonstrative of how people were affected by life on the Home Front.
The first half of 1940 saw a steady rate of convictions; there hadn’t been a sharp rise following the outbreak of the war, but there was an interesting case of sedition which could be demonstrative of local angst or government distrust at the introduction of new restrictive laws. There was an unusual number of juvenile offences, which could result in the young offender being sentenced to time in an approved school or a Borstal, but the Chief Constable attributed this change to the influx of evacuees into the area from the cities. However, in the latter half of 1940 the crime rate sky-rocketed, with 764 people being proceeded against in comparison to earlier numbers of around 200. The majority of these cases involved Emergency Powers Regulations, with a number of others including lighting offences. I believe this was in direct relation to fears of bombing; with enemy bombs landing in the county there was an urgent need to prevent blackout offences, and the Chief Constable reported that “no casualties have occurred so far, but one light, more especially in a coastal town, may involve the loss of many lives” (2). This fear was universal all over Britain, and police forces all over the country had to ensure that no lights from houses or shops could be seen from outside. It was only by the upmost vigilance on the part of the Police, assisted by reasonable penalties imposed by the Magistrates, that this offence was thought to be eliminated.
In 1941 there was a further increase in crime in Cardiganshire, with the report attributing the rise to the increasing population caused by evacuees, refugees and the growing military presence. He claimed that “the military population in the county is of fluctuating nature and with some of the intakes individuals with criminal records are enlisted in the Army, unknown to the officers concerned” (3). While the majority of offences were related to Emergency Defence Regulations, there was also a rise in juvenile larceny with the majority of offences being committed by evacuees. This was not peculiar to Cardiganshire, as juvenile crime was apparent all over Wales and England during the Second World War. The rise of juvenile crime was attributed to a lack of parental control due to evacuation, no male figures in the home and the general instability of life during wartime. To thwart this issue the Chief Constable suggested introducing a preliminary to sending young offenders to Approved Schools by establishing a Disciplinary Training Establishment. It was believed this would act as a deterrent to other juveniles as placing them on probation seemed to have little effect. There was also a small rise in convictions against men who went against the National Service (Armed Forces) Act, which made it compulsory for men aged between 18 and 41 to join the armed forces.
There was a noticeable decrease in crime in the local area in 1942, with the numbers of those proceeded against averaging approximately 350 each quarter. However there was a large increase in crimes under the Game Act, with 27 people being proceeded against in the first half of the year. The Chief Constable noted that “considerable assistance had been rendered to the Food Enforcement Officer to enable him to detect certain cases of ‘illicit slaughtering’ and ‘black market’” in the area (4). This increase coincides with the rest of the country, as the rationing of most foodstuffs by mid-1942 led to the increase of black market activity nationwide. Despite a further decrease in crime overall, 1943 saw further convictions based on wartime legislation, including the Consumers Rationing Order, Control of Motor Fuel Order, Home Guard Regulations and the Prisoners of War and Internees Order. The successful prosecutions under the Prisoners of War and Internees Order were in respect of fraternisation with Italian prisoners of war, though the Chief Constable does not elaborate further on the issue in his report. Crime rates continued to fall overall throughout 1944, although certain offences saw an increase; a number of locals were proceeded against for crimes under a series of Defence Regulations which included Billeting, Cultivation of Land and Public Mischief. The number of those prosecuted under general Defence Regulation laws would continue to rise until after the war was over.
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The local crime rate continued to decrease until the end of the war in September 1945, when it would begin to rise again. The offences that were committed remained similar to previous years, with the most common being offences against Road Transport Lighting Acts, Dogs Acts, Road Traffic Acts and Larceny. However, the end of the war saw the introduction of convictions under the Indecency with Males Act, which had not seen any convictions during wartime but 15 convictions in the following year. During the war attitudes towards homosexuality were forced to relax; men were required to conscript to the army, and everyone had to lend themselves to the combined war effort in order to win. However, this was no longer the case once the war was over, and there was a significant rise in arrests and prosecutions of homosexual men across the United Kingdom as a whole, with a famous example being Alan Turing who was arrested despite playing an invaluable role in cracking the Enigma code.
In March 1946 the Chief Constable reported that he did “not see any prospect of a decrease” in crime rates, and in fact believed that the police force should “prepare for an increase” (5). His estimation was correct; crime rates would slowly rise again in 1946 and 1947, with a spike in offences against the Defence Regulations Act in 1947. Locals were proceeded against for a multitude of reasons, one of which involved a breach of the Flour Act which was introduced at the end of the war due to the nationwide shortage and rationing of bread. Tragically, Cardiganshire also saw two people being convicted on charges of Attempted Suicide, which is highly indicative of the mental and emotional turmoil that must have been felt following the war.
In conclusion, the beginning of the Second World War saw an influx of crime in Cardiganshire county, and this influx was attributed directly to wartime conditions by the local police forces. Such conditions brought a very considerable increase of duties to the service as a whole – not only was the county inundated with evacuees, but with soldiers who were housed in army training camps and refugees fleeing from the bombing of cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool. The introduction of emergency legislation by the government would also have impacted the crime rate, as there was greater government surveillance and many more rules that could have been broken. Furthermore, the later decrease in crime may have been caused by deterrence, as the increased surveillance and “severity of sanctions should reduce illegal behaviour, eventually lowering crime rates” (6). The increase of crime after the war ended could be related to a multitude of causes, though I believe that a mixture of mental health issues, continuing restrictions and war-weariness may have played a role.
Blog by Zoe Cashman
Notes:
(1) 'Home Front,' UK Parliament, accessed September 4, 2021, https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/yourcountry/overview/homefront/.
(2) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1939-44, County of Cardiganshire, accessed from Ceredigion Archives.
(3) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1939-44, County of Cardiganshire, accessed from Ceredigion Archives.
(4) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1939-44, County of Cardiganshire, accessed from Ceredigion Archives.
(5) Standing Joint Committee Minutes, 1944-48, County of Cardiganshire, accessed from Ceredigion Archives.
(6) “War and Violent Crime - War and Rates of Adult Crime,” War And Rates Of Adult Crime - Violence, Black, Social, and Market - J.Rank Articles, accessed September 4, 2021. https://law.jrank.org/pages/2300/War-Violent-Crime-War-rates-adult-crime.html.
Sources:
'A Short History of LGBT Rights in the UK. British library. Accessed September 4, 2021. https://www.bl.uk/lgbtq-histories/articles/a-short-history-of-lgbt-rights-in-the-uk.
'Home Front.' UK Parliament. Accessed September 4, 2021. https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/yourcountry/overview/homefront/.
'Rationing in Britain during World War II.' Faculty of History. Accessed September 4, 2021. https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/rationing-in-britain-during-world-war-ii.
'War and Violent Crime - War and Rates of Adult Crime. War And Rates Of Adult Crime - Violence, Black, Social, and Market - JRank Articles. Accessed September 4, 2021. https://law.jrank.org/pages/2300/War-Violent-Crime-War-rates-adult-crime.html.
Gartner, Rosemary, and Liam Kennedy. 'War and Postwar Violence.' Crime and Justice 47, no. 1 (2018): 1–67.
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.
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