A Policeman's Lot

My father served in the Dorset Constabulary from 1930 until he retired in 1958. He kept a journal in which he related some of his experiences of policing in the early 20th century. The following extracts deal specifically with “WW2”. I hope you will find some of them interesting enough to post on your website.

Audrey German, nee Fudge

Extracts from a Journal Written by Ex-Sergeant Leslie Fudge

Dorset Constabulary 1930-59

“I and my youngest brother became policemen in 1930, following in the footsteps of our two older brothers. At the outbreak of WW 2, my father rejoined the force as a Police Reserve; thus all five of us were serving at the same time which must be something of a record, although Dorset was always known as a ‘family’ force.

*
Although sudden deaths and fatal accidents in Sixpenny Handley were rare, I did have one very nasty experience. The war had started and one morning a Wellington Bomber took off from Bristol with several occupants on a training flight.

When passing over Bovingdon House the pilot spotted two or three girls on the lawn below. He flew down to wave at them, failed to regain height in time and crashed into Pentridge Down. If I remember correctly, an airman’s cap was later found on the lawn.

The hill was on my beat and although not the first, I got there as quickly as I could. The plane was scattered over a fairly large area with no survivors. After the ambulance had left with three bodies, another officer and I were left to guard the wreckage until the R.A.F. arrived.

Tufts of grass were smouldering all around us and as I started to scuff out one piece, to my horror I saw it was human hair! It was the head of another body which had been driven right into the ground.

*

The outbreak of war caused me, and every policeman, a tremendous amount of extra work. During the first month or so endless numbers of posters arrived at my home. These I had to post at strategic places around my beat. Next came the blackout and the subsequent enforcing of it. Everyone tried to co-operate, but someone was always complaining that Mr. Brown or Mrs. Jones were showing too much light.

Then came the dimming of car lights. Again most people complied with the law. One exception was the local Doctor. His excuse was that if he were called out during darkness to a seriously ill patient he had to get there as quickly as possible. Thus he needed full lights on his car.

I remonstrated with him several times but he would not take my advice, although I assured him that no one was exempt from the Regulations. Finally I had to report him and he was fined by local Magistrates, one of whom was a colleague of his from Cranborne! After that there was no further trouble in that direction.

*
In 1940 we were moved to Wimborne, Divisional Headquarters, where we had a nice little Police house at the rear of the Station. It was there twelve months later that our second daughter was born. She spent many a night in our Morrison shelter when she should have been in her cot! Throughout my first year I did duty in the Station from 6 a.m. ‘til 2 p.m. It seemed wonderful at first, but proved to be anything but that. The air-raids over England had begun and although we were not seriously troubled by actual raids until much later in the war, our duties were badly interrupted.

Almost every night the “Yellow” alarm was received. This meant that all personnel had to report to the Station and remain on duty until the “All Clear” was sounded. Later when the “Red” alert was received I had to take up a position out in the town until the “All Clear.” Having to be on duty at 6 a.m. meant getting up at 5.30 a.m. Thus I was getting little or no sleep most nights and consequently my health suffered. Following a couple of bouts of ill health I was returned to normal duties, which, although including night patrol, was preferable.

*
As the war progressed the “Red” was received most nights, but nothing serious happened in Wimborne until one morning at about 2 a.m. I was at my usual post about two hundred yards the town side of Julians Bridge, when I heard the distinct sound of an enemy aircraft almost overhead.

Suddenly there was a loud whistling noise and I realised that a bomb was falling. I dived for the shelter a few yards away just as there was an unholy explosion. Thankfully the bomb fell on some swampy land beyond the bridge doing no appreciable damage. However, whereas a few minutes earlier I had been entirely alone in the roadway, within minutes everyone seemed to have poured into the street to have a good look. Fortunately nothing else happened and the people were persuaded to go back to bed.

*
The A.R.P, later called the Civil Defence, did yeoman work putting in hours of their free time to become efficient. In the beginning it was their duty to sound the siren when the “Red” Alert came as the switch was at their Headquarters. The first time we waited in vain at the Police Station for the siren to sound. When it did not, someone telephoned, only to be told that the A.R.P thought they had to wait until we told them to press the switch.

After that the responsibility was shifted to the Police and the switch installed at the Station. Even then mistakes occurred. I well remember being on duty one day when a “Red” came through. I switched on the siren but when the one minute time span was up I was out on the road watching the planes go over and it must have been a full five minutes before I remembered and rushed in to switch it off. Needless to say there were a number of phone calls to know if the length of sounding had been increased. My Superintendent was not too pleased.

Another time when the “All Clear” came, instead of pressing the right button I sounded the “Alert” again. This resulted in more phone calls from various quarters saying they had not heard an “All Clear” from the first signal and what was the position? For this “Crime” I had to submit a report to the Chief Constable and was subsequently given a reprimand.

*
It must be appreciated that during this period anything unusual or abnormal would be at once reported to the Police. At night we normally had three constables on duty: one patrolling, one in the Station and one on Firewatch. The last was allowed to sleep until the Siren went.

One night I was on patrol and the man on Firewatch was a very quick-tempered officer who reacted strongly if crossed. At about 12.30 a.m. I was in Wimborne Square when someone told me he had seen a man go into the Gents’ lavatory in Park Lane and he was still there. At the same time someone had ‘phoned the Station with the same information

The Fire Watcher volunteered to deal with it. I strolled towards the toilet which was built over a small stream. As I reached it I heard a commotion and there was the Constable with an old bucket dipping water from the river and rushing into the lavatory.

As he came out for a refill, a man came hurtling out soaking wet and tore off down the road as if the devil himself were behind him. The Constable, still in a fury, told me that he had knocked on the toilet door and been told to …… off. This was like a red rag to a bull so the enraged P.C. was throwing the water over the door into the cubicle – nearly drowning the man in the process. We never found out who he was but I doubt if he ever tried sleeping in a lavatory again!

*
In the Charge Room of the Station, hung on the wall, was a loaded rifle, the purpose of which was to defend the place against a sudden invasion! (How ridiculous this now seems.) But it led to one very frightening incident during my time at Wimborne.

As there were a lot of troops stationed in the district, each evening a picket of Military Police paraded the town with a rendezvous at the Police Station. One evening, whilst a War Reserve Policeman was on duty, two Red Caps were enjoying a smoke before leaving to return to camp. In walked the Police Sergeant who had been enjoying a couple of drinks whilst off-duty and, wanting to impress the M.P.s, he said to the Reserve Officer, “What would you do if I had been a German Soldier walking in?”

The Policeman hummed and hawed, whereupon the Sergeant snatched the rifle from the wall and before anyone could move he pulled the trigger, unaware that a bullet was in the breach. By the Grace of God it just missed one of the Military Policemen and went through the ceiling just above his head. He went as white as a sheet and had to be helped out to his truck.

That was not all. The bullet went through a water pipe and water started cascading into the Charge Room. Fortunately someone knew of a plumber who quickly put things right and the whole incident was hushed up. But it could so easily have been a tragedy.

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