would like to express my appreciation to the staff at Pen & Sword Books for their hard work, especially my publishing manager, Brigadier Henry Wilson for his encouragement and wisdom. In addition, my thanks go to my editor, George Chamier, for his eagle-eyed expertise.
My thanks go to Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington for his splendid foreword. The following cast a wide net to find contributors for the book: Sioban Clark, Maureen Whitford and Linda Bailey of the Metropolitan Women Police Association, Bob Fenton QGM, Secretary of the ex-CID Officers’ Association of the Metropolitan Police and Susi Rogol, editor of the London Police Pensioner magazine; my thanks to them all.
I received the most enormous assistance from the Friends of the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection, including Alan Moss of History by the Yard and Keith Skinner of Causeway Resources. In addition, Phillip Barnes-Warden, Neil Paterson and Paul Dew from the Met Collection, Pamela Pappé and Katie Hamilton from the Peel Centre Library and especially my son, Mark Kirby; all provided diligent and painstaking research on my behalf.
Others who kindly gave of their time and assistance were: Keith Foster, Research Advisor, London Metropolitan Police, Andrew Brown, Assistant Departmental Record Officer, Metropolitan Police Directorate of Information, Leanne Fagan, Croydon Local Studies Library and Archives Service, my son Robert Kirby and Catherine Powell of Police Review. My grateful thanks go to my granddaughter, Jessica Cowper, for her translating skills.
I would like to thank the following for the use of their photographs: the Metropolitan Police, John Barrett BEM, Steve Bocking, Sioban Clark, Harry Clement BEM, Alan Fairfax, Arthur Garner GM, Anthony Gledhill GC, William Griffiths CBE, BEM, QPM, Derek Hall QGM, Julian Hurst, Media & Information Manager, Metropolitan Police, Margaret Jackson GM, Diane Lowrie, Maurice Marshall, Terence McFall GM, Kathleen Parrott GM, Ernie Pawley GM, Rod Phillips BEM, Jan Scott and Phillip Williams GM. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders; the publishers and I apologise for any inadvertent omissions.
The following – and others who, for a variety of reasons wished to remain anonymous – provided unstintingly of their time to provide the content of this book and I am grateful to all of them: Raymond Charles Adams BEM, QPM; John Anthony Allport MBE, QGM, BEM; Peter Ansell; Jacqueline Ashley-Collins; Peter Atkins; John Henry Barrett BEM; Barry Baulch; James Wallace Beaton GC, CVO; Steve Bocking; Dave Bowen; Derek Bradley; Ethel Violet Bush GM; Mick Carter; Harry Charles Clement BEM; Peter Connor JP; Dave Dixon; Russ Dunlop; Brian Ford; Jeanette French; Stuart French; Arthur Howard Garner GM; Anthony John Gledhill GC; Alan Goodman; Mick Gray; William Ian Griffiths CBE, BEM, QPM; Derek Arnsby Hall QGM; Michael Hills GM; Steve Holloway; William Hucklesby QPM, FRGS; Margaret Shaw Jackson GM; Reginald Alfred Walter George Jenkins BEM; Marion Jones; Dave Little; Diane Lowrie; Maurice Marshall; Terence Frederick McFall GM; Roy Medcalf; Graham Melvin; Jim O’Connell; Kathleen Flora Parrott GM; Brian Ernest Walter Pawley GM; Rodney Andrew Phillips BEM; Mick Purchase; Susan Raif; Gordon Reynolds; Bob Robinson; Jan Scott; the late Lou van Dyke and Phillip John Dixon Williams GM.
I have already mentioned several members of my family, but it would be quite wrong not to include my daughter Suzanne Cowper and her husband Steve, who came to my rescue on a number of occasions when my lack of computer skills became so blatantly obvious that help was required and assistance was made immediately available. So to them and my youngest daughter, Barbara Jerreat and her husband, Rich, plus my lovely, assorted grandchildren – Emma, Harry, Samuel and Annie Grace – my thanks for your help, love and encouragement. Most of all, my love and my thanks to my dear wife Ann, who despite being privy to all my faults and foibles has stuck with me for almost fifty years.
Any faults or imperfections in this book are mine alone.
Dick Kirby