Viscount Slim KG GCB GCMG GCVO GBE DSO MC KStJ
(Source Unknown)
Many police forces of the United Kingdom, and several
overseas, proudly wear the Crown as part of their cap badge and as a symbol of
the fact that police officers are attested in the name of the sovereign. I say this but actually, within the UK, the
Sovereign only gets a mention in England and Wales. The form of attestation in Scotland and
Northern Ireland manages not to mention the King at all and in Northern Ireland,
for obvious reasons, no Crown is worn on the uniform. Indeed even on the mainland it is not
universal as a glance at the helmet badge of the City of London Police
demonstrates (although on other badges worn by City officers the Crown does
appear).
There seems to be no single point at which all police forces
started to wear the Crown. It sort of just
happened as forces developed during the nineteenth century. Police officers are holders of the office of
constable which is seen as an office under the crown so incorporating it in a
badge was not controversial.
What then of the railway and dock police?
At different times various railway companies wore a crown
atop their badge. These forces included
the London Brighton and South Coast Railway Police and the Great Eastern
Railway Police. Consistently the Great
Western Railway Police had a Crown on their badge and they continued to do so
after the mergers of the 1920s.
Railway police officers were sworn, or attested, as
constables so one would have thought that the grounds for wearing the Crown
were easily made out, but this was not universally accepted.
The nationalisation of transport infrastructure in the
aftermath of the Second World War and the eventual creation of the British Transport
(Commission) Police provided an opportunity to sort out the issue once and for
all.
General Sir William (Bill) Slim KCB KBE DSO MC (Later Field
Marshall, Viscount Slim KG GCB GCMG GCVO GBE DSO MC KStJ) was a famous Second World War military commander
and after the war, for a brief period, occupied a senior position in the British
Transport Commission (he later returned to the army). The railway police were one of his areas of
interest and he can be credited with many of the positive developments in what
became the BTC Police. He thought that
the undertakings of the Commission (railways, docks etc) would benefit from a
symbol such as the Crown to indicate that they were state owned. He also believed that all railway Police
officers should wear the Crown to show their loyalty to the Sovereign. In early 1948, in the spirit of a dynamic
military commander, he picked up the telephone and spoke to the Lord
Chamberlain at Buckingham Palace and followed this up with a letter on 7th
January outlining the case for the right to wear the Crown. The Lord Chamberlain referred the matter to
the Home Secretary for formal advice.
Nobody could find out why the GWR Police wore a Crown but
there was speculation that this was something to do with Queen Victoria
travelling from Windsor by the GWR.
The deliberations on the subject have been kept in a file
that now resides in the National Archives.
It was thought appropriate for the file to be closed for 75 years and should
have been unviewable until 2024, but changes
to the rules on the retention of material have given us early access to this,
rather dog eared, part of our history.
Initially the Home Office and representatives of the police
forces of England and Wales were not enthusiastic. The idea that the Crown should appear on the
notepaper and signage of the new nationalised transport industry was soon dismissed
but there was also continued opposition to the idea that the railway police
should be granted the right to use it. Officials
expressed doubts about the status of the railway police and whether they were
of the same status as ‘recognised’ police forces. One civil servant stated ‘they are only
special constables’ and in doing so showed his lack of understanding of the
term in the context of the railway police.
Another pointed out that although the Army Department Constabulary
(later to be the modern Ministry of Defence Police) were primarily a protective
force they had a better claim to use the Crown because they had a closer
connection to the institution of the monarchy.
On 6th February 1948 the Home Secretary, James
Chuter-Ede (1), wrote to General Slim saying: “that I regret that I cannot seeing my
way to making a favourable submission to the King on either point” Slim was not easily put off. He conceded the issue of using the royal
device on signs etc and concentrated on the police. He contacted the Deputy Under Secretary of
State (what we would now call the Deputy Permanent, or second Permanent
Secretary), at the Home Office. The post
was held by Sir Frank Newsam, a long term civil servant and specialist in
policing and criminal justice policy.
Newsam was responsible for many of the post war reforms in policing,
including the creation of the Police Staff College at Bramshill. Slim and Newsam spoke on several occasions and
in August 1948 the latter took the top job at the Home Office. This seems to have marked a shift in the Home
Office position. Slim sought to change
the Home Secretary’s mind, but in reality this was a matter that fell firmly
under the influence of Newsam.
On 20th September a senior civil servant in the
Home Office proposed that a submission to the King be prepared in the name of
the Home Secretary to approve the use of the Crown on badges of the British Railways
Police (which was the working name of the combined police forces of the BTC and
included officers posted on the docks etc).
This was done and laid before HM George
VI on 23rd September 1948.
The King gave his approval and this remains the authority for the use of
the Crown by the British Transport Police.
Newsam immediately wrote to Slim to give him the good news.
This mini saga gives a small insight into the workings of government. The disdain of the Home Office in matters
connected to BTP can still be detected.
Without Bill Slim this would have been a battle that ended in
failure. It reminds us that having a ‘big
name’ on your side is an important factor in getting things done. It is something that BTP has lacked during
much of its history. Slim was associated
with the railway police for only a short period and one wonders how things
would have progressed if he had remained in the British Transport
Commission. Sir Frank Newsam was later
appointed to the BTC Police Committee where he was a positive, even progressive,
influence.
The file was opened early (2007) – it was
last accessed in the Home Office in the 1970s and has remained unread for many
years.
Railway constables have always been sworn in a manner that
mirrors the oath or attestation of officers from other forces, the only
difference being the name of the force and the geographical description of the
officer’s constablewick. Yet the disdain
of the Home Office and the forces over which they have dominion can still be detected. Perhaps the BTP needs a latter day Slim.
Philip Trendall
Aug/Sep 2023
Notes
(1) James Chuter-Ede 1882-1965, Baron Chuter-Ede CH PC DL JP was the longest serving Home Secretary of the 20th century serving under Atlee in the post war government 1945-1951. Known as a reformer and a safe pair of hands, he pushed the legislation that created for one person one vote and single member constituencies.
Main Source
Home Office (1948) Proposed Use of Crown on Railway Badges
and Signs HO45 22456 National Archives Kew
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