The front door opened and Claude peeped to his left seeing a senior officer disappear into the door on the right as one entered the building, he closed the door but made no appearance. Minutes later the door opened again but on this occasion it was a sergeant, a very tall and large man carrying a bundle of papers, he stopped, looked at the two new arrivals and said, “Come in.”
He then enquired, “You are?”
“Claude Friendly,” and “Ralph Johnson,” they both replied.
“I am Sergeant Prior first things first, you Friendly are working 6 am and you Johnson 2 pm tomorrow, you will be seen then meanwhile I will take you to your lodgings.”
It was not many minutes before the three arrived at a large terraced house only some two hundred yards from the police station. Prior knocked on the door and when opened he introduced the new arrivals, turned and left without another word being said.
Claude was to immediately discover these lodgings were unlike his last residence, which to all intents and purposes had been a home from home. A room of his own, good regular food, his washing and ironing done, he could roam the house as he had done whilst living with his parents.
It was only moments before Claude was to discover this place was real lodgings and bore no resemblance to a home. The lady of the house identified herself and obtained the names of her new lodgers. Arriving upstairs in a large bedroom the house rules were laid out.
She appeared British from her accent but bore a European name. Wearing thick glasses she was obviously a businesswoman, in it just for the money.
“You will share this room, there is a meter for the electric over there it uses shilling coins, five pence in modern currency.”
Claude was to find it was a very hungry machine even though only a light bulb was used.
“You will get two meals each day, breakfast and a main meal she continued, and you will get your washing done elsewhere. I expect you to go home to your parents on your days off so there will be no meals on those days.”
The cost was exactly the same as it had been at Broughton but for far less. It would transpire the man of the house worked at some hotel and by one means or another must have been able to buy trade size tins of fruit salad. Every main mealtime fruit salad was served without exception.
Sharing a room with an officer on another shift proved a nuisance as when one was working the early shift rising at 5 15 am the alarm clock woke up the other. The same on night duty, when sleeping during the day it was difficult when one required some item from the room say at breakfast a clean collar it was impossible not to disturb the sleeping colleague.
Meals were taken alone or with other lodgers, mostly workers from the local telephone exchange working away from home on relief duties.
The next morning Claude arrived for duty at 5 45am meeting his new shift colleague introduced as Carl Busby. There was no sergeant on duty and so both officers paraded themselves. They read through the message book, took the telex messages, which had arrived off the telex printer and filed them.
By 6 15 am they were both walking the streets checking there were no obviously broken windows and or doors the night shift might have missed.
At 7 am they called at local newsagents, who supplied a hot drink, Carl introduced Claude and then spoke to most early visitors, mostly men and women obviously getting a morning paper on their way to work. A strange event then took place, for a dog appeared. It put its front feet up at the counter, was given a morning paper and ran off into the town. Claude was told the owner had trained it to go for the morning paper on its own; it did the same thing later in the day collecting the evening paper.
At 9 15 am Claude arrived back at the station to take his meal break he was called by the sergeant on this occasion it was Sergeant Mitson. He said “Friendly is it? Come in, the Inspector wants to see you.”
He turned, knocked on the door and on arrival inside, Claude came face to face with the senior officer who had been told at Broughton as being different from all others. He was seated then stood; he was a tall man who appeared to be in his late sixties at least, way beyond his actual years.
When he stood he displayed a habit of twiddling his fingers. He hesitated when he spoke though he wasn’t actually struck with a speech impediment. I am Inspector Gorman, you are?”
“I am PC Friendly,” replied Claude.
“OK Friendly if you want anything see the sergeant, Claude was to discover he meant what he said.
“You can go now.”
Claude was to discover the routine of his new leader was to arrive at the front door at 8 55 am, enter, go immediately right into his room and stay there until 12 55 pm when he would leave for his lunch break. Arriving back 1 55 pm remaining in the office until 4 55 pm when he left for home.
One might occasionally catch a glance of him emerging from his office to speak in the open doorway with the duty sergeant then return to his office and close the door. He rarely walked into the main office and was never seen in the cell or charge office come parade room. He walked in the town only on a Thursday enroute to and from court when he presented the cases. He never spoke to anyone on his journey to and fro.
In two years or so Claude had, only one occasion to speak to him when one day he had a little query upon an enquiry and there being no sergeant he saw the Inspector putting something into the sergeant’s in-tray and made the error of asking him a question.
He looked for a moment then just uttered in an irritable manner, “Oh see the sergeant” he turned and disappeared into his room, closing the door.
Life was much the same as it had been at Broughton, on the early turn it was messages, walk the town dealing with any calls that came in for the town area.
Anything in the rural the call was passed to the rural officer on twenty four hours call, when he was on a rest day or annual leave the officer on the adjacent beat covered both.
There was little need to drive a police vehicle but if one was required his colleague more senior in service was an authorised driver. In those days the vehicle was used to attend calls not for general patrol. The motor patrol officers carried out the supervision of calls requiring a vehicle again.
Officers were expected to be visible on the streets and often spoke with children going to and from school. On occasions performing traffic duty outside the school and also visiting inside the school to speak with and advise children of the do`s and don’ts of speaking with strangers and what to do and not to do.
There was one incident that Claude always recalled, of children crossing the road. It had always been advertised for children to stop then look right, then left, then right again before crossing.
One day whilst visiting a school he set a test, he asked the young pupils to stand and close their eyes. He then said to them “Put up you right arm.”
They reacted as he anticipated, some putting up their right arm others their left and a few both. It was obvious at their tender age they didn’t know their left from their right. Claude submitted a report upon the matter. Some months latter the publications and adverts on the television had changed to a new theme. When crossing the road, stop, look both ways and if safe to do so walk not run quickly across the road. Claude was never to know if his report had been a factor in the change.
On the afternoon shift it was just the same, parade for duty, read the messages but the sergeant was there to do the job. There was a senior constable who remained in the office answering the telephone and dealing with the public. The jobs included taking details of lost and found property, examining driving documents, completing the away from home register and similar administrative jobs. Claude was just sent out on the beat.
It was on a late shift that visits were made to private houses, the residents being away from home, mostly on holiday who had notified the police of their absence and details were left in a book. Patrolling officers would occasionally visit and after doing so make an entry in the book, stating the time and date and if all was well.
&nb
sp; On one occasion a lady complained that whilst she was attending a well-advertised function in the town, her house had been broken into. A check was made and Claude had made two visits, Amen he thought.
On his first night shift he was accompanied by Sergeant Prior and together they walked the town. Claude was shown the locations of the various safes normally having a light over them. The front and rear of the entire town premises that had to be checked at least once each night. The other vulnerable premises, clubs which contained drinks, money and gaming machines, more at risk than public houses for they were occupied at night whereas clubs were not.
Claude was to recall an incident involving a local club for workingmen. He had been directed to visit a house the man living in which had not been seen and had threatened suicide, neighbours had been concerned. The call was classed as urgent and not knowing the area at that time he could not see the name of the house. It was evening, the nearest place he could see life was the club. He went to the door and entered and approached the bar where several men were drinking. Claude informed them he had had an urgent call and it seemed someone was at risk, “Did anyone know the location of the house?”
No one did but one man asked the name of the person being sought and so Claude gave the name. Immediately they knew the man and one accompanied Claude to the door and pointed out the house. He was walking off when he heard a voice calling him. He returned it was the Steward of the club; he had been behind the bar when Claude was making his enquiry.
The man appeared irritable and said. “This is a private club; the police have no right inside without a warrant. Not even the superintendent can come in here. In future you knock on the door and wait until it is answered just like a private house.”
Claude made no reply but walked to the house and upon arrival there was no reply but the door was open, a search of the house failed to obtain a response. A search of an outbuilding revealed the man hanging with a rope around his neck.
In all the years to come in spite of instructions to check the club it was the one premises Claude never ever visited again.
A particular feature when checking property was the post office, which had a safe and on certain locations on the high windowsills were handles. There was a brick, which had been left out lower down. Claude was shown how to check the safe was intact. One had to reach up, take hold of the handle, put a foot into the hole in the brickwork and pull up. On doing this the inside of the post office could be viewed and the all-important safe.
Many years later the local Council turned the building into the town history centre and in doing so modernised it as Councils do. Amongst the alterations the builder filled in the foot holes, destroying the very heritage they were spending money on to preserve, obviously through ignorance or lack of local knowledge.
All such lock up premises were checked twice each night, if any were found to have been left insecure or worse entered, a key holder was called but if not found the night patrol officer could well expect to be called from bed at around 10am the next day to explain why.
Another task was to visit licensed premises at least once each month. This was normally done by the sergeant and one constable the procedure being identical to that at Broughton. The visits were to prove occasionally embarrassing as the years progressed, but thought Claude, as he was getting tired of writing that is for another day.
He took a rest and it was not until the following Sunday he commenced to write further.
There were other duties not officially part of officer’s duties, such as decorating the police station after 2am on night duty.
Another duty was in connection with stray dogs. In those days, dogs found by the public had to be retained by the Police for seven days; there were no rescue societies in those days, which took in dogs. All police officers were under an instruction never to find a stray dog themselves and in particular not been seen leading one along the street.
At Ashton police station the dog kennel was in a rear building, which had once been the stables, built in a time of modernisation in the late 1860s when the superintendent went mobile and was issued with a pony and trap.
When a dog was found by a member of the public and brought to the police station it was entered in a book and then secured in the dog kennel. It was fed once each day by the office duty officer and many escaped whilst being fed!
After seven days an officer from the local R.S.P.C.A society called at the police Station after making his weekly visits to the local animal auction. He would then call at the Police station to see if any dogs were in the kennel.
Claude had never forgotten the day being the young officer he was directed by the sergeant to accompany the society officer to the kennel and remove the dog. Claude was directed to hold the dog down in a drain outside on the yard. Its head inside the drain gully. The R.S.P.C.A, officer produced a captive bolt humane killer as used by slaughter men and immediately shot the dog in the head, killing it instantly and the blood flowing down the drain.
Other ancillary jobs undertaken by Claude as the young officer was cleaning the station car even though he was a none driver.
Outside the police station there are two small gardens, on a Sunday the sergeant who lived upstairs produced a spade and Claude was directed to take off his tunic and dig both gardens.
One day whilst he was doing this a lady approached him and said “Can you come straight away it’s the old lady across the road she is lying on the floor, I am her cleaner.”
Claude went to the scene and sure enough the old lady was lying on the floor in the kitchen and appeared unconscious.
Claude kicked the door and it opened. The lady was alive so he ran to the police station and called an ambulance. When it arrived the lady was taken away. Claude then called a builder to secure the house unlike he thought that which had happened in his case all the years later.
It was some weeks later when the lady recovered and arrived home from hospital. Claude was called to see the Inspector, one of the few occasions he spoke with him.
“What is this about?” He said and handed Claude a piece of paper it was a bill from the builder for repairing the door. The old lady had arrived home and on finding the bill had taken it to the police station for it to be paid as an officer had caused the damage. Claude explained and said he had already submitted a report upon the matter. The bill was paid and Claude heard no more of the matter but he thought, “Gratitude.”
Patrolling the town one day and standing in the High Street the station general purpose vehicle stopped it was a black Hillman Husky and contained the sergeant and Carl Busby, the nearside passenger window was wound down and the sergeant said, “Follow us to the church” and drove off.
Claude then walked up the street and on arrival in the church with his sergeant and colleague they were met by one of the churchwardens. The church was packed to capacity, upstairs and down stairs. There was a coffin in the centre aisle a very well known man had died and this was the day of his funeral. The whole congregation was sitting apparently calm there would have been complete silence. Unfortunately for the family of the deceased, a man was standing in the aisle and he suddenly began to shout abuse at the top of his voice. The vicar was standing near the organ and so it was a warden who enlightened the police to the fact this man also a well-known local had arrived in church and begun to shout abuse for no reason. All attempts to calm him and requests to him to leave had failed and so the police were called.
The man still refused to leave and so the sergeant said, “Arrest him Friendly.”
Claude and Carl Busby then took hold of the man and restrained him. Eventually after a violent struggle he was handcuffed and forcibly removed. On arrival at the police station Claude enquired as to the charge, the sergeant replied, “Why sacrilege of course.”
Claude thought of something he had read when many years ago someone had entered a church and stolen a flute owned by the vicar, this also had been sacrilege; the man who had carried out the crime had been han
ged. On this occasion there would be no hanging, for once detained the man was examined by various doctors and committed to hospital as a mental patient.
Speaking with a man in the town of the case of his only arrest for sacrilege, the church being full it was soon common gossip what had occurred.
The man related that many years previous he had met two police officers.
He related the story that in 1937 his father had a rare item in those days, a radio. There was to be a boxing match, a world championship fight between an American Joe Louis and a British boxer, Tommy Farr. There were no televisions of course and few radios. Monty’s father was one of the few who had one. Come the night Monty recalled how his father had said Monty could stay up late.
The time arrived and Monty was seated and then realised his father had an ulterior motive for permitting him to stay up late. One of the knobs of the radio was faulty and Monty was given the task of sitting by the radio and holding the knob to ensure the fight stayed on.
There came a knock on the door, it was two night police officers who had arrived to listen to the fight. Claude recounted how he sat there holding the knob for fear of botching up the listening for his father and more important to him as a small boy the two policemen.
During a night shift Claude was left alone in the town, the Sergeant and Carl Busby had been called to a nearby heath, a report of a prowler.
When they arrived they parked up the police car walked silently around the heath they eventually saw a parked car, it was dark but it was possible to see someone moving inside. The obvious answer was a courting couple, the area was well known for that sort of thing. As the officers kept watch they saw a man creeping up on the car and then whilst crouched down he was peering into the vehicle. The officers pounced onto the man thinking it was a “Fair Cop” to quote a phrase.
To their surprise it was in fact a fellow officer from a nearby town. He was wearing his police uniform trousers and shirt with a civilian raincoat over the top.
Police Memories Page 27