The Museum of Policing in Devon & Cornwall opened an exhibition in Tavistock, Devon during August 2025.
Focusing on policing in the two counties in wartime.
The team were surprised to find mentions and planning for war had begun for the police much sooner than they imagined.
This article gives a flavour of the time from a policing perspective.
The Beginning
Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 and from there on the Weimar Republic moved towards one-party Nazi dictatorship.
Towards at the end of that year the Home Office sent a letter marked ‘Secret’ (Fig 1). Underlined by Chief Constable Morris of Devon Constabulary are the words, ‘event of war’. Such words are chilling to read now.
Time to Prepare
A modest preparation for war began in 1936, the Standing Joint Committee for Devon Constabulary approved the appointment of a sergeant to be engaged on air raid precaution (ARP) duties. Sergeant S.J. Kelly became the pioneer air raid precaution/civil defence instructor in Devon. More sergeants were trained and assigned to divisions as well as an ARP department created at headquarters under the leadership of Inspector Eddey. The Chief Constable, Major Morris had full responsibility for the home front in the Devon Constabulary area.
After Devon Constabulary, Cornwall, Exeter City, Plymouth City, Penzance Borough, Isles of Scilly and Tiverton Borough started work on ARP (Fig 2) and civil defence to some extent.
Fig 2: Air Raid Precautions Handbook No. 9
Torbay County Borough was the exception, that council made its own arrangements for ARP/civil defence and did not come under the auspices of the police.
The training duties for police and civil defence increased through 1937 as the sabre rattling in Nazi Germany increased. Attention turned to the Special Constabulary (specials) and bringing them closer together with the ‘regulars’ for training and sharing of information. Uniform including a cap badge for the specials was supplied from this point onwards (Fig 3).
Fig 3: Special Constabulary Cap
Police work including dealing with crime continued, for Devon Constabulary this included the case of the murder of Police Constable John Potter at Whiteway’s Cider Factory in Devon which will be covered in a future blog post.
War Draws Near
Training of specials, wardens, and other voluntary services in Devon intensified in the winter of 1938 and early into 1939. In Penzance Chief Constable RCM Jenkins was building the local civil defence which consisted of special constables, ARP wardens (ARP Whistles Fig 4), the Auxiliary Fire Service, St. John’s Ambulance Brigade and the Home Guard.
Assistant Chief Constable Hosking was put in charge of the Cornwall Constabulary War Department liaising between Chief Constable Major Hare and the Civil Defence Authorities.
Plymouth City Police under Chief Constable Lowe worked to fortify the force’s buildings with walls of sandbags at Greenbank headquarters and other vulnerable stations. Filling and stacking these bags fell to the younger, eager probationers who were nicknamed the ‘Sandbag Squad’.
PC 275 Roy Jewell, a recruit in April 1939 recalled anti-gas training and the very difficult fire and rescue training. Heart stopping moments in smoke-filled buildings, hauling ‘casualties’ to safety and jumping from the fire engine turntable ladder using a Davis escape harness.
Chief Constable Tarry worked to ensure his Exeter City boundaries were well protected during this time.
At the end of August 1939 evacuee children from London arrived on special trains and the police assisted with their arrivals at various stations (Fig 5).
In his book ‘Out of the Blue’ Walter Hutchings wrote,
‘The sight of these kiddies, each wearing his or her label, uprooted from their homes and sent amongst strangers was a foretaste of things to come and served as a poignant reminder that the situation called for a united front in service and sacrifice.’
Imminent National Danger!
During the same month a ‘Defence of the Realm’ Proclamation (Fig 6) made by the King was sent to all areas of the United Kingdom. It makes for disturbing reading today.
Fig 6: Defence of the Realm Proclamation 1939.
War is Declared
Despite every possible attempt to avoid it, on the 3rd September 1939, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced that Britain was at war with Germany.
Secret ‘Police War Instructions’ (Fig 7) were opened and implemented throughout the police divisions with urgency.
On the same day the 1939 National Service (Armed Forces) Act, came into force which requiring every man aged between 18 and 41 to register with the Ministry of Labour.
All were subject to ‘Conscription’ (compulsory enlistment for state service e.g. military service).
The Act created a category for workers in certain activities such as Police, Fire, Medical, Railways, Utilities etc., all were essential to keep the country functioning, and classified as a ‘reserved occupation’. After September 1939 men in this category could not leave their job and they were not allowed to volunteer for military service
However, the Territorial Army had been mobilised and all reservists for the military services were ‘recalled to the colours’. This included police officers who were military reservists, who would not have qualified under the ‘reserved’ occupations. They went off to war leaving a depleted force and quick action needed.
Police War Reserves (WR)
Within a few days of war being declared, 100 police war reserve constables for Devon had been ‘called up’ to work, many of the reserves were retired police officers who quickly settled back into duty.
Penzance Borough Police War Reserve had been formed and the response to its call for volunteers was overwhelming.
The war reserves were full time and paid, they were sworn in under the Special Constables Act 1923 and had the full powers of a police officer. On the collar of their uniform were the letters ‘WR’ as seen in the photo of Police War Reserve William Lyle (Fig 8).
Women Auxiliaries
On the same day that war was declared in 1939, Plymouth City Police broadcast an appeal through the local radio station for a new police support service. Eileen Milo (later Normington), who lived in the Greenbank area, answered the appeal becoming the first recruit to the Women’s Auxiliary Police Corps (WAPC) in the city of Plymouth.
In the same year, Devon’s Standing Joint Committee authorised the Chief Constable to employ up to 12 women auxiliaries at no more than £2 a week.
Exeter City Police chose to name their contingent the Women’s Auxiliary Police Service (Fig 10) with the acronym WAPS.
Almost immediately, the affectionate nickname, ‘Wapsies’ was coined.
In 1940 20 WAPC’s are recorded as employed in Plymouth City Police, but Cornwall Constabulary’s Chief Constable stated that he saw no need to employ women in the police.
The ‘Wapsies’ took on the administrative running of the war departments and coordinated civil defence in the cities.
At this point the police were fully occupied with continuing the training of specials, guarding vulnerable places, arranging billeting for troops, dealing with evacuee problems, working with emergency regulations. They worked with the public to ensure that blackout curtains were improvised, and vehicle lights shaded. All this whilst carrying out their usual policing duties and waiting for the sirens to announce the fall of the first bomb.
There is a Tremendous Battle Coming
At the Penzance Police Watch Committee in February 1940 Chief Constable Jenkins stated, ‘There is a tremendous battle coming; there is no doubt about it. The evacuees will be coming down here as soon as the bombing starts. I believe that the bombing will be the beginning of the end. The Germans will not stand up to it as we shall’.
A large-scale operation of Penzance’s civil defence response was tested on 17th March with over 260 volunteers. Auxiliary firefighters, decontaminators, medics, demolition workers, control room operators, umpires and messengers as well as the entire Penzance Borough Police Force. Further participants were the local Boy Scouts, Air Cadets and local people who acted as casualties. The operation was a success; the training had paid off.
An idea of the organisation for air raid precautions including some communications and actions are in the document below (Fig 11) from Plymouth City Police.
Local commentators in Devon and Cornwall angered by the cost of such defences, insisted that the enemy wouldn’t reach British airspace because the RAF would intercept them. They would soon be proved wrong.
Verbal and Physical Abuse
The office of Police Constable was a reserved occupation by Government policy, and these men were not allowed to join the armed forces. However, in 1940 there were many incidences of verbal and physical abuse by ignorant people prompting Chief Constable Jenkins (Fig 12) to bring the matter to the Penzance Court and the excerpt here is recorded as it was written, ‘It is not fair for these young men to have this thrown at them, and I would ask the persons who made these remarks what they are doing’.
We’re On Our Own
In June 1940 France fell to Nazi Germany and Britain stood alone. U-Boats sunk our supply ships and strict rationing of food and other supplies began.
Blackout offences were taken very seriously, for example, an improperly covered side lamp on a car attracted a 5 shilling fine. Fines could go as high as £2 for those who failed to comply with air raid precautions during blackout hours. Information about the blackout hours. The Lighting (Restrictions) Order 1940 can be seen below in Fig 13.
The First Air Raids
Air raid, Plymouth 20th March 1940, the police telephone network was severely damaged by a bomb blast. This situation created a reliance on Police Auxiliary Messenger Service (PAMS) boys to ferry messages on foot or by bicycle between points even when bombs were falling all around. Shortly after that raid a ‘back up’ headquarters was established at Widey Court. PAMS proved to be essential throughout Devon and Cornwall in the coming years. Fig 14 shows the armband worn by PAMS youngsters in Cornwall.
On 6th July, another air raid hit Plymouth with much damage to the Swilly area (now North Prospect). Reserve Constable Alfred Crosby was directing residents to an air raid shelter, when he was mortally wounded by a bomb blast that killed two others.
Exeter did not escape the bombing with 5 bombs loosed from a lone aircraft on 7th Aug 1940. Thankfully the damage was minimal with one man narrowly escaping death or injury.
Over the July to December period various parts of Cornwall suffered air attacks, including sixty bombs hitting Penzance in November. Sadly, several people were killed and there were some casualties during this period.
However, despite it all, people kept their humour, and this story is reproduced here courtesy of Phyllis Rowe and Ivan Rabey (via BBC Peoples War).
Special Sergeant Eddie Gregor, who lived at Fraddon, Cornwall recalled:
‘While on duty one night during the period St. Eval was getting such a pasting from the enemy, I was near Fraddon Post Office. It was after midnight and very still when I was startled by the sound of heavy gunfire coming from the direction of St. Eval. I ran to the nearby telephone kiosk and asked the operator at Fraddon Exchange, if there was a “RED” on. “No” he said “But I can hear those guns.” Fortunately, I decided to investigate further before raising the alarm. As I ran toward Parka Hill to get a better view of the Airfield, the “gunfire” appeared to be increasing in intensity; then as I was passing the outbuildings of Kerris Farm, I found that I was also passing the “sound of gunfire.” It turned out that the farmer’s old sow had got the “itch” and was rubbing herself vigorously against a cast-iron pig trough, lifting and then bumping it down on a concrete floor. When I called back to the exchange operator and told him the news, he fell about laughing; my colleagues at St. Columb Police Station also seemed to find the event a subject for great hilarity.”
In the next blog we will move to 1941 and beyond.
With thanks to the following who helped inform this article: Peter Hinchliffe, Mark Rothwell, Simon Dell MBE QCB, Edward Trist, Walter Hutchings, Phyllis Rowe and Ivan Rabey.
Figs 1 to 4 & 6 to 14 – All items from the archive or object collection of Museum of Policing in Devon & Cornwall.
Fig 5 – Courtesy of Imperial War Museum.