The leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats parties united to honour three heroic police officers at the Pride of Britain awards.
Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable put their political differences behind them on 30 October 2017 to pay tribute to officers who responded to terrorist attacks which took place in London earlier this year.
Taking to the stage at Grosvenor House, the politicians each expressed their gratitude to those who serve to keep the streets of Britain safe – as police officers Wayne Marques, Charlie Guenigault and Keith Palmer were honoured with the Outstanding Bravery awards.
PC Keith Palmer gave his life, aged 48, on 22 March 2017 while guarding the Palace of Westminster when terrorist Khalid Masood attacked, armed with two knives. Unarmed Keith valiantly fought off the terrorist, preventing him from entering Parliament, but sadly suffered a fatal knife wound before a fellow officer shot Masood dead.
Presenting the award to Keith’s sisters, Angela and Michelle, the Prime Minister praised the late Police Constable for his unwavering bravery.
“Keith Palmer devoted his life to the service of his country, and as he stood in defence of Parliament, facing down and tackling that evil terrorist, unarmed, he stood for Britain, he gave his life for Britain, he was, quite simply, the pride of Britain,” Prime Minister May said. “I think it is entirely fitting that tonight this award is being given for the first time ever posthumously, in memory of PC Keith Palmer,” she added.
Officers Wayne Marques and Charlie Guenigault were also awarded for their roles in tackling a terrorist attack on 3 June 2017 in which Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba killed eight and injured 48 others in an attack in London Bridge.
“Police Constable Wayne Marques of British Transport Police probably wasn’t expecting anything like this when he went on duty that night,” Jeremy Corbyn said. “He saw danger, he saw people at risk of losing their lives and he potentially laid down his own life so that others might live,” the Labour leader continued. “On behalf of everybody, thank you to him, and thank you to all of our emergency services who keep us safe 365 days of the year. Thank you very much,” he said.
Sir Vince Cable added: “Whatever differences we have politically, I think we are completely and totally united in wanting to honour the real heroes that our country produces and we have them here tonight.”
A fascinating insight into the way our forebears were engaged has come from the a new article on The Dover Historian website.
The article, by Lorraine Sencicle, is one in a series documenting how the English ‘packet’ service out of Dover, that is ships carrying official messages and mail, evolved over the centuries. This article concentrates on the London, Chatham and Dover Railway Company’s venture between 1860 and 1874. It is entitled Packet Service V LCDR & the Route to Dover’s Prosperity.
Of particular interest to the BTPHG is the use of the railway company’s police on the ships, and the fight against the rise in crime affecting their passengers. It also documents a joint operation between the LCDR police, the South Eastern Railway Police, Dover Borough Police and the Metropolitan Police.
The Dover Historian website is a treasure trove for the history enthusiast, there is information on Dover, the port and the railways that served it.
? Webmaster’s Tip: The article is a long one, so although it is worth reading in full, you can use your browser to do a word search for ‘police’ to get to the most relevant parts.
In the week when we had very severe weather in the British Isles, by some bizarre co-incidence it was also the 30th anniversary of another climactic weather event in southern England.
Rob Ekins, a PC at BTP Brighton at the time, remembered the part he and his colleagues played that night in an article for History Lines: The GREAT STORM, 1987
One of many articles we hold in the HistoryBank section of our website.
A new addition to the BTPHG virtual Bookshelf has been made.
BTPHG member and BTP History Writer, Malcolm Clegg, who has researched and written several articles for our newsletter History Lines has recently published a history of railway crime and policing in the nineteenth century.
From the publisher’s website: ‘A fascinating historical insight into the role played by the early railway policemen and the types of crime which they encountered. Their endeavour to maintain law and order whilst at the same time performing operational duties to keep the railways running.’
Okay, so now we’ve got your attention with a couple of cute puppy photos, if you were not aware tomorrow (Saturday 26th August 2017) is National Dog Day.
Time to remember that the railway police recruited their first officially trained police dogs well over 100 years ago, and they still remain a vital part of the policing family today.
You will find various references to them on this website – just put ‘police dog’ in the search box (above right).
And we have a photo gallery dedicated them here – Police Dogs!
You will also find an article on the BTP website on the Dog Section and if you are on Twitter the BTP Dog Section have their own account – @BTPDogs.
You may have noticed a bit of rebranding on the site.
We’ve renamed Storybank as Historybank. It’s just a bit more descriptive, as it doesn’t just contain ‘stories’, but factual topics such as court reports and research articles.
The contents are as before, but with a better name!
HistoryBank can be found in the PAGES menu, to the right of the screen.
Alun THOMAS (Chief Superintendent, currently T/Assistant Chief Constable) and Steve GREENWOOD (Special Chief Inspector), have been rewarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, 2017.
T/ACC THOMAS, leads the Specialist Operations teams at BTP, whose job it is to disrupt and deter terrorist activity, and keep the public safe – including the firearms, dogs, behavioural detection officers and specialist response units – has been awarded the Queen’s Police Medal (QPM).
SCI GREENWOOD, who volunteered an incredible 573 hours to BTP last year, has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM).
