Police Dog Heroes

Police Dog Heroes
Police Dog Heroes (Front Cover)

Another new BTP related book has recently been published.

Written by two retired BTP officers and BTPHG members, Mike Layton and our very own Bill Rogerson (BTPHG Secretary), it collects stories of the railway police dogs and their handlers.

From the book jacket:

“The British Transport Police became the first Police Force in the UK to establish a dog section when Airedale terriers began to patrol the docks of Hull in 1908. Since then, dogs from the force have served in two world wars, aided police in combatting terror attacks, and hunted down countless criminals.

Here, Layton and Rogerson trace the history of these faithful servants and bring us over forty thrilling, shocking, and sometimes humorous firsthand recollections from retired officers and handlers who fought crime and protected the public alongside man’s best friend. As those on the wrong side of the law become ever more sophisticated in their methods, the dogs have kept pace, and today form a key part in the fight against drugs and terror on the rail network.

Included here are accounts of such atrocities as the Lockerbie bombing and the 2005 terror attack in London, where the heroic actions of these unsung heroes of the force and their handlers were epitomised by BTP police dog Vinnie, recipient of the PDSA Gold Medal – the animal equivalent of the George Cross.”

It is available in paperback from all good booksellers and internet sites, including direct from the publishers Amberley Publishing and Amazon.

BTP History Writers

btpwriters@btphg.org.uk

As you are probably aware we have an independent panel who appoint British Transport Police History Writers and they have been working overtime recently.
Their most recent appointments in April 2016 are:

Bill Rogerson for the continued production of the highly regarded History Lines monthly newsletter (81 so far and counting) and the co-authorship of a soon to be published book on the work of BTP Police dogs,

Michael Layton for his work in publishing the books: Hunting The Hooligans, Tracking The Hooligans and the above mentioned forthcoming book on the work of BTP Police Dogs,

Richard Stacpoole-Ryding for his work in publishing The British Transport Police: An Illustrated History,

and Pauline Appleby for her work publishing A Force on the Move: The Story of the British Transport Police 1825-1995.

Congratulations to them all.