by Phil Trendall (Chair)
While searching the index to the material held by the Imperial War Museum (IWM) I stumbled across a couple of items relevant to this blog. Film footage can sometimes feel like a peep hole into the past. Each individual that appears would have had their own story to tell. Perhaps this is a theme I will return to in relation to the footage which catches – sometimes only in passing – railway, dock or canal police officers.
The IWM clips that caught my eye were:
Ladies Only
A 1942 film showing war work being carried out by women on the Southern Railway. Includes a shot of a Southern Railway Police WPc directing traffic at Waterloo. The commentary reflects the social assumptions of the time.
Evacuation of Children
A silent 1940 film about the evacuation of children. Shows footage at the front of St Pancras Station with police officers including an LMS Sergeant.
The Official Opening of Tadworth, 1948
Of most interest to any readers of this blog is the film of the opening of the Railway Police Training School at Tadworth. A copy of this film is available to view on the this website. Quite why this ended up with the IWM is a bit of a mystery. The school opened some years after the war and was originally purchased by the Southern Railway on behalf of the mainline railway police forces.
This seems like a good place to mention some of the other bits that are available online:
Railway Police Dogs, 1951: Pathe – showing a BTC officer and police dog at work.
(Also see item on this website: Railway Police Dogs)
Watch Dogs! Real Ones at Hull, 1933: Pathe – LNER officers and dogs at Hull.
(Also see Watch Dogs! page on this website)
Royal Family leave for Balmoral, 1954: Pathe – BTC officers at Euston for a royal visit.
Terrorism: Seven wounded in train station bombings, 1939: Pathe – The aftermath of a terrorist bomb at Leicester Square Station 1939 showing LPTB officers (possibly – could be Met).
Lost, Stolen, Damaged, 1964: A 2 part programme by British Transport Films, about the problem of theft from the railway that includes footage of BTP officers and an interview with an unnamed Superintendent.
Originally published on the blog: Policing Public Transport: A Neglected History (edited)