The Whitbread Shield
The Whitbread Shield was presented to the Force in 1966 by Mr. J. R Whitbread, author of the book The Railway Policeman, to be awarded for meritorious police work, not recognised by other awards such as gallantry or dedicated First Aid work.
It was first awarded in 1967 but appears to have fallen into disuse in recent years.
The last known award of the Shield was in 2006 and its current whereabouts are not known.
UPDATE: May 2012
Colin advises that the Whitbread Shield part of his Project is almost complete. In the meantime he has prepared this extensive report from his endeavours so far:
It comes complete with news of the Shield itself and a description of the merits that led to the granting of the awards.
The Keith Winter Cup
The Keith Winter Cup was named after Police Constable Keith Winter, who died of his injuries when a propane tanker exploded in Hull Docks on 23rd October 1970.
Keith’s parents donated the Cup in memory of their son, to be awarded to each year to the Probationer who achieved the “highest aggregate marks” during his or her training.
The Cup was put in abeyance when a reorganisation of police training made it impossible to fulfil the criteria.
In the 1990s, with the approval of Mr & Mrs Winter, the Cup was rededicated to be awarded for meritorious police work by a Probationary Constable.
The Cup has not been awarded in recent years but is believed to be in the hands of the Force’s Training department.
UPDATE: October 2012
Colin has now prepared an Interim Report on The Keith Winter Cup.
A full list of recipients is now available.
The Project:
- To identify, document and record all recipients of each award.
- To research and record the award citations, where applicable.
- To established whether the awards are still current and if not, why they were put into abeyance.
- To establish the current whereabouts of each ‘trophy’ and ensure their continued safekeeping.
- To learn more about the identity of J. R. Whitbread Now resolved – see Update August 2014 (below)
- To produce a History Group paper setting out the detailed history of the two awards.
UPDATE: September 2012
And the good news is:-
I have just been advised by the Chief Constable’s Office that the Keith Winter Cup and the Whitbread Shield have been reunited at FHQ and that said office is working on a procedure to re-instate these awards for outstanding police work by a probationer and an established officer respectively. My personal thanks go to everybody who has helped to uncover these items, bring them into the daylight and back into the consciousness of the powers that be!In the meantime the Project continues on the remaining goals to achieved.
Colin Sinclair
UPDATE: August 2014
Somewhat belatedly, it should be reported that thanks to some dogged detective work by BTPHG member Malcolm Clegg, the identity of J.R. Whitbread was finally discovered to be John Robert Whitbread. A two-part article on his researches was published in the March and April 2014 editions of History Lines.
WebMaster
How YOU can help:
Please contact the Project Manager
- if you were the recipient of either award
- if you can identify anybody who received either award
- if you have access to any documentation, records or other material relating to the Cup or the Shield (see note below)
- if you know the current whereabouts of either award
- if you have any other information that might assist with the project.
Project Manager: Colin Sinclair
Contact Details: colin.sinclair@btphg.org.uk
Note: We have already gleaned some information from the BTP Journals and Bluelines, but there are ‘holes’ in the PM’s collection and the information so gathered is almost certainly incomplete. If you have any Journals or Bluelines which contain references to either award, please contact the PM with the issue and page numbers. All correspondence will be answered.