War Reserve Police Casualty

The last casualty that I need to identify from Widnes, is listed on the local cenotaph as WAR RESERVE POLICE. The inscription is as follows

TOMLINSON, H, PC WAR RESERVE POLICE

I have been unable to find him listed in the CWGC and would appreciate any assisitance

 

Hi Phil,

He's not listed on here:

CenturyofSacrifice

Maybe an email to them may bare some fruit.
enquiries@policememorial.org.uk

 

Phil and Phil,

Also missing from the Memorial Roll, which is strange as other Police War Reserve are mentioned.

National Police Memorial Roll for Great Britain

Regards
Tom

 

Matthew and John

I noticed there is only one Lancs officer killed during WW2:

1940 Ian Douglas Steen, Constable, Lancashire Constabulary.


Regards
Steven

 

Andy,

Apologies-mental block. These things happen when you get older.

Perhaps our training taught us how to avoid trouble

Regards
Tom

 

Was Widnes policed by Lancs then, or did it have its own borough force - assuming its not now covered by GMP then Lancs should have a memorial with him on it, probably at their headquarters?

As he's war reserve I guess he'd already done his time and was recalled.

The chief constable of the Manchester force was killed in WW2, if my memory serves me correctly he was trying to detain an AWOL soldier and was knoocked over. The soldier was found not guilty of murder as the Chief Constable actually died of an underlying illness.

Regards

Pete

 

Peter,

See attached map of old lancashire before the Local government reshuffles of the 1970's.

http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/oldmap/lcc1929/lcc1929.jpg

Widnes was just about as far south in Lancashire as you could get.

I believe, from what a relative ( Retired ex Police officer ) once told me, the air was so corrosive that it tarnished the uniform buttons.

It will be interesting to find out why he is not included on the memorial list, when other reserve members were.

Incidentally, Widnes is now in Cheshire Talk about confusing the issue.

Lancashire lost huge chunks to Merseyside, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and the new county of Cumbria.

Regards
Tom

 

Tomlinson is buried in widnes Cemetery there is a family headstone. He drowned in Runcorn docks when he fell in during Blackout there are inquests and death notices in the Wudnes Weekly news,

 

Peter Police 'Services' tend to be county confined as the local populus pay a significant amount into the kitty.

I can't speak for GMP but as far as I'm aware SYP have no memorial in their headquarters for officers that were killed in the line of duty.

I can think of two female officers who were killed between 1994-95 and I was reminded about (and rightly so) on an occasional basis by colleagues who served with them.

I may be wrong but I'm not aware of them being on any roll of honour which says a lot really for SYP.

Andy

 

I did have a second thought.....Widnes was Lancs but became part of Cheshire.

Found this site:

Museum of Policing in Cheshire - Police History

Widnes is/was a major alkali processing town, guess thats why it was so corrosive.

cheers

Pete

 

izzy,
Thank you for clearing up the cause of death.

If he was off duty at the time that accounts for no entry on the memorial as it applies only to officers killed whilst on duty.

Regards
Tom

 

I actually think he was on duty i will have to check out out the details.

 

Widnes Weekly News Friday March 7th 1941
Runcorn Tragedy Widnes man drowned pg1

Harold Tomlinson of 8 Margaret street Widnes drowned in old lock Quey Runcorn while on duty. Buried Widnes Cemetery grave 3R /550

March 14th 1941 Widnes Weekly News pg 2 Runcorn Tragedy Inquest on Widnes Man
Same issue there is a death notice Mr H Tomlinson Widnes

There is a lot more in the articles iv'e just given you the dates

 

Well done Izzy, I was still trying to find a map to see what county its in!

I have an idea that he was a constable of the Widnes & Warrington Force - most county constabularies emerged after ww2, prior to that it was a hotch-potch of borough,county,metropolitan and private forces.

Regards

Pete.

 

Well done Izzy, I was still trying to find a map to see what county its in!

I have an idea that he was a constable of the Widnes & Warrington Force - most county constabularies emerged after ww2, prior to that it was a hotch-potch of borough,county,metropolitan and private forces.

Regards

Pete.


Peter, You are correct with your assumption. The map on the site I provided purely shows the physical boundaries of Lancashire.

Most large towns had their own Borough Police Forces and Widnes would have most probably had their own.

I have read that during the War the Home secretary amalgamated smaller forces to form larger bodies.

This may fit in with your thoughts on Warrington and Widnes combined.

Regards
Tom

 

Widnes now comes under the County of Cheshire. Before the "Re-Shuffle" it was Lancashire, even-though Widnes was it's own Borough.

Well done Izzy, I couldn't find the chap for love nor money.

But what do I know ??? I thought I lived in Liverpool, County of Merseyside ??? Apparently it always has been, and still is, the County of Lancashire ??? Summit to do with insurance premiums and council tax I think

 

Okay, if he died whilst on duty in Runcorn he was a constable in the Cheshire constabulary, but lived in Widnes (which was in lancashire).

Found a brief history of cheshire that includes ww2 but no mention of a roll of honour.

History - Cheshire Police History

Regards

Pete

 

Just realised its a link to the same website I posted earlier....doh!

 

Everyone, thanks for all the input, once Im back off my travels I will pick up on the info and follow up

Phil