X Cheshire Police Officer's WIGGINS and POCOCKDear Jeffrey, (if I may be so bold)Thank you for your enquiry concerning the abovenamed officers, but before I tell you about whatwe have on them I would like to take a moment andexplain about the Constabularies Records. Inessence the Cheshire Constabulary was formed in1857, and you will appreciate that many thousandsof records are held, the vast majority of them bythe County Record Office at Chester. However,these records are slowly being extracted andrecorded in the Museum of Policing database. TheMuseum is still in its infancy stages and althoughwe have over 9000 individual officers names, notall of them have had their full personal detailsrecorded, in particular those officers who servedfrom the 1920's onwards. I am also governed bycertain statutes on what I can and cannot tell youfor this particular time period. To get aroundthis issue I will endeavor to point you in anotherdirection, which is a matter of PublicInformation.I am delighted to say with your particularenquiry, we have quite a bit and I feel sure thatwhat we supply can lead you to open furtheravenues.Warrant Number 573 Sgt. Ernest William POC, Born29 July 1914, Cheshire. Died October 2002,Birkenhead, Merseyside (this entry will berecorded in Register Number E13C, Entry Number 97of the Registrars Office covering Birkenhead) hewas aged 88 years on death. Joined CheshireConstabulary 31 August 1930 and retired on pensionon the 31 August 1966. Apart from his B.E.M. hewas awarded his Police Long Service and GoodConduct Medal in 1958. It appears that he wasstationed for most of his service in theDukinfield area. He married Aileen Eithne O'Toole,aged 22, Spinster, Parlour Maid, on the 14 August1940, at St. Margaret's Church, Dunham Massey,Cheshire. At this time she was resident at TheWhite House, Suffolk Road, Altrincham. Ernest wasresident at 103 Victoria Road, Dukinfield,Cheshire.Warrant Number 182 PC Frank Douglas WIGGINS, Born07 July 1907, Cheshire. Died 08 February 1998,South Cheshire (this entry will be recorded inRegister Number D13A, Entry Number 1 at theRegistrar's Office at Crewe, Cheshire.) he wasaged 90 years on death. He joined the CheshireConstabulary on the 26 February 1930 and retiredon pension on the 07 September 1958. Apart fromhis B.E.M. he was awarded his Police Long Serviceand Good Conduct Medal in 1952. He married AliceMiriam Wardle, Aged 27 years, Spinster, on the 11June 1932, at St.John's Church, Crewe, Cheshire.At this time she was resident at 17 WestminsterStreet, Crewe, Frank was resident at 14 OldfieldRoad, Sale, Cheshire. Frank at this time wasstationed in Altrincham Division.This is the only personal information we hold onthe officers at the present moment, however, thereare several files held at the Record Office atChester which may contain further information, butI cannot guarantee this. They are recorded underthe following references CJP24/1- Record BookIndex- alphabetical list of Police officersappointed, giving name, date and number.(1923-1966 1 Volume). CJP20/2/1 Cheshire PoliceOfficers Pension Register 1857 - 1965. CJP9/135Notes and Correspondence /133 and material onmembers of the Cheshire Constabulary on serviceand killed in action during the two World Wars,dated 1955-1956. Again under CJP9/135 are GeneralOrder's number 33 dated January 1941 - December1944, these may contain a reference to theofficers being awarded the B.E.M. I understandthat CJP9 is stored at a location in the Brecons.You will note earlier I gave you the deathRegisters entries, it may well be easier topurchase the Death Certificate's which willcontain the informant's details; this may be arelative and would also give an address. You couldperhaps then write to the individual concerned asthey may hold everything about his Police Serviceand perhaps even a copy of the Citation.I suppose this will be a very interesting pointwhich will no doubt aid your research to theevents of the leading up to the awarding of theirB.E.M. I do not know if you have access to theInternet, but if you have please go to the Museumwebsite which is recorded at the top of the page,within the site you will find the History of theCheshire Constabulary "To The Best of Our Skilland Knowledge" Chapter 15 gives "At home membersof the Force were not less worthily doing theirduty. For gallantry in attempting to save thelives of the crew of a Royal Air Force bomberwhich had crashed and was on fire, ConstablesFrank Wiggins and Ernest Pocock, DukinfieldDivision, were each awarded the B.E.M. Despite theflames and danger from exploding ammunition theymanaged to extricate four bodies before helparrived" (In the event of you not having access tothe Internet, I have printed off Chapter 15). Iwould think from this you have a starting point toperhaps research the local Newspapers for thearea. Whilst we hold many hundreds of photographsof officers, unfortunately in this particularinstance we are unable to identify the officersfrom the photographs held.From the Museums point we are currentlyconsidering some type of display that will coverWW2, and to this end what better than some type oftribute to Ernest and Frank, can we therefore askyou should your research reveal somethingconcerning these officers would you considerletting the Museum have that information.I trust that we have been of some assistance toyou in your research and if you think we may beable to assist you further please do not hesitateto contact me on the address below.With best wishesJim Talbot(Trustee and Researcher for the Museum of Policingin Cheshire)The Curator, Museum of Policing in Cheshire,Warrington Police Station, Arpley Street,Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1LQ