X Arthur GALBRAITHDear Cheryl,As promised Arthurs service record, as I saidbefore it is not complete as post 1930, the ChiefClerk at that time appears to have lost a littlebit of interest or did not have time to completesome essential information. Pre this WarringtonBorough Police records are one of the best set ofrecords we hold. I have only recently completedinputting Warrington Borough Records and can sayfrom viewing them all Warrington certainly hadsome very draconian rules when dealing with anydiscipline matters. One or two of the very seniorofficers at the Station were in my opinion nothingmore than bullies and life for the ordinary PCtrying to make his way through the ranks must havebeen extremely difficult. If you go back to theweb site and look on the left at the drop downmenu you will see 'History', click on this and aseries of items will appear, there you will findthe history of Warrington Borough Police it maygive you some idea. The building on the front pageof the web site is Warrington Police Station whereyou're Granddad would have walked in and outthrough his thirty years service. I have alsoattached a copy of the station just in case youdon't have one. Warrington is still a workingpolice station and the oldest station in thecounty the only difference between the photographand now is that the lamp standards have beenremoved. Just in case you are not aware of whatthe difference between a Borough Police force anda County force is, I will briefly explain. BoroughPolice Officers only ever served in the Boroughforce area and a county Police officer would beposted anywhere with the County. And as you arenow doubt aware that in the period of time Arthurserved, Warrington was part of Lancashire and onlybecame part of Cheshire Constabulary in 1974 whenlocal Government boundaries were changed.If I can be of any further help please do nothesitate to contact me. Peter Wroe in fact startedand ended his police career at Warrington and isquite an authority on the Borough of Warrington.Sincere best wishes and again thank you forcontacting, Jim Talbot, Trustee and Researcher forthe Museum of Policing in Cheshire.Collar Number/Rank. Inspector 76 and 2 ArthurGALBRAITH. (The two numbers, 76 being his numberas a PC and the 2 relates to his number as a Sgt.Above the rank of Sgt numbers were not used)Born. 20th June 1916 Argyll, Scotland. (I have nowupdated his record with the information yousupplied)Date of Entry. 26th November 1935Date of Leaving. 28th November 1965.Final Date of Leaving. 28th November 1965.How Discharged. To pension.Initial Posting. Warrington Borough PoliceOther Postings and Dates. Nil.Miscellaneous Information. Trade or Calling. SlateQuarryman. Last employer Not stated. Height 6'2", Age on joining 19 years. Hair Black, EyesBrown, Complexion Fresh. Distinguishing Marks,Nil. Marital Status, Single, Children Nil. Memberof any Party or Society, Nil. Total Service 30years. Age on discharge 49 years. Certificate ofDischarge Number 110, issued 30/11/1965 markedConduct "Exemplary". Died at Oban 28/12/199 in theLorne and the Islands District General Hospital.Promotion/Misconduct. No Misconduct reportsrecorded. No pay or pension details recorded.22/03/1948 Promoted Sgt. Undated Promoted to therank of Detective Inspector.Awards/Good Conduct.11/02/1947 Commended by the CC for couragedisplayed in the apprehension John L. Lee, ArthurBall and Thomas W. Owen for shop breaking withintent, on January 8th, Lee and Owen were foundwithin the Lock Up shop premises resisted arrest,Lee threatening Galbraith with an unloadedrevolver.(From my own experience I can say just how Arthurfelt being threatened by Lee, it is the mostterrifying of ordeals. Arthur just could not haveknown that the gun was unloaded and sadly it wastypical of the day that Arthur only received aChief Constables Commendation instead of someother bravery award)29/01/1948 Complimented by Justices at Newton LeWillows Magistrates Court for his workinvestigating a case of larceny and receivingR.A.F. stores which resulted in 8 persons beingsentenced.28/10/1950 Commended by the Council of the RSPCAfor work performed in rescuing a cow from drowningin the Manchester Shipp Canal between 2am and 5amon 10/09/1950.These wartime memories of the late ArthurGalbraith were written in 1988 and published inthe Luing Newsletter in 3 parts.FROM TOBERONOCHY SLATE QUARRIES TO HITLER'SSUICIDE BUNKER IN BERLIN(with a few incidents in between).In mid 1935 I was labouring in Toberonochy Slatequarries and was paid ten pence per hour, as longas the weather was dry, but if I was rained off Igot no pay. Three days later I was sworn in as aconstable in Warrington Borough Police Force atthe age of 19, with a weekly pay of three pounds,two and eleven pence, out of which I had to paythirty shillings for board and lodgings. However,I must add that nine of our family left Luing inthe 1930's to seek work, thus beating NormanTebbit's instruction to 'get on yer bikes' by overhalf a century.Two years later was appointed to the C.I.D butwhen war broke out in 1939, I was temporarilyreturned to uniform duties, which consisted mainlyof guarding important buildings, factories,bridges etc. Armed only with a piece of wood -otherwise a truncheon - my task was mainly toguard a very large and very smelly gas works. HowI was supposed to repel an invading German army,armed with only my truncheon, I do not know. Itwas a real 'Dad's Army' set-up. Some policemen,particularly those guarding bridges were issuedwith .45 revolvers, and one particular policeman,having little or no training in the use offirearms, actually shot himself in the foot.In the first three days of May 1941, my ChiefConstable was asked by the Chief Constable ofLiverpool if he could send a contingent of his mento assist the Liverpool City Police during heavybombing raids and I accompanied them. We arrivedat Liverpool on the first evening and found thatmany fires were blazing from the previous night'sbombing and some important buildings destroyed. Wespent three nights there. When darkness fell eachnight the bombing started again - high explosiveand incendiary bombs. The sound of incendiarybombs raining out of the sky and landing onbuildings seemed to me like the sound of gallopinghorses.Back in the C.I.D., our activities were extremelyvaried, and even then, part of our job was toinvestigate the activities of the I.R.A., who weresuspected of blowing up electricity pylons.However, I and one other officer were delegated toguard General De Gaulle while he visited the FreeFrench Club to address French residents. In thosedays (1942) there were no such things as largeposses of security men guarding V.I.Ps. WhenGeneral De Gaulle entered the club to make hisaddress, he left his pill box hat on a hat stand,and I actually tried it on, but it did not fit! Hespoke very quietly indeed, and before he left hepresented me with a signed and dated document,written in French and English, copies, of whichwere distributed to his audience.On August 20th 1942, as the result of acommunication from the War Office, I reported to atraining Battalion of the King's LiverpoolRegiment at Harrington Barracks, Formby, nearSouthport. A short time later, I asked for and wasgranted, permission to join the Argylls. I wassent to the Queens Barracks in Perth, then the`home' of the Black Watch but I was fortunate inbeing billeted in the City Hall (where a lot ofpolitical meetings were held). From there, later,I was sent to Kilfauns Castle, between Perth andDundee, and as a result of having passed a WarOffice Selection Board in Edinburgh, which lasted3 days, I was sent to Wrotham in Kent on apre-OCTU course. Whilst at Wrotham, I took theopportunity to visit Commander MacMurchie,D.S.O., who for many years lived in the LuingButtery. Commander MacMurchie was awarded the DSOin the Great War and was recalled at the outbreakof World War 2 at Gravesend in Kent. It might beof interest to the natives of Luing that CommanderMacMurchie's son Ian, who was a surgeonLieutentant in the Royal Navy, was torpedoed anddrowned on his first voyage.WITH THE ARGYLLS TO BERLINBack from Wrotham, Kent to the Army. I was postedto 161 Officer Cadet Training Unit (Royal militaryCollege) at Aldershot, where for the next threemonths we were at the mercy of the famous RSM'Tibby Brittain' of the Coldstream Guards, who wasreputed to have the loudest voice in the BritishArmy. He was indeed a formidable figure, over sixfeet tall and built like a battleship'.In the next bed to me in our billet was His RoyalHighness Prince Jean of Luxemburg, known to us as'Lux'. He was a charming young man and wasdemobilised at the end of the war as a Captain inthe Irish Guards. Another member of our platoonwas Viscount Boyle who married Katie Boyle;General Paget's son, a bishop's son, a judge's sonand a young man called 'Moeller' who I believe wasa son of a Prime Minister of one of theScandinavian countries. Most members of theplatoon were from very well-to-do families. I wasone of the 'outsiders' but got on very well withall of them.On being commissioned in the Argylls, my next stopwas Dalton, near Barrow-in-Furness, where I wasinstructed to take charge of the BattalionTransport, which consisted of a motley array ofvehicles including Bren gun carriers, Lloydcarriers, trucks, motor cycles, etc. Whilst atDalton, I was delighted to meet a Luing man,Archie Maclnnes from Cullipool, who was a memberof the Battalion.The next months were spent obeying orders - forinstance 'You will attend a Driving andmaintenance course at Keswick', or 'You willattend a Camouflage Course at Sealand airfield atChester. While there, I was taken up in a Dakotaaeroplane, piloted by a Polish national who spokelittle English and we flew aimlessly aroundCheshire. I had been issued a parachute which musthave been made for a dwarf, because by the time Ifitted it I was bent double. I had no idea how touse it in an emergency, or even how to get out ofthe plane.The battation moved to Hoddam Castle nearDumfries, to Otley near Leeds and then toScarborough. More orders followed. 'You are now ondraft to East Africa'. Later That order iscancelled : you are being posted to MGGBA (BE).When I deciphered this it read Military GovernmentGreater Berlin Area ( British Element). Further:'You will proceed to the Grand Hotel Eastbourne,take charge of a convoy of vehicles, proceed toSouthampton board an American landing craft, landat Le Havre in France, travel to Bielefield inGermany and report to Brigadier Martin' - -"Can I have some maps please? I asked" " Sorry -no maps", was the answer. We landed at Le Havre,and as I had learned there was a convoy of RoyalEngineers at Rouen, I left the convoy and drovethere. No luck - no maps. However, I had a map ofEurope, approximately 12 inches square and afterputting up for the night at Liege in Belgium, theconvoy arrived intact at Bielefeld, thanks to themap and some good luck. By this time I had beenpromoted to Captain. The officer commanding ourunit, which was destined for Berlin, was BrigadierW.R.N.Hynd, nicknamed 'Looney' Hynd. He told methat the unit was short of tyres and instructed meto try and find some. This, with the aid of aninterpreter who was a German Jew, I did - In anearby salt mine which had been a Wehrmacht store.This mine was like an Aladdin's cave, containing,among other things, hundreds of tyres of allsizes. I removed two three ton lorry loads oftyres, took them back to the unit and was told bythe Brigadier `Enough, Galbraith'.Eventually on July 3rd 1945, we set off forBerlin, via Helmsted, then into East Germany,where we were carefully scrutinised by Russiansoldiers of all ranks. I believe that they evencounted the number of our vehicles.BERLIN 1945As we came to the outskirts of Berlin, a group ofimmaculately turned out Cossack horsemen and womentrotted beside our slow moving convoy. We neversaw them again. Most of the Soviet troopsencountered in the next 18 months were of`Mongolian' type - small and squat.Berlin was in an almost indescribable state ofdevastation, with shattered buildings, streetsclogged with rubble, starving population and utterchaos everywhere. I was surprised that anyonesurvived after thousands of tons of bombs weredropped and what was left had been subject tosevere bombardment by powerful Russian artillery.It must be remembered that Berlin was now occupiedby the Four Powers - part to Britain, part toAmerica, part to the French and part to theRussians - and that is still the case.I was attached to the Public Safety Branch and ourtask was to organise the Berlin Police on Britishlines, deal with serious crime involving Britishor Allied property or personnel, superviseprisons, or what was left of them, together with avariety of other duties. Among many tasks, I wasdetailed to act as prosecutor in a MilitaryGovernment Court, dealing with many types ofcrimes and different nationalities. Sometimes twointerpreters were involved - for instance, fromPolish to German, then from German to English - along drawn out procedure.Although general instructions were given to usbefore going to Berlin, many instances andproblems arose not covered by our instructions andone had to decide there and then what to do.Fortunately, our decisions were never queried byHigher Authority, for the simple reason that therewas nobody with sufficient knowledge or experienceto say that our decision was wrong. Manydignitaries visited me in my office including thelate Richard Dimbleby, Sir Harold Scott,Commissioner of Police in London and manyothers. I also met Russian Marshall Zhukov, wholed the defence of Moscow and Stalingrad whoaccepted the surrender of Berlin in 1945 - a finelooking man with dozens of medals on his chest.Another Russian I met was a Major who designed theRussian Monument which is situated in the Britishsector. He spoke quite good English and showed mea scale model of the monument long before it waserected.I recall one incident when I accompanied a ColonelTommy Holmes to a building which had beenpreviously occupied by the Gestapo. It was in EastBerlin - we had at that time free access to anypart of the city -and was guarded by Russiansoldiers carrying Tommy guns. We found that thebuilding had been more or less ransacked,presumably by the Russians but I spotted a spoolof film similar in size to those used in cinemas.I suggested to the Colonel that I should take it,but he disagreed, saying that if the Russiansfound it in my possession there would be trouble.However, I took it, concealed it in my battledressunder my oxter and successfully passed the Russianguards. We immediately hurried to the JerboaCinema (British) and instructed the cinemaoperator to show the film, hoping that it mightreveal some Gestapo horror activities. Imagine ourchagrin when all it revealed was flowers openingin slow motion to the music of Franz Lehar's 'Landof Smile'.I had two odd requests in my office. One was froma delegation of Germans who asked me - a mereCaptain - for permission to reinstate Freemasonryin Germany. Freemasonry in Nazi Germany wasoutlawed under single-party laws in 1933 and inAugust 1940 was declared unlawful in Vichy France,in order to curry favour with the Germans. I couldnot answer that one and referred it to theBrigadier. My other odd request was from a Germanwho was the private pilot to Count vonStauffenberg - to help him to join the R.A.F.Stauffenberg was a leading light involved in theattempted assassination of Hitler on 20 July 1944.I could not give the pilot any help.