WW2 Reserve (Special) Constables

[Pigling]

I cannot find any information online about age limits for Special Constables in WW2. Can anyone help me with this?

My grandfather was born in 1872, had fought in the Boer War & WW1 and was a Special Constable in WW2. He would have been 67 in 1939 (I have proof of his birth in 1872), but on the 1939 register he gave his birth year as 1882.

My mother, born 1900, told me that he was commended for bravery for removing an unexploded bomb from a shop during the bombing of Sale, Cheshire, in December(?) 1941. I wish I could find written evidence of this!) He served until the end of the war, when he would have been 73 years old (but only 63 according to the 1939 Register)!

[Megan Roberts]

Have you tried searching newspaper archives for a report of the incident in Sale?

I just checked Findmypast, and their newspaper archive goes beyond 1941, and brings up quite a few hits if you search "unexploded bomb".

[Peter Goodey]

Have you tried Cheshire County Archives (or perhaps Manchester Archives)? Have you contacted the Museum of Policing in Cheshire?

[thewideeyedowl]

Hi Pigling and a very warm welcome to Brit Gen...

Here is a small amount of info about policing in WW2 and the need for Specials: https://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/history-f...it/polww2.html.

Basically, as the young and fit were needed for the war, police personnel inevitably got older and there was greater diversity, e.g. more women and more Specials.

As the others have said, checkout newspapers for the area; and, I believe, the BBC has (or had?)n a WW2 Memories project. That would be the sort of place where you might find some interesting personal accounts.

Hope you find something, somewhere.

Owl

[thewideeyedowl]

Is this your man: https://museumofpolicingincheshire.or...rt/Stuart.html. Let us know - I'm very curious!

Owl

[Pigling]

I was in touch with the Museum of Policing in Cheshire a few years ago and submitted the obituary of John Stuart, which is on their website. However, they had had no previous knowledge of him and my e-mail to them just before I asked this question, was pronounced 'Undeliverable' by MailerDaemon! The question of his age intrigues me. Would a 67 year old man be accepted as a Volunteer Policeman? Thank you for your suggestions.
Malcolm Bland

[Pigling]

Yes! I wrote it and supplied the photograph! But back then I did not have the benefit of the 1939 Register and did not think to do the maths! I knew him in the 1950s and he had many a fascinating story to tell an impressionable young lad, but it never occurred to me to write them down! Too late now! Most of the article I adapted from his obituary in the 'Hale & Bowden news' (I think.)

Now my interest in discovering Grandpa's motive for chopping 10 years off his age for the 1939 Register!

Thank you for your interest in this.

[Pigling]

Yes, thanks, I had found that Open University article but it did not tell me the maximum age allowed for acceptance into the Volunteer Police Force (Special Constables) at the outbreak of WW2.

[Pigling]

Thank you, Megan.
I have looked for this incident online in the National Newspaper Archive, without success and spent a whole day in Colindale, a few years ago, but no luck! As far as I can tell, the one bombing of Sale occurred in December 1941, when heavy flak turned the German bombers away from their target in Manchester and they simply dropped them as soon as they could, to lighten their weight, before racing for the coast. Sale was unlucky! This information came from my trip to Colindale where I searched all of 1940-1942! FMP is oversubscribed at the moment for newspaper research, so I'll try again later!