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    Nemesis

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    Posts posted by Nemesis

    1. Duplicate Issue of Medals

       

      General Service Medal 1918-1962 Bar Malaya Awarded to 4011014 Cpl WA Titmarsh RAF. Issued 1st May 1953.

      With medal transmission slip in box of issue

      General Service Medal 1918-1962 Bar CYPRUS awarded to 1876 Police Sergeant WA Titmarsh. In box of issue.

       

      William Arthur Titmarsh was awarded the General Service Medal with Clasp Malaya as a Corporal in The Royal Air Force. It may well be that he was a National Serviceman.

       

      At some point William became a Constable in the Metropolitan Police. He volunteered to go to Cyprus to assist the local powers in policing the Island during the EOKA Terrorist campaign. He served in the Island from 5th of March 1956 to the 4th of December 1957. All volunteers with the rank of constable were elevated to the rank of Sergeant whilst in Cyprus

      The UN Cyprus medal was with the group when purchased. The UN Cyprus Medal was issued from 1964 to present day, so it is unknown why it was in with the other two medals.

      Clearly the Malaya and Cyprus GSMs are to the same man, but were a duplicate issue.

      DSCN4934.jpeg

    2. 4 hours ago, Dave Wilkinson said:

      You could possibly try the current Sovereign Base Areas Police in Cyprus. They were established in 1962 and he may well have served with them. They may have some records that will assist.  There were other British Police Forces which existed in Cyprus viz:-

       

      War Dept. Police (Cyprus) 1960-64.

      Army Dept. Police (Cyprus) 1964-1968

      and Army Depot Police (Cyprus) 1968-1995

      I suspect that the historical records for those three forces may be held at Kew under a MoD Reference.

       

      I hope this is helpful.

       

      Dave.

      Thanks Dave  i will see what can be done. If I find out anything usefull I will post the info here.

      thanks

      Max

       

    3. Can anyone help with a Cyprus GSM named Inspr A Gibb.

      I have checked him against the Police roll in Cowleys book on the United Kingdom Police Unit to Cyprus 1955-1960 sent to assist in the Emergency. Theres no sign of him there.

      I don't think he will be in the Prison Service as the rank is not right for that department

      Could he be Local Police?

      Could he be Colonial Police ?

      Does anyone know where else to look.

      thanks

      Max

    4. 18 minutes ago, Dave Wilkinson said:

      I'm not quite sure what you mean when you refer to the security services. The term security services usually mean MI5 or MI6. I'm fairly confident that they would have no connection with the prison service. In many (but not all) British Colonies, the Prison Service often came under the management of the Commissioner/Chief of Police. Insofar as Cyprus is concerned I can confirm that the police and the prison service each had their own distinctive cap and collar badges. That was also the case in Palestine, where I can confirm that the Commissioner of Police did command both organisations. In all probability that was also the case in Cyprus.

      Dave. 

      Yes I agree. It was probably managed by the police , Security Services is more leaning towards MI5 etc. Have you read the book “ Policing EOKA “ quite a good read. I will dig it out and see if it mentions the Prison Service

    5. 35 minutes ago, bigjarofwasps said:

      Did we ever get to the bottom of whether a Sergeant Warder was in the Police or the Prison service? 
       

      There’s an example currently up for auction if anyone’s interested?

       

      2722375B-01D4-4C89-90B4-A3A46A09F909.jpeg


      I would have thought the Prison Warders would have been administered by the security services 

      Regarding the medal the naming on the medal should show a prison service number ,rank WDR initial and Name. Nothing else. 

      other scarce ranks on GSM Cyprus .  CSC ( Cyprus Special Constabulary )

      PS for Police Sergeant usually used for the British Civil Police sent from the UK to assist in the troubles.

      I have seen medals with a four digit number Rank initials and Surname and nothing else

      We will have to wait until the rolls become available then we might get an idea where a person was stationed

       

       

    6. I am trying to establish if a Female Constable Ivy A. Murray (nee Philips) served in Cyprus as part of the Liverpool City Police Contingent and would be grateful for any help. Thanks

      Hello. There is a PS 2089 DJ Murray on the Liverpool City list ,thats the only one listed ,no Phillips either. Do you have any other information about her. It may well be that she is listed elsewhere

      Regards

      Max

    7. Dear Nemisis. I read your articles and I am extremely interested for any information about your grandfather who as you mention was posted in the Cyprus prison service and worked as an interrogator. I am a amateur researcher about the EOKA period in Cyprus 1955-59. I would appreciate if you would get in touch with me. I am livingin Brisbane Australia. My e-mail is : katoomba.latsia@cytanet.com.cy

      Friendly

      Michel Hajilyra

      Sent you an email Michel. It is CLP01 who contributed to this thread that you need to speak to

      Best regards

      Max

    8. Max,

      My apologies for the delay in replying. I'm sorry but I can't answer your question. I'm sure that an enquiry with the Cyprus Police or alternatively the National Archives at Kew may bring forth an answer. Probably the National Archives would be a better bet as I suspect that unless the current Cyprus Police have a historian or an individual serving with an interest in their history then your enquiry may go unanswered. Best of luck.

      Dave.

      Thanks Dave. I sent a message to the Police Museum in Nicosia ,will keep you informed of any response,the Nat Archives would no doubt be the place to look.

      Best Regards

      Max

    9. Heres another Cyprus Police question , I saw a GSM clasp Cyprus awarded to 6119 CSC ( cyprus special constable ) D.Hunter. So the naming is 6119 CSC D Hunter. Was it the British government who administered Special Constables, as he has a European name its fair to say that he was a resident and volunteered as a Spec Constable ? Or would he have been under the Cypriot Police control.

      Thanks for reading this

    10. Is there a ' U.K. Police Contingent - Cyprus ' Association ? If so they might be able to help,or at least advise on the numbering system,ie did the officers retain their Home Force numbers or were they allocated new Cyprus Numbers on their appointment there,which seems most likely.I cannot find any number in the 1000 series in Cowley's book.This might give an indication of when he joined.I have seen somewhere that Cowley could be contacted through Medal News.Good hunting.!

      There seems to be lots of 1000 series numbers in the Palestine Police , I wonder if theres a connection

    11. Hi, My Grandfather has just passed away, and in his possesions there is information about his service in ww2 as an RAF pilot, He was stationed in Cyprus after the war and joined The Cyprus prison service, he held the rank of sergeant in the prison service, and was transferred from the prison services to the colonial police with the rank of Inspector in 1955. He spoke Greek and told me about working also as an interrogator, i'm not sure if it was with or against EOKA, Just before his death he mentioned to me that he had had a letter saying that he was entitled to the colonial police medal for service in Cyprus.

      Interesting life,did he get the cyprus GSM

    12. Thanks for advice, I bought the policing EOKA book from Cowleys company ,heres some info I got from a collector,

      there is nobody of the surname 'Dixon' in the book, and it covers all the UK county force members, I know its a fairly common name, but not one at all in the roll, which covers a four year period! There is also nobody in the Police / Prisons in the 1959 Cyprus Staff List either.

      I suspect this only leaves a couple of options, Colonial Police, which differs from UK Police Unit or possibly Base Unit Police, i.e Army / RAF etc.

      I don't think Prisons, the rank is wrong, they used WDR and S/WDR and also I.P. (Inspector) A.S.P. etc for higher ranks, I have not seen Sgt in use with regard to a British Warder.

      I am afraid this one will be a 'hard nut to crack' without the aid of the medal roll, or some earlier Cyprus Staff Lists, which are quite hard to locate.

    13. Apart from British based Police does anyone know if Colonial Police assisted in the EOKA conflict. I bought a General Service Medal bar Cyprus recently to 1011 Sgt H Dixon and hope to find out where his home unit was. He is not a member of HM Forces ,hence the search of police officers
      The details on the medal are 1011 Sgt H Dixon , I am told that he wasnt prison service so that leaves the possibility of him being a colonial policeman

      Thanks for reading this

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