Inspector R

Hello Peter My research into Tom WIlkin has now yielded new information for which Pat Bishop must take all the credit. His assassins were not hanged. David Shomron the man who pulled the trigger, was still alive in 2011 and sipped coffee with Pat Bishop as he interviewed him for his book, in Jerusalem. Shomron bragged to Bishop how he and his co-assassin had drawn lots for the 'honour' of shooting the man thought to be present at the shooting of Stern. Tom was walking down a country road to his place of work some 2 miles away. Tom always carried his service revolver to this right and his briefcase to his left. The assassins had dressed to look like Englishman and they doffed their Panama hats but as they passed although he saw them draw he could get his revolver out in time and they emptied the entire magazine into his body (10 or 12 shots I can't remember). In fact, Tom had tried to forestall any potential escape by Stern and had left the scene before Stern was shot trying to escape. The real reason for Tom Wilkin's assassination was because he was a brilliant investigator who could persuade by questioning alone suspects to give up their secrets. Reading the account, I think it must have been all Pat Bishop could do not to show his utter disgust.

Hi Peter can we have a chat about the BPPA and Tom Wilkin?. We are considering having a gala dinner next year to celebrate and mark the centenary of civil police rule in Palestine . We hope to have Patrick Bishop - author of The Reckoning and others who have written on Palestine attend as speakers .The dinner may be held in London with subsidised accommodation available to members. Tom Wilkin is being considered as the featured officer. I have done a lot of research on him since then and Pat Bishops book certainly illustrates him and there is now a best selling novel in Israel about the love affair between him and Shoshone. My email is ralphcairns@hotmail.co.uk if you prefer to reply privately best regards Ralph

Hi Peter Now you are really intruiging me! Could he have had children?! And in the north too? It’s doubtful though I think because they aren’t mentioned in his headstone - even if he’d been divorced then surely his kids would’ve been mentioned? But not necessarily you know if his parents controlled what was out in the stone. It’s just seems strange I tracked the guy who bought the ticket to Palestine from Liverpool to being an East Lancs postman - when his dad was a postman in Norfolk. Could just be a coincidence but sounds like it might be a fruitful avenue. Is wife and kids in east Lancs/ west yorks just conjecture or have you any info? But Florrie? Did she marry and have kids? Do you know? That would appear to be the best avenue. I could check his mothers family of course but they’d have a different surname. Just on another connected issue .you don’t know if Morton’s children are still in Cheltenham do you? Ralph

Hi Peter You should come to the BPPA dinner I would love to meet you. I will firstly add what I know about Tom Wilkin. It’s interesting you say he was born down south as he appears to have traveled to Palestine from Liverpool. His ticket and the passenger list can be found on the Internet. It would appear - if my research is right that as an adult he lived in east Lancashire and was a postman before joining the force. I am going to try and check this with his PP records but as you may know DFID are still being coy about these although they have officially been declassified. He had been promoted and transferred abroad after my uncles death but returned and was seen as a danger to The remnants of the Stern gang due to his clever interview techniques which tricked prisoners into revealing information. My uncle utilised a forensic style but together they borrowed techniques form the 1930s Chicago Police utilising what is now perceived as a discredited “good cop - bad cop” technique. He met his death walking past a tennis court where his two assassins pretended to be playing a game but had revolvers hidden in the undergrowth - they asked him to retrieve a ball and when he walked toward them one assassin picked up one gun and fired multiple shots - quickly followed by the other. He was a potential head of force - steady quiet softly spoken. My uncle was more outgoing and gregarious - a pianist, singer and poet but a tough hard headed and relentless pursuer - who first identified Stern as the brains behind the bombing of a train in Haifa in April 1938 which killed Arabs and two policeman. Inspector Cairns identified Stern , Wilkin, then also an inspector - was present at his death and indeed the man who discovered him hiding in a concealed wardrobe base - contrary to Morton’s account. Morton was sent for by Wilkin upon his discovery and not present at the initial arrest as he claims in his book. Both men are buried in what is now known as the Protestant Cenetary but was previously known as the Bishop Gobec cemetery. The formal chapel now houses the American school. Also buried there is Inspector Ron Barker who died alongside my uncle innthe blast and Arthur Collange, Inspector Cairns’ best friend who died the month before in a shooting and which prompted him to redouble his efforts to bring his killers to justice ( two teenagers one male one female) . They were desperate times for the British police. But what shines through my uncles letters and articles in the PP magazine is the humour and humanity that never left them. My question to you is: do you still have his medals? If so may I ask if you purchased them off the family direct? I am interested in trying to locate any of his remaining family in GB. I think Tom himself might have had a Jewish fiancé at the time of his death but am unsure about this. Kind Regards Ralph

Hello Peter i have just joined but know a lot about this man. He was my uncle’s sergeant before my uncle was assassinated by the same group. They worked as a team and were the two most successful investigators of their day. I am very interested to communicate with you regarding this man. I am the deputy treasurer and legal advisor to the British Palestine Police Association - we can be found on Facebook. I am the moderator of the page. I am currently writing a piece for the centenary of the British Mandate in Palestine and Wilkin is one of four men who are to be featured. He was present at the death of Avraham Stern at the hands of Geoffrey Morton. I should be happy to exchange any information regarding this man if you care to co tact me either through the BPPA Facebook page or on this forum yours Ralph