Cap Badge of Inspector & Above, LNER 1923 - 49

[leigh kitchen]

A badge of The London & North Eastern Railway Police, formed in 1921 when the 1921 Railways Act amalgamated over one hundred separate railway systems, about 20 of which had police forces.

On 1/1/1949 they became part of The Transport Commission Police.

This badge was identified for me a couple of days ago, (thanks to peter4447 & daverpol of The British & Commonwealth Military Badge Forum)it’s of white metal with what appear to be small traces of chrome on the reverse & on the lugs.

It was worn by Inspectors & above, in white metal until 1936 & then in chrome finish until 1949.

The 1921 Railways Act formed four groups of railways:

The Great Western Railway (G.W.R.)

The London and North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R.)

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (L.M.S.)

The Southern Railway (S.R.)

Each of these had its own police force, each with its own Chief of Police, divided into Divisions under a Superintendent, & then into Posts under an Inspector.

Duties not normally thought of as police duties were retained, personnel acting as crossing keepers etc.

The LNER was formed from:

The Great Eastern Railway

The Great Central Railway

The Great Northern Railway

The Great North of Scotland Railway

The Hull and Barnsley Railway

The North British Railway

The North Eastern Railways

The North Eastern Railway was the largest and most successful of these, all of which had their own police forces.

The LNER Police was one of the largest Police Forces in the Country.

Its Headquarters was at York, its three Areas; North-Eastern, Scottish and Southern, were split into Divisions headed by a Superintendent.

NORTH EASTERN AREA (Headquarters at Newcastle)

Northern Division

Newcastle (Divisional HQ)

Sunderland

West Hartlepool

Southern Division

York (Divisional Headquarters)

Darlington

Middlesbrough

Leeds

Eastern Division

Hull (Divisional HQ)

SCOTTISH AREA (Headquarters at Edinburgh)

Scottish Division

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Dundee

Dunfirmline

SOUTHERN AREA (Headquarters at Wellers Court, Pancras Road, London NW1.)

London Division

Kings Cross (Divisional HQ)

Farringdon Street

Marylebone

Liverpool Street

Bishopsgate

Stratford

Sheffield Division

Sheffield (Divisional HQ)

Manchester

Bradford

Nottingham

Leicester

Grimsby Division

Grimsby (Divisional HQ)

Grimsby Docks

Doncaster

Peterborough

Cambridge Division

Cambridge (Divisonal HQ)

Ipswich

Norwich

Parkeston Quay

In 1935 the establishments of these forces were increased. The LNER Police recruits were trained at other forces training schools, most other forces issued a Manual of Guidance to their recruits & expected them to train & study in their own time. The Southern Railway transferred existing employees into their police on secondment & appointed them if found to be suitable, The L.M.S. preferred ex-servicemen.

On 1st January 1949 the British Transport Commission Police were created from the railway police forces, canal police and minor dock forces, commanded by the Chief Officer (Police) British Transport Commission & consisting of six areas each led by a Chief of Police.

With an establishment of 3,890, The B.T.C. Police was the second largest police force in the country.

Also in 1949 The Transport Act 1949 repealed legislation relating to the Railway Police and BTC Police were appointed under Section 53 of the Act.

In 1962 The British Transport Commission was abolished & since that date the force has been The British Transport Police.

Over the years B.T.C.P. & B.T.P. survived despite various cost cutting measures involving their proposed disbandment or splitting into smaller forces being considered, their pay & conditions have lapsed behind those of other police forces at times to such an extent that they lost hundreds of officers to other forces, but they survive today.

Edited December 2, 2010 by leigh kitchen

[Gordon Craig]

Leigh,

Thanks for this interesting history lesson. It never ceases to amaze me that so much history can lay behind something as small as this badge appears to be.

Regards,

Gordon