Photos of the Bermuda Police Rugby Teams

Bermuda Police Rugby Team

Our Bermuda Police Rugby Team has a long and proud history and we have certainly had a significant number of players over the years who have donned Police blue shirts. There are no doubt many stories to be told, and we would like former team members and organizers to put pen to paper and provide us with their own personal memories.

To start things off we are publishing a series of rugby photos through the ages. We will try to put them in some sort of chronological order but this will require your assistance. We will also number each photo if they don’t have a title, so that wherever possible you can provide us with names, dates, details of the match or the tour etc. This can be done either through our Comments section below the main article, or by emailing us at expobermuda.com

Arthur Rose provided is with this photo of what he believes was the very first Police Rugby Team

Bermuda's first Police Rugby Team – taken in July 1954 at BAA Field

l-r Back Row - Robert Railton (Capt) (former professional for Whitehaven), Jack Ham, Bill Freeman, ?

Arthur Rose, Peter Jackson, ?, Jim McMaster, Collins (left to become Master at Arms on the Queen of Bermuda)

Front Row - Ted Burton, White, Frank Walsh, Charles Giltrap ,John Joe Sheehy, The Rt. Hon Raymond Barnwall.

In his memoirs published in our Then and Now column (CLICK HERE for article). Arthur says, "I always enjoyed my sports and in addition to playing in the Police football team I also played a few times for the Police rugby team organized by Bob Railton who was a former professional Rugby League player - I think it was for Whitehaven.

The photo I supplied is our very first Police Rugby Team taken at BAA Field (it is dated July 1954). We only played rugby once in a while, and it would usually be against visiting Royal Navy Ships. The players I can remember in the photo were Back Row (l-r) Bob Railton (Captain), Jack Ham, Bill Freeman, (unknown), myself, Peter Jackson (he married a Bermudian girl and later qualified as a doctor before moving to the Bahamas where I stayed with them while I was on a squash tour), (unknown) Jim McMaster, P.C. Collins (he left the Force to become a Master at Arms on the Queen of Bermuda), and Front Row - Ted Burton (who was very fast on his feet), P.C. White, Frank Walsh, Charlie Giltrap (who left the Force to go to Kenya), John Joe Sheehy, and the Rt. Hon. Raymond Barnwall.

Photo 2 Bermuda Police Team win the Nicholl Shield 1961

Photo 3 - Another Nicholl Shield and other trophies

Photo 4 - Who is the scrum half?

Photo 5 - A Rugby Wedding

Photo 6 - Police Team in action 1962

Photos 7 and 8 - Nicholl Shield winners circa 1965

Photo 9 - Police Team mid-1960's

Photo 10

Another Nicholl Shield Victory (Who are the two children?)

Photo 11

Victorious Nichol Shield Winners - 1967

Back row (l-r) Dave Garland, Tommy Gallagher, Bill Pritchard, Barrie Meyers,

Dave Lunn, John Sharp, Ian Mitchell, Bob Massey and John Bailey (injured)

Kneeling - Vic O'Neill, Dick Johnson, John Williams, Jack Rouse,

Alex Forbes (Captain) Pat McBride, and Tom Sullivan

22nd December 2016

Dave Garland kindly provided us with the names of the players and the following information about this exciting Nichol Shield Final:-

John Bailey (standing right end) was our injured Captain. Alex Forbes, Vice Captain, was Captain of the team. Teachers had a wonderful team and Police were underdogs.
Police won 14-6, Dave Lunn went over from a line out, I converted. A short while later I dropped a goal and added three penalties before the final whistle. Alex loved his rugby,
He was inspired that day and showed a side I didn't know he had.

I received a tremendous hug from him at final whistle.