This section of our website is intended for you to keep in touch with all of your fellow colleagues who have served in the Bermuda Police. We started this column by putting all entries on one post but soon realized that it would stretch for far too long so we are doing it by each year- and this one is for 2018.
We welcome news, however brief, and would also encourage you to send us recent photos. Sadly we sometimes have to report "bad" news such as illnesses - or worse - but we are always delighted to receive positive news! We can be contacted through our email address or through the comments column at the bottom of each article, including this one.
17th November
Paul Singh - We just heard from Paul and Lorna Singh who are presently enjoying the holiday of a lifetime touring Europe and North Africa. They started their journey in Madrid, then it was off to Salamanca where they visited the great university at Lorna Almata, then it was over to Portugal to visit the great Coimbra university after which they took a train to Lisbon and Seville.
They left Europe by ferry from Tarifa via the Straight of Gibraltar to Tangier in Morocco where they explored The Blue Media of Chefchaouen, the city with “10,000 streets of which 9,000 are cull de sacs, where everything is blue and they toured 8th century mosques,
After visiting Djena Square, the biggest in the world, they hiked up the Atlas Mountains – the 2nd highest in Africa, home of the Berbers, drove over rugged mountains then on through the desert where they picked dates and olives, rode camels, and took in breathtakingly beautiful Sahara sunsets.
At latest report they were in the South Sahara where donkeys are the SUV’s of the region.
15th November
We just received this photo from John Headey of a group he aptly describes as "East End Scottish Beer Monsters" along with a visitor who happens to be John's father-in-law, the late Mr. John Brown, who also loved his beer and was at his happiest in the old St. George's PRC bar. This is NOT an advertisement for the brand of beer displayed on two of these "T" shirts!
Bob Kinnon had a surprise visitor at his golf club recently. Paul Dellanzo who served in Bermuda from 1975 - 1977 turned up to say hello. After leaving Bermuda Paul joined the Toronto police. He now has his own business and lives with his wife Sue in the Wakefield area. Bob and Paul have not seen each other for 41 years so it was great to catch up. Paul has promised to contact ExPo website to write an article about himself and his family. He asks to be remembered to past colleagues.
13th November
UPDATE - Colleen McBride has kindly been in touch with us and advised that, "the Celebration of Pat’s life will be held on Friday November 16th. at 2pm, at Bradner Community Hall, 5305 Bradner Road. Abbotsford B.C. Bradner is the small community where we live, and Pat loved it here. Again... Thank you. "
12th November
Pat McBride and Nick Bolton - As reported in our Latest News column (see http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/715-sad-news-about-the-death-of-pat-mcbride ) our old friend Pat McBride died in Abbotsford, BC, on 9th November, and we have received numerous messages about his tragic loss, none more so that the following message from Nick Bolton:-
"This is very sad news, in many ways the end of an era. I remember well my first meeting with Pat . On June 6th 1973 at 1645 hrs we had just landed and were met by Murphy, Meade and McBride.They had one of those big old vans that were used to transport the riot squads. On the way to Prospect we came across an MVA (still called a 10-56 ?) and Pat was junior man so he had to get out and assist until a unit attended. The rest of us continued on to HQ where we were met by Sykes Smith who bought us all a beer.
We then went through a (thankfully) shortened Basic Course with Pat as the PTI.
Imagine my joy when I got here and found Pat was the PTI at the BC Police Academy. He was highly respected and well liked here in BC , many people have told me how influential he was on both their personal and professional development."
Nick very kindly forwarded to us the Departmental announcement of his passing which reads as follows:-
Last night retired Inspector Patrick Aloysius McBride PIN #126 passed away after a long and difficult health battle. Pat served with the Matsqui and Abbotsford Police Departments from 1975 until his retirement on June 30,1999. He also served with the Royal Marines, Glasgow City Police, Bermuda Police and Delta Police. If you had the privilege of knowing Pat you will remember him as a sharp witted, tenacious and proud member of the department. He was an ex Royal Marine who brought his toughness to the JIBC when he was a PT instructor. A steep hill behind the old JIBC on West 4th was named after him and he expertly used ”McBride Hill” to break, test and build new recruits. Pat also coached our men’s and women’s tug of war teams to several world championships instilling a pride in all of us as we defeated some of the largest police departments in North America.
Those of us that have been around a while remember the personalities of the “old guys” when we started; and Pat is one of those personalities. He struck fear into new members and ensured that no matter what time you arrived at your first briefing you would be greeted in thick Scottish accent with “YOU’RE LATE”. After that initial encounter he would ask you “What’s a police officer’s most important tool?”; those of us that knew him have that answer. After that, and once you proved yourself Pat was one of the best and most supportive bosses anyone could ask for.
Pat received the Medal of Bravery in 1984 for his actions during the Matsqui Prison Riot for being a part of a team that landed a helicopter on a burning roof at the Matsqui Penitentiary rescuing staff members.
He also received the Medal of Bravery for a fire rescue in 1983 one of very few people to have two awards of this medal.
http://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/121-58415
Pat became the historian of our agency and wrote “Police, Politicians and Pioneers” which was the history of Matsqui PD from 1905-1925 then 1955 to 1995.
Pat lived in Abbotsford after his retirement and is survived by his wife Colleen.
Our thoughts go out to his family.
4th November
Dave Long - We just received this lovely photo of David and Penny Long with their two beautiful grandchildren enjoying a very busy fun weekend while visiting their grandparents home in Daytona Beach.
David served in the Bermuda Police from 1964 – 1967 and spend most of his time in Traffic and pursuing the love of his life Penny (Stevens), a Bermudian. They tied the knot in 1966 and have been happily married for over 50 years . The two moved to the US in 1966 so David could pursue his dream of becoming an airline pilot, and after building many hours of flight time employed as a Corporate Pilot he qualified to fly with the airlines. He had a great career and retired as a Captain for Continental Air Lines, a major American carrier flying worldwide. He enjoyed nothing more than flying into Bermuda on his scheduled routes out of Newark, New Jersey, and encountered many fellow Policemen as passengers on his flights.
David wrote an article for our “Then and Now” column which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/17-dlong
As some of you may know, we recently introduced a new column on “Grandparents” featuring our former colleagues who are now proud grandparents, and after receiving the above photo and several other lovely shots of their grandchildren, David and Penny more than qualify to be included in our column.
If you have grandchildren we would be delighted to hear from you and to receive photos for publishing in our Grandparents column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/lia/530-grandparents
31st October
Trevor Menzies - We just received the following from Trevor and his wife Pauline who are now residing in Lockerbie:-
Finally retired from hospitality industry in January 2017 and moved to Lockerbie. (We have Trevor’s contact details if you wish to get in touch with him).
Pauline and I are in good health and enjoying our belated retirement concentrating on bowls and golf. We still seem to be involved in the hospitality field as we seem to always have someone staying with us which we really enjoy, with having no family.
I was speaking to Tom Christie on Sunday and memories of times spent with Jimmy Robertson and Alan Kennedy were the main topic of conversation. Both of us were deeply upset with deaths of Jimmy and Alan. Tom and his wife Margaret are well, and I hope to visit them in the near future.
Have had a visit from Jimmy McIlwain and need to get back in touch with John “Coco” Eve.
How is it that three years in Bermuda becomes the most memorable part of a very varied life. Still homesick for the Islands.
I've attached an up-to-date photograph showing the aging couple!
Hope you are well. Regards to anyone who has even the faintest memory of yours truly.
Trevor Menzies.
Editors note - Great to hear from Trevor who wrote an excellent article for our Then and Now column which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/229-tmenzies. Have forwarded his details to John “Coco” Eve.
26th October
Bob Kinnon and John Riordan - These two "old friends" recently met up at Bob's golf club in Huddersfield for a round of golf. They had not seen each other for 43 years so it was great to catch up and talk about the good old days. They won t wait so long for the next game.
27th September
Iain Morrison - After recently receiving the photo below of Iain Morrison with Dave O’Meara taken at Dave’s home in Altea, and having seen Iain and his wife Jennifer here in Bermuda earlier in the year, we contacted Iain to enquire what he’s doing these days when he’s not on holiday in Spain.
Iain wrote back the following:-
“Having retired from the BPS in March 2007, we’ve spent the last decade or so living in Scotland (Banchory, Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh), with annual visits to Bermuda. Now that our children, Calum (28) and Alanna (25) have headed off, Jennifer and I decided that we would reverse that and spend more time back in Bermuda and less in Scotland. So, the plan is to have the winters in Bermuda and much of the humid part of the Bermuda summer in Edinburgh and Europe.”
Iain sent us these lovely photos of he and Jennifer with their children. Calum now lives and works in Sevilla, Spain, and teaches English for a Government funded programme at one of the universities. Alanna works on a super yacht based out of Antigua.
To the best of our knowledge Iain (Ex Staffs & Stoke Constabulary) is still a Stoke City supporter, who managed to convert Frankie Foggo to become a Potters fan many years ago, during their time of working together in Traffic. Despite being relegated from the Premier League to the Championship, we believe Iain remains a loyal supporter, and judging by Frankie’s attire he is still a huge fan of the Potters.
Editors note - I feel their pain being a “Stokey” myself!
26th September
Dave O’Meara and Iain Morrison meet up in Spain - We recently received this great photo from Dave O’Meara of himself with our old friend Iain Morrison taken last month at Dave and Jan O’Meara’s home in Altea, Spain.
Dave explained that Iain and his wife Jennifer were visiting family members not far away from Altea and they arranged to meet up with Dave and Jan at a local restaurant. After months of gloriously sunny weather Dave says the heavens opened as they were sitting outside having lunch together under a “sun” umbrella, but undaunted, the foursome toured the local area and had a few drinks at the O’Meara’s before the Morrison’s headed back.
Dave says it was great catching up with each other because this was the first time they had been together since Iain and Jennifer departed Bermuda over 10 years ago.
Dave, who is very partial to golf these days, is always keen to see former colleagues from the Bermuda Police and he extends an open invitation to his old friends to visit him and Jan when visiting Spain.
Bermuda Re-union, Cheltenham - We have received these photos of the Bermuda Re-union in Cheltenham held at the Holiday Inn Express hotel on 6thand 7thSeptember, and organized by Angus Brown. From all accounts the reunion was very enjoyable for all who attended and we look forward to hearing their first-hand accounts of the gathering.
10th September
Passing of Retired Chief Inspector Phil Every - We were deeply saddened to hear of the death of our very good friend and former colleague, Retired Chief Inspector Phillip 'Phil' Every who died on 1st September 2018 in Horsham, Sussex. Phil is survived by his wife Nicky, other relatives and friends in Bermuda and around the World.
Condolences can be sent to:- Mrs. N. Every, The Beaches, 3 Willowmead, Southwater, Horsham RH13 9AT, England, or by email to nickysykes@btinternet.com Phil was a very popular and highly respected police officer who was also very liked by all who served with him. On behalf of all of our ExPo colleagues we send our sincere condolences to Nicky and to all of Phil's family and friends.
We have received the following information from Nicky with regard to funeral arrangements for Phil in the U.K.
Dear All,
For those of you who have asked for the details of arrangements for Phil’s funeral they are as follows:-
There will be a cremation at Muntham Chapel, Worthing Crematorium, Horsham Road, Findon, West Sussex BN14 0RQ on the 21st September at 2.40 pm. There will only be family flowers but donations can be made to St Catherine’s Hospice and the RNLI at Aberavon, Port Talbot through mail@freemanbrothers.co.uk/remember. There is plenty of parking. However it is advisable to be there in ample time as the service will commence sharply.
I would like you to join me afterwards at the Findon Manor Hotel, High Street, Findon, West Sussex, BN14 OTA for afternoon tea. As we need numbers for catering please RSVP if you are wishing to attend.
Love
Nicky
Editors note - There will also be a Memorial Service held for Phil here in Bermuda at a date to be date to be announced later
28th August
Passing of Christopher "Chris" Reynolds-Hole - We have received the sad news that our friend and former colleague Christopher (Chris) Reynolds-Hole died in the UK on 22nd June. We heard the news from another former P.C. Paul Butterworth who came out to Bermuda with Chris and both went through Basic Training in January 1965. We don’t have any more details at the moment but would like to pass on our sincere condolences to Chris’s wife Fiona and the rest of his family.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate Chris’s personnel file which usually contains an officer's warrant card photo, but here is the photo of Basic Training Course #6. Looking through the photo we also note that Jimmy Robertson, Barry Smith and Paul Farrell are no longer with us.
Peter Gimson - Peter has been in touch with us to say he is going to be here in Bermuda on vacation with several family members from 1st – 15th September, staying in Smith’s Parish and he would like to visit the PRC to meet up with old friends and colleagues on a Thursday afternoon during his stay. We have suggested that he does so on Thursday 6th September.
Peter just read on our website that Phil Scarcliffe aka "The star from Zanzibar" was here in Bermuda recently and may still be on Island, and if so he would like to renew an old acquaintance. That’s not a nickname I’ve ever heard used to describe Phil but I’ll add it to our List of Nicknames and then try to discovered the reason for it! To the best of my knowledge Phil is still here and at last report was busy painting his house - hot work in the middle of August.
"Sue from Philly" - We just heard from Sue Gardner (“Sue from Philly”) who spent five happy years in Bermuda from 1975 to about 1980, first as a teacher in Somerset and then as a U.S. Customs officer at the airport. Sue has been back to the Island many times as a visitor and is planning to return for a vacation in September. Sue asks if the guys are still meeting up at the PC on Thursday afternoons and she will no doubt call in while on Island.
27th July
Bob Porritt, John Headey and Paul Hendrick - We recently received this photo of a trio of our former colleagues, Bob Porritt, with John Headey on the left and Paul Hendrick on the right at a local pub in West Yorkshire. Bob sent us the photo and wanted us to note the unusual British summer weather! That may be considered a bit of an understatement as the UK is now basking in the hottest summer ever recorded with temperatures in the high 90’s and likely to exceed 100 degrees this week.
Bob regularly gets in touch with us through our website and is featured in a number of articles, including one about his lifestory in our 'Then and Now' column which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/111-rporritt He is also featured in our Grandparents column along with his 4 grandchildren which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/lia/530-grandparents
Bob and Paul both joined the Bermuda Police in 1970. Paul is on a flying visit to England from his new home in Spain to deal with family business and watch a Huddersfield Town game with John who is a devoted fan.
After leaving Bermuda, Paul spent many years in Canada working as Director of Security and Fire Safety at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Paul left Canada fairly recently due to the cold winters not agreeing with his health. We have featured Paul in several articles on our website, including one in our 'Then and Now' column which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/130-phendrick
John Headey is the third member of our trio and John joined the Bermuda Police in 1971, and he spent most of his service in Eastern Division. John also keeps in touch with us, and his daughter, Lena, who was born here in Bermuda, is now an internationally acclaimed actress who might be almost better known as Queen Cersei Lannister, one of the major stars in Game of Thrones. We featured Lena in an article after she made international headlines when “Queen Cersei” met with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on the set of Queen of Thrones. You can view this article at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/290-headeyarticle
If you check out our Grandparents column mentioned above you will also find two articles about John and his two grandchildren and on one occasion being visited by his grandson and practicing football with granddad in - what else - a Huddersfield Town strip!
After his get together with his two old mates Bob commented, “It is amazing how each reunion can bring forth other long forgotten bits of information. Long may we continue. Regards to all your members. Bob Porritt”
Editors note – We are always delighted to receive articles and photos from our former colleagues, wherever you are these days. If you feel like putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, you could always consider writing your own lifestory for our “Then and Now” column (it can be as brief or as lengthy as you please), and if you happen to have grandchildren please consider sending us a of you and your offspring along with some information about you and your grandchild or grandchildren. Here is one great example of a very devoted granddad with his two gorgeous grandchildren
19th July
Phil Scarcliffe - What a surprise it was this afternoon to walk into the PRC bar and see a very familiar face on the 'customers' side of the bar! Our old friend Phil Scarcliffe is back on Island and he likes to call in at the PRC whenever he gets a chance to do so. Phil served in the Bermuda Police from April 1976 until his retirement in September 2002, and for quite a few years Phil was Manager of the Police Club. Since his retirement he and his wife Beverly spend time at their home here in Bermuda but also enjoy travelling abroad. They love to spend time in Florida, in Portugal, and in England where their two sons are now working. Phil is thoroughly enjoying life but he's presently hard at work painting his house - in the middle of summer!
9th July
Steve Taylor - We just heard from our Past ExPo President Steve Taylor, now settled back in the Liverpool area, who had a tremendous experience last weekend at a three day Air Show at Southport Beach.
Steve came out to Bermuda back in November 1971 along with a fellow police officer, Steve Peterson, both of whom had served in the Liverpool Police prior to being hired by the BPS.
Steve had heard from Steve Peterson that his son, Jim, would be taking part in an RAF Typhoon Display at the Air Show. On arrival at the venue Steve says, “I just walked over to the Typhoon booth, on the off chance of seeing him, figuring that Jim would be getting ready with his plane, but there he stood just prior to heading to nearby John Lennon Airport where he was taking off from.”
Steve has written the following on his Facebook page - "After not seeing "little" *s* James since 1981 when he left Bermuda as a four year old with his Mum Liz, and his Dad, my former Bermuda Police colleague Steve Peterson, and even littler brother, I was so very fortunate enough to meet up with him and catch Flt. Lt. Peterson at The Royal Air Force Typhoon Display Team booth at The Southport Air Show just prior to him heading to nearby John Lennon Airport to strap himself into The Typhoon - also known as The Eurofighter - with a maximum speed of 1.8 Mach - that he so spectacularly piloted and closed the 3 day event with the most amazing manoeuvres of climbing and diving and rolling and fly pasts with the most incredible speed and noise from the 2 Eurojet EJ200 Turbojets to the cheers and applause from the thousands and thousands in attendance....CONGRATULATIONS Jim and thanks for making it such an amazing and exciting experience for me.....stay safe up there...."
Steve and Liz who live down south were not there on this occasion but they must be extremely proud of their son who is one of a rare breed of RAF pilots who have reached the ‘pinnacle’ of their profession in every sense of the word!
Editors note - You may notice that Steve is wearing an "England" shirt. He assures us that he had been avidly following the progress of our England football team in the World Cup and is planning to head into Liverpool City Centre to watch the semi-final as he did for the quarter final......City totally jammed with supporters with the most incredible ELECTRIC atmosphere......ENJOY our WIN..!!!!....
24th June
Don Urquart and "Shoes" - We just heard from Don Urquart who must be our most travelled ExPo member of all time. Don has just been on a 4 month "Walkabout" in the U.K. and is now back in Australia where he caught up with Ian Coyles in Surfer's Paradise last week. Don is already planning to attend the Bermuda reunion being orgbnized by Angus Brown in Cheltenham in September. He must surely have shares in Qantas!
Don wrote to us regarding a query about how Roger "Shoes" Needham acquired his nickname, and it must surely be a prizewinner in the "Most Original" awards.
Don writes, "I served with Roger 'Shoes' Needham in the MCPS in 1981, a great guy with a marvellous sense of humour and a man with style! Who could forget him, resplendent in dinner jacket, following his bout with Dave Shakeshaft in the 1978 PRC boxing? I catch up with him when I visit the UK, Bob Kinnon and Steve Peterson often join us. My knowledge of how he came by his nickname is second hand, acquired, along with a wealth of other knowledge, in the PRC bar! I make no claims of accuracy. Apparently, when Shoes was in Training School he turned out for Morning Parade with a particularly impressively bulled pair of black shoes. Sadly, on coming to attention, with accompanying requisite stamping of feet, the outer layer of illicitly applied liquid polish broke up, revealing a dull, grey finish. Hence the name, Shoes! Regards Don Urquhart, Sydney, Australia."
21st June
Making contact with Nick Bolton - We just received a comment from Sean Kendy who is an old friend of Nick Bolton from their time spent in the Royal Military Police in Kosovo. Sean had apparently been trying to contact Nick for many years and Nick had been trying to do the same with Sean. Sean must have googled "Nick Bolton" and discovered our ExPo website which includes our "Then and Now" article on Nick which can be viewed at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/99-nickbolton
I forwarded Sean's enquiry to Nick who has written back and also sent me the photos below. He reply was as follows:-
"Roger, thank you for going to the trouble of forwarding the email from Sean. I remember him well; we had some good times working together while in Kosovo.
I also tried to get in touch with him with no luck. These websites are a boon for things like that.
I am well retired , finished with the training school and moved further down the valley to a town called Chilliwack (just over 100 km E of Vancouver and a couple of miles north of the border) surrounded by mountains and farmland. As you saw from the Chilliwack Fish and Game Protective Association (CF&G) web site I am the Club President and a good amount of my time is taken up with club business and particularly at the moment with a large renovation we are doing. I keep an active shooting schedule and also like to get up in the mountains sometimes on foot, occasionally using an ATV.
I am also very fond of sitting in an armchair and doing nothing!
This photo of Nick is Chilliwack laid out below in the valley.
A friend and I were checking out some trails in the mountains just south of Chilliwack yesterday. just 10 days ago we couldn’t get along the higher trails because of the snow.
9th June
Getting Together in Blackpool - Steve Taylor, Bill Webster and Phil Starr.
We just received this great photo of three of our lads getting together on 7th June in Blackpool for a beer or two!
Steve and Bill last got together in April 2017 for a reunion in Liverpool with a group of the guys who joined the Bermuda Police in 1980, (see article at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/570-reunion-in-liverpool-for-1980-recruits)
Steve wrote and sent us this photo noting that on this occasion he and Bill were joined by Phil Starr, who served for 3 years from 1981-1983 and was stationed down in St. George’s. Steve wasn’t sure if we had ever featured Phil on our website (we had not), and he told us that Phil and his wife are now living on a narrow canal boat at Northwich.
Steve wasn't sure if he would remember Phil, but Phil immediately recalled Steve being in Eastern CID and dealing with a case in which Phil had been on duty outside the Pub On The Square dealing with an incident when he was hit on the head by a man with a crash helmet. The culprit was imprisoned for the offence, but neither Steve nor Phil could recall the name of the culprit or what prison sentence he received.
Steve is a Past President of Expo and he was very involved in reviving the Association after a long period in the doldrums. He sends his best regards to all his former colleagues, and as reported on our website he recently paid a short visit to Bermuda to meet up here on Island with old mates.
Editors note - I’m green with envy at the thought of Phil and his wife living on a narrowboat (barge) in this part of the world. My wife and I once spent a holiday with our two young children on a rented canal barge on the same canal that runs through Northwich. My kids still say it’s the best holiday they ever had, so much so that we’re thinking on renting two narrowboats next year and taking our children and grandchildren on the same trip. I would highly recommend it.
On 10th June 2018 we received the following comment from Mike Cherry about spending holidays on the English canals:-
I agree with your assessment of holidays on the English canals and the decision by Phil Starr and his wife to live aboard a narrow boat. Over the years our family has had many holidays on the canals including the Kennet and Avon down south, and Midland ones including the Grand Union, Coventry, Ashby, and the Trent and Mersey as far as Middlewich and the Anderton Lift, but not quite as far as Northwich. All very enjoyable, although my sister could never figure out why we would leave pink sands and blue skies behind to float around on dirty “cut” water.
One time after three days of rain our young grandson was heard to ask his uncle if “next time can we come in the Summer?” The quick response was “This is the Summer”.
4th June
Gary Osborne, who is now living in Australia, is visiting the Island for a week, arriving on Tuesday 26thJune, and would be delighted to meet up with his old friends and colleagues.
Gary joined the Bermuda Police in March 1985 and served here until April 1993. According to Police records he only served in Central Division (Uniform) but he was no doubt transferred elsewhere during his 8 years here, (It appears that police records were being transferred over to computer files in the early 1990’s).
Gary had served in the Ulster Constabulary prior to coming to Bermuda, and he arrived here on 7thMarch 1985 along with Mark Allen, Glyn Jones, Alan McFall, Ian Ringrose, Paul Wright, Meirion Roberts, John Hoefkens, Dave Peach, Nick Turnbull, Mark Vincent, Paul Towlson, Gary Staines, and Alan Johnston.
Just three of these recruits are still on Island and they are Paul Wright who is currently Deputy Commissioner, Gary Staines who is in the Criminal Intelligence Department, and Paul Towlson who is now retired.
We have heard from several of them such as Mark Vincent, who wrote an excellent article for our “Then and Now” column which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/487-mark-vincentin which he makes mention of his colleagues on his Initial Training Course.
We would be happy to receive information about all the others who came in this contingent. You can view a photo of this group of experienced police officers in our Latest News column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/671-gary-osborne-visiting-bermuda Can you help us identify everyone in the photo?
3rd June
Requests for old warrant card photos.
In our article posted on 31stMay (see below) about the “Fuzzy photo” sent to us by Mike Brown and Ken Van Thal, I mentioned that if anyone wanted to take the trouble to write to us and request a copy of their old warrant card photo from the Police Register, I would be happy to oblige - if it still exists!
There are literally hundreds of photos in the Police Registers going back to the 1950’s, and occasionally a little further back. Some are missing, some are absolutely tiny, while others have deteriorated, but with a little care it’s possible to restore most of them for a glimpse of what you looked like when you first joined the Bermuda Police.
I wondered if anyone would even read this comment, but sure enough, within 48 hours I received just such a request from what must presently be the hottest spot on the planet! It came from former P.C. 185, Mike Johnson, who served here from January 1961 – December 1963. Mike was writing from the Big Island in Hawaii, just 7 miles or so from the volcanic eruptions that are making headlines around the world.
Mike wrote, “I would love to have a copy of my warrant card pic. It was taken by my buddy, Mike Wood, probably about 1962, and is somewhat different, being a 3/4 front view rather than straight on.
“Currently living on the Big Island, Hawaii. About seven miles upwind of the Leilani Estates volcanic eruption. No present danger where I live, but world news seems to be of the opinion that the whole island will blow up any time soon!
“As I write this, I can see the glow of the eruptions reflected in the clouds; very impressive watching the majesty of Madam Pele's demonstration of power.
“This would be an interesting time to come visit, see the volcano from the ocean as the lava flows into the sea.
“Here is the URL for some great pix taken yesterday by the Hawaii Air National Guard flying over the scene.
“The situation is somewhat complicated by the fact that there is a thermal power plant in danger of being overcome by the lava flow, with uncertain results. Company operating is called PGV (Pahoa Geothermal Ventures) and is held by some local residents as being the spawn of hell. They have drilled into the earth's crust and sunk eleven wells about 8000 feet deep, generating electricity from the heat of the 'hot spot' under the Island. Somewhat like 'fracking', which is quite controversial.
“We are adopting a 'wait and see' attitude as to what will happen if the wells are fully engulfed by lava. Life is full of excitement here!
“My regards to any of my contemporaries in Bermuda. Dave Garland and Derek Jenkinson especially come to mind.”
Editors note - Fortunately, I already had a copy of Mike’s photo from the Police Register as seen above, but it wasn’t the one taken by Mike Woods.
By coincidence, I was due to meet Dave Garland for lunch the same day, and passed on Mike’s best regards to Dave who remembered him well and told me that Mike was an outstanding photographer who had his own photographic studio in his room at Cypher Block at Admiralty House. I wonder how many people have ever even heard of Cypher Block! I also noted from Mike’s file that he had been a member of Beach Patrol or Beach Squad in 1961.
I soon heard back from Mike who wrote, “About the photo, glad to receive it. However, it is not the one on my warrant card! I guess Woody put it in the file as a CYA, since what you sent is a picture of me in plain clothes (note the striped tie and sweater).
“Ah, yes, Beach Patrol! I guess I was in the first one formed, headed by Peter Rose, who moved to Canada with Gail and their baby, in the middle '60s. Sadly, long deceased. Gail has long been a snowbird, moving between Toronto and Florida. Pete's daughter I believe lives in Vancouver and is or was a State Prosecutor.
“I enjoy following the happenings of the old crowd, 'tho not many of my contemporaries are still above ground! I used to hear about Frank Mutch, but don't know if he still lives in Bermuda.
Lost touch over the years with most, but I remember Adrian Brindle, Tony Hopwood, John Sharpe, Morris Wilson Thorne, Ray Hackett and so many others. Try not to enquire too much as I hear that they are mostly deceased.
Good to hear from you, I appreciate the effort you make to keep us old farts up to date.
Regards, Mike
EDITORS NOTES - On checking our list of Police Officers by their date of jpining, I see that Mike joined on the same day, 4th June 1961, as the following recruits:- Tony Nuttall, James "Alan" Morrison, Tim Willis, Robert Bates, Trevor Langon, Gerald Stiles and John Sharp. They were followed on 7th January by Anthony Hopwood and William Peacock.
I mentioned that I had lunch with Dave Garland on the same day I received Mike's email. Some of you may be aware that Dave was quite seriously ill for a while and spent several weeks in King Edward Hospital, but I'm delighted to report that he recovering well and was in fine form at Flanagans Pub and Restaurant on Front Street where we had lunch with his son Chris who is an owner of Flanagan's which boats the best sports bar in Bermuda, and is also well worth a visit for their beer and good food.
2nd June
Golden Wedding Congratulations to Keith and Nadine Hatfield - We were absolutely delighted to receive this photograph from Keith Hatfield taken with his wife, Nadine, and their family celebrating the occasion of their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations to you both.
Keith and Nadine first met in 1963 at a party at Somerset Police Mess.
Keith has written to say, "Through conversations with our grandchildren we often ‘re visit’ the Bermuda we knew and loved and wouldn’t want those memories tarnished by visiting again. So, we keep abreast of developments through the website and sadly read, as I said once before, that many familiar names appear in the obituary column.
Thankfully we are in good health and will keep travelling for as long as we can - we were in Cuba, North Cyprus and Sicily last year and are setting off to Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand later this year.
We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable summer.
With best wishes
Keith Hatfield
You can read more abour Keith, who served in the Bermuda Police from 1963 -1965 in an article he wrote for our 'Then and Now' column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/132-khatfield
EDITORS NOTE - We would love to receive more photos of any of our former colleagues who have celebrated their own Gold Wedding Anniversaries.
1st June
Ian Graham and Barry Higham - We received this photo from Ian Graham after he and Maggie met up with Barry Higham and his partner Lynn, which was taken while they were enjoying a lovely evening of dining in a Glasgow City Centre restaurant. Ian says they had a great time catching up on all their news.
We understand that Barry and Lynne spent a couple of days in Glasgow enroute to drive the ‘North Coast 500’.
They then headed off to Fort William where they met up with Davie Kerr and his son Andy for lunch and then back to Davie’s house and had a chat with Jean.
Maggie and I will shortly be heading off to the ‘The Wedding’ - not Prince Harry and Meghan’s, can’t get parked at Windsor, we are off to the nuptials of nephew Scott and betrothed Hayley at Donald’s place in Ayrshire (Trump Turnberry)
31st May
Mike Brown and Ken Van Thal - we recently featured a rather “fuzzy photo” in our "Who, Where and When" column of a group of young men that we had received from Mike and Ken, which can be viewed at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/who-when-where/662-fuzzy-photo-fuzzy-memories
If you check the article you will see that it was taken at a hotel near Heathrow in early November 1971, when this particular group of new recruits were about to get on a plane heading to Bermuda. Although not the best photo we have ever published we quickly established the identity of 6 of the 7 men, i.e. Brian Foster, John Headey, Graham Waring, Bob Glennie, Mike Brown, and Ken Van Thal, but it was a few days before we were able to establish that the missing name was that of Tony Smallridge. Two other recruits who caught the flight on 4thNovember but did not stay at the hotel, were Steve Taylor and Keith Cassidy.
We also learned that a second batch arrived on 5thNovember, and they were Peter Smith, Edward Street, Rodney Fowkes, Barbara Travers, Anthony Ramshaw, Des McGarr, Andrew Hall, Ruth McGarr, Richard Naylor, Marjory Amos, Arthur Stewart, Stephen Rollin, Steve Peterson, Russ Delahaye, and Phil Every.
Sadly, Graham Waring, Andy Hall, and Russ Delahaye are no longer with us.
By coincidence, Steve Taylor, just spent a vacation here on Island seeing old friends, and Steve Rollin is due to arrive in the next couple of days for a stay with his son Alex.
We would be very interested to hear about the present whereabouts of any of these two groups, including Bob Glennie, Tony Smallridge, Brian Foster, Edward Street, Rodney Fowkes, Barbara Travers, Anthony Ramshaw, Des and Ruth McGarr, Richard Naylor, Arthur Stewart and Steve Peterson. If you are not on our List of Colleagues for whom we have contact details, please let us have yours and will be happy to add you to our list.
For anyone not too familiar with our website, and even those of you who are regular users, you will see that we often use photos of the officers mentioned such as the two photos above of Mike Brown and Ken Van Thal. These are warrant card sized photos in the Police Register that we are kindly allowed to access by the BPS. They are often in quite poor condition, but with a little restoration they can be of quite reasonable quality. If you take the trouble to write to us I'm always happy to search through the files to see if we can locate a photo of you when you were in your prime!
23rd May
Passing of retired Sgt. Dudley Proctor - As earlier reported in our Latest News section, former Sergeant Dudley Proctor, who was our second oldest pensioner, died last night on 19th May 2018 at King Edward Hospital. He had been in poor health for some time.
Dudley joined the Bermuda Police way back in December 1950, and for the first 7 years of his police career he served in Central Division at Hamilton Police Station, after which he spent time as a Parish Constable in Pembroke East. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1965, working again out of Hamilton Police Station until being transferred to Western Uniform. He was awarded the Colonial Police Long Service and Good Conduct medal in December 1968, and during his service he received three Commissioner's Commendations. You can read more about Dudley's history in our "Then and Now" column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/330-dudleyproctor
Dudley retired from the Police in December 1975 after 25 years, after which he worked at the Magistrate's Court for several years as the Deputy Provost Marshall, and then as the Customer Collections Officer at the Bermuda National Bank and the Bank of Bermuda until retirement at the age of 65.
Never one to stand still, Dudley then opened a shop in the Clock Tower Mall at the Royal Naval Dockyard selling flags, military uniforms and memorabilia.
Dudley was always keen to come out to our ExPo functions and had this photo taken during our Police Week celebration in 2014.
His funeral will be held at 3pm on Sunday May 27th 2018 at Bright Temple AME Church in Warwick, with interment following the service at St. John's Church, Pembroke. For more information on the service and for the obituary notice in the Royal Gazette go to http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theroyalgazette/obituary.aspx?n=dudley-proctor&pid=189083292
12th May
APOLOGIES FOR SABBATICAL - I must first apologize for lack of activity on our website for the past few weeks. I was in England spending time with my 99 year old mum and did not have normal access to our website admin site except to post very basic information. Hopefully, I can catch up on our ExPo news in the coming weeks.
Triathletes Old and New - Bermuda is presently literaly sitting on top of the triathlon world, with our own hero, Flora Duffy, being the current World Triathlon Series Ladies Champion, and rated as the number one triathlete in the world. For those of our members who have not heard about Flora, many of us can remember her as a tiny 9 year old winning the Front Street Mile in her age group.
On April 28ththis year Flora participated in the ITU World Triathlon Series held here in Bermuda, and showed her complete dominance as she competed in the three stages, swimming, cycling and running, leading at all stages of the event and finishing more than 2 minutes ahead of her nearest rivals. You can read all about her triumph on home turf in an article at https://www.tri247.com/triathlon-news/elite/wts-bermuda-women-duffy-dominates
So why are we reporting on Flora’s victory in our ExPo website?
Gerry Benson - Well, Dave Cook and his wife happened to bump into our old friend and colleague, Gerry Benson at the triathlon on Front Street. Dave says, "When I bumped into Gerry he recognised Patsy first, he wasn’t too sure about me!!! He was with Marion Lines (Roland]’s wife) whom he was staying with. He treated me to lunch on Monday last week at the Astwood Arms on Front Street. We had a good chat about the times we had together when he was serving in the Bermuda police. Gordon, his son, who is a professional athlete, was supposed to be participating in the triathlon but unfortunately he was injured while competing in the Abu Dhabi event so was unable to attend. Gerry is hoping that his son can compete here next year so he may be back for that.
Gerry tells me that he is keeping fit, enjoying his retirement in the Leeds area. He sees Bob Kinnon periodically. As you can see by his appearance he hasn’t really changed a lot since leaving here in the mid 80’s.”
We have written several articles about Gerry on our website, including “Benson – Like Father Like Son” which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/component/content/archive/2015/6 You may recall that Gerry was an outstanding athlete while serving in the Bermuda Police. He was an excellent boxer and runner, and he participated in the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon while here. We were reporting on the fact that Gerry’s son, Gordon, was following in his father’s footsteps and had been selected for the British Triathlon Team in the Rio Olympics after winning the European Triathlon Championships. Gerry’s daughter, Laura, is also a chip of the old block was also excelling in athletics.
Neal Richardson and John Jones - Two of our former Bermuda police officers, Neal Richardson (served from 1984-1993) and John Jones (served from 1982 - 1989) met up in New York earlier this month. Neal sent us this photo taken where the two bumped into each other as Neal was on his way to his office. John and his family were visiting New York to visit their eldest daughter. John just recently retired from his post-Police-career as a teacher in Hong Kong.
John is one of our few former Bermuda Police officers for whom we have posted a “WANTED” notice on our ExPo website! This was back in November 2013 when we received a request from the West Mercia Police that John’s former regiment was trying to track him down to invite him to celebrations for a Regimental reunion. In fact it was Neal who responded to our request because he had stayed in touch with John after they both left the BPS. Mercia Police. You can view the “WANTED” notice at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/232-johnjones
Neal still lives in New York where he settled with his wife and family and works for a European bank in the AML field. Neal is currently building a home in the highlands of Guatemala, where he plans to eventually retire to with his wife.
Neal kindly wrote an article for our “Then and Now” column which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/tan/187-nrichardson
21st April
We have received sad news about the death of our former colleague, Christopher "Chris" Moyse, who we had been trying to contact sometime ago.
The news came from Ian and Maggie Graham who are on vacation in Barbados where they received a call from Chris's most recent ex-wife in Boston who happens to be a friend of Maggie's. She informed Ian and Maggie that she occasionally kept in touch with Chris and that his health had been deteriorating in recent years, After not hearing from him for some time she did an on-line search which took her to the City Clerks Office in Revere, Massachussetts last week where she read that Chris died on 26th July 2016 at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Hospital in Boston, from multiple organ failure and sepsis.
Chris came from Plymouth in England and had served in the Hantshire Constabulory for 6 years before joining the Bermuda Police in May 1973. He served for just 5 months in Central Division (Hamilton) before being transferred to Central CID for 3 years, then in Cycle Squad for a further 3 years before being posted to Narcotics in 1979. He resigned from the Force in August 1980 having served here from just over 7 years.
We offer our sincere condolences to Chris's family and friends.
In the meantime Ian and Maggie are enjoying the Bajan sunshine and are missing out on some miserable weather in Scotland
20th April 2018
7th April
Sad News about the passing of William "Billy" Henry - After recently publishing an article "Two Detectives Commended" about D.C's Robert "Bob" Kinnon and William "Billy" Henry receiving Commissioner's commendations for successfully investigating a significant illegal drugs case (see http://expobermuda.com/index.php/articles/650-two-detectives-commended ) we put out a request for information about the whereabouts of Billy on both our website and our Facebook page.
We first heard from Ken Lewis who provided telephone numbers and an address in Brooklyn, New York, for Billy and told us that he spoke with Billy last October 2017 by phone. We were unable to make contact with Billy, but we then had a reply to our request from Neal Richardson who advised us that, very sadly, Billy had passed away last November, just a few weeks after his conversation with Ken. Neal provided us with a link to Billy's obituary which you can view at http://marineparkfh.com/tribute/details/2264/William-Henry/obituary.html#content-start
Billy was born in Bermuda and he joined the Bermuda Police in April 1976, serving here until October1982. He was serving in Narcotics when he received the Commissioner's commendation.
Editors note - I will check Billy's record in the Police Register for details of his various transfers.
According to his obituary, Billy served in the U.S. Army - Military Police and later as a Sergeant in the Gulf Stream Police in Florida before moving to New York where he worked as an Operating Engineer in trhe International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 14.
We offer our sincere condolences to Billy's five brothers and sisters and his family. Anyone wishing to do so can also send condolences through the obituary address above.
26th March
Dave Garland - We have had quite a number of calls enquiring about "Our Dave" who has been in hospital for the past two weeks. Dave has had several health problems, including a minor heart attack, but he is now on the mend and is expected to be released from KEMH within the next few days. He's no doubt heartbroken about England's trouncing by the Aussies in the recent Test series, and also by the big loss to New Zealand in their latest test match, but on the other hand he is closely following the "yellow tape" scandal with the Aussies caught red-handed cheating by illegally altering the ball in their match against South Africa and suggestions that they may have dome the same during the Ashes series.
25th March
Guys Getting Together
Steve Taylor and Don Urquart - We received this photo from our old friend and former colleague, retired Sergeant Steve Taylor who recently met up with one of our “world travellers”, Don Urquart, at the Peaky Blinders pub in Liverpool . (Isn’t “Peaky Blinders” a hit TV show in the UK?)
Steve served in the BPS for 25 years from 1971 – 1996 and must qualify as someone who has served in more departments than almost anyone else. After a spell in Central, he served in Operations (Traffic) then Cycle Squad, Eastern CID, ‘A’ Department, ‘F’ Department (Alarms Officer), Eastern Uniform, and ‘E’ Department - not necessarily in that order. Steve also did a tremendous job reviving our Ex-Police Officers Association when he served for a number of years as President.
Don joined the BPS in 1977 and served in Central Uniform, Eastern Division and Operations, before heading off to greener pastures, and is now living in Australia when he’s not doing “walkabouts”!
Bob Kinnon - Dave Cook sent us this photo taken last week of himself and Bob Kinnon who was on Island to play in a golf tournament at Mid Ocean Golf Club. The two met up briefly at Dave Smith’s home, and Bob must have encountered some high winds during his golfing because Bermuda has been battered by stormy weather for several weeks, and the Mid Ocean course catches it more than most when winds are out of the south.
Bob and his wife Helen have been out here previously on vacations and we suspect that Bob was looking for any excuse to escape the freezing weather in the UK this winter.
Ian Kittle and Stuart Kirkpatrick - Former P.C. Ian Kittle, who joined the BPS in February 1975 and served mainly in Eastern Division for several years except for a stint in probably the most sought after job ever in the Bermuda Police - in Beach Squad - has sent these two photos to us of himself and former Sgt Stuart Kirkpatrick, who followed Ian a month later in March 1975.
Ian says the early photo was probably taken at the new St. George’s Police Barracks about 1978 while he and Stuart were both stationed in St. George’s although on different shifts. The last time Ian had seen Stuart was when he was in Ian’s wedding on May 19th 1979. Also in attendance were Peter Giles, Steve Smedley, Mike Phillips and Pete Gimson.
Ian tells us that he has kept in loose contact with these guys and has met up with both Mike Phillips and Steve Smedley a few times. He writes, “Stuart and myself met up again in early March, 2017 when Linda and myself were vacationing in Tucson, Arizona for a month. Stuart drove down from his home in northern Arizona and spent a couple of days with us which was our first get together since my wedding. There was plenty of story telling!
We decided to recreate the original photo at our rented condo in Oro Valley. We think it worked out well.
We plan to keep in closer touch now as Stuart also has accommodation in Toronto, Ontario, not too far from where we now live.
4th March
Passing of Andy Dryburgh - We have received an email from Danielle Dryburgh, the granddaughter of our old friend and colleague, Andy Dryburgh, letting us know that Andy passed away at his home in Cardendon, Fife, Scotland, on 19th May last year (2017) after a lengthy illness. For more details on this sad news please see our "Latest News" column athttp://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/501-contact-with-andy-dryburgh-in-scotland
We offer sincere condolences to the Dryburgh family.
3rd March
Davie Kerr - We’ve just heard from Davie Kerr in the wilds of Scotland after what I can only describe as a quiet time – for Davie! I was worried that he may have become something of a recluse but I knew for sure that he would be very interested in attending the reunion being planned by Angus Brown for September.
First things first. Davie’s son, Andy (aged 29) who spent most of his life here in Bermuda but is now living in Scotland, is planning to return to the Island to work over the summer. Andy will likely be arriving on or around 24th May until roughly the end of August, and he would be very happy to house-and-pet-sit for anyone here needing such services. Andy has a Bermuda driver’s licence for cars and bikes. If you know of anyone who might be looking for a reliable “sitter” during that time you can contact us through the website at info@expobermuda.com or call or email me directly at home.
With regard to not having heard from Davie for a while he reports that everything they do nowadays is subject to Jean's health, but one bright spot is that she has at last been given a date for her upcoming op at Raigmore Hospital up in Inverness in mid-March, hopefully it should just be an overnight stay. Davie hopes to meet up with Julian Merrouni and his family while they're up that way, as they live in Croy only a few miles east of the city. Davie also reports that his own health is pretty good, thanks, apart from the old creaky knees! (too many Mars bars!)
Davie has previously mentioned taking trips on EuRail which he did in the 1980’s. He is still a huge fan of train travel and advises, “ If you ever want to see lots of Europe at your own pace, in comfort, and without breaking the bank, do it by train! If you’re not a European resident you'd use the EuRail pass rather than the InterRail pass, but it's basically the same principle: virtually unlimited train travel within the period of validity of your pass. If you fly, you see airports and clouds; if you drive, you're too busy watching the road; if you go by bus, you're too busy queuing for the toilet: in the words of the late unlamented Jimmy Saville, "Let the train take the strain!" Seriously, it is without a doubt THE way to see Europe.”
When asked if he would be attending the reunion in September Davie says, “ Jean and I would love to attend as we had such a good time at the last one 4 years ago in Sutton Coldfield, but it all depends on whether Jean's up for it at the time. I certainly hope she's up and running before that as she wants us to be in Cyprus for her son's 50th birthday in May, and we'd also like to get back over to Bermuda for October if possible, but (in the words of the late Cyril Plant) we'll just have to see how the mop flops!"
For more details about the reunion being planned by Angus Brown in early September, go to Latest News at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/644-reunion-planned-for-uk
In the meantime Davie is closely following the retirement of Commissioner Michael DeSilva in June, and wondering who will be his successor in the “Top Job”. We will all have to wait and see.
28th February 2018
Mike and Cam Burke - We just received this fabulous family photo of Mike and Cam Burke taken at Christmas. Here they are with their son Mark & wife, Joanne and their children Leah, 18, and George, 16: their daughter, Sally, and her girls Megan, 19, Lucy nearly 18, and Aimee, 14 : Megan's friend, Ewan and Sally's friend, Tom.
Mike added, "We are keeping well and hope you are, too. We've enjoyed seeing all the photos, the very interesting 'Then and Now' stories, plus all the other info you must take hours to process!!"
Editors note - Many thanks for your kind comment Mike and Cam. We have also posted the photo in our Grandparents column which can be viewed at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/articles/530-grandparents This is where we invite you to send us photos of your grandchildren along with a little information about them – and you! Please feel free to send your photos to us at info@expobermuda.com
22nd February
Where is "Zip"? - We have had a request from Nicole Young at Police HQ who is trying to contact former P.C. Zerphyl "Zip" Worrell with regard to a fairly urgent personal matter. "Zip" served here in the Bermuda Police for 10 years from 1979 - 1989.
If you know how we can get into contact with "Zip" please either contact us through info@expobermuda.com or call Nicole directly at Police Headquarters tel (441) 247-1535.
Mike Johnson contacted us with details of a Zerphyl Worrell of Riverside, Georgia, but despite the identical name Nicole has not been able to make contact with him as yet.
21st February
Reunion in U.K. scheduled for September - We are delighted to report that Angus Brown has now provided us with details of the reunion being planned for this September at Cheltenham in England. Brief details of the planned reunion are as follows:-
DATES: September 6 & 7, 2018
LOCATION: CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire, England
HOTEL: Holiday Inn Express, 33 Dunally Street, CHELTENHAM, GL50 4AP
PHONE: 01242 - 548200
CHECK IN: Any time after 3.00p.m.
CHECK OUT: Any time before 11.00a.m.
COST: £80.00 per room per night which includes breakfast and VAT.
For more information, including how to register for the reunion, please go to our Latest News column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/644-reunion-planned-for-uk
18th February
Dale Thurston - We recently had an email from Keith Cowie (see below) who enquired about getting in touch with several of his old buddies - Dale Thurston, John Greatrex, Clive Dewhurst, and Steve Sim.
We managed to contact Dale Thurston who has written to us with his updated contact details.
Dale served in the Bermuda Police from 1976-1978 before moving on to the U.S.
He writes, “After a number of years in retail I went back to law enforcement and joined the State of Connecticut Probation Department. I’m a divorced father of two - my daughter Aya who is now 18, and son Rex who is 17. I retired from the Probation Department in 2008 and now buy and sell antiquarian books, mostly first editions. I also do some P.I. work.
I have had some contact with Paul Bradshaw [Class of 76] and I visited Coggie Gibbons some years ago. He is a Bermudian, retired Inspector. I will send a line to Keith, I did visit with him years ago when he lived in Baltimore, Maryland.
It is really nice to talk to old colleagues and catch up. It is so nice to hear from you, please disseminate my information to anyone from the old days,
5th February
Annual ExPo Reception - We held our annual ExPo Reception at the Officers Mess, Prospect, on the evening of Saturday 3rd February 2018, and with over 80 attendees it was one of our most succcessful events for many years
Among the guests were retired Commissioner Fred Bean and his wife Romaine; one of our oldest retirees former Sergeant Dudley Proctor who recently spent some time in King Edward Hospital; Michael Phillips who has also had some major health issues; and one of the first Treasurers of the Bermuda Ex-Police Officers Association, Tony Saunders and his wife Janice.
We also had two surprise visitors from abroad, Richard "Rocky" Ironmonger and his wife Maureen, who are presently enjoying an extended stay on Island, no doubt to avoid the the cold and miserable weather in the UK.
You can also view an album of photos taken during the reception at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/photo-gallery/exporeception2018#!IMG_8756 Sincere apologies to those who I missed with my camera.
This reception provides a very special occasion to meet up with old friends and colleagues, and to reminisce about "the good old days" and share in the unique cameraderie we all enjoy as former members of the Bermuda Police Service.
2nd February
Keith Cowie - We just received an email from Keith Cowie who served here in the Bermuda Police from 1976-1978 as P.C. 195, and who attended Training Class #20. See photo in our Training School photo album at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/training-school/453-training-course-20-1976
After leaving Bermuda Keith settled in the USA where he worked in retail management. He was married but has since divorced – no kids.
Keith has written to say, “About 3 years ago I was involved in a fairly serious motorcycle accident which led to my retiring a few years before my due date. Found the cold winters of Maryland were not good for my aching joints so I now live in Costa Rica and have been enjoying the " Pura Vida " lifestyle for a little over 2 years now.
Managed to touch base with Godfrey Davis last week and he told me about this website. I would be happy to catch up with anyone who remembers me and who would like to touch base."
Editors note - Keith provided us with his email address and telephone number. We have a policy of not publishing contact details online, but anyone wishing to contact Keith can email us at info@expobermuda.com and we will forward his details to you.
29th January
Roy Livesey - We just heard from Roy Livesey who served here in the Bermuda Police from 1960 – 1968 who wrote as follows:-
What a superb job you do in keeping the "fold" together through the means of the Retirees on your website......I do keep checking in to keep up with the current news and am rather saddened to hear about all of the "departures"of the guys I was with from 1960 to 1968 .....hardly anyone left.
Dorothy and I are still happy and lively in Victoria BC after being married 54 years and being in Victoria from 1968 and now going on 81 years old, in 2 weeks for me....now retired 21 years after an interesting life with Trust Companies and Provincial Government in the Administrative and Property Development needs of the Ministry of Health.
With regard to Alan Waddicor the person to ask would be Geoff Hunt as I do know that he was a member of the same Lodge and they knew each other quite well.
In the meantime regards to the oldies resident in Bermuda i.e.Clive Donald, George Hammond, Dave Garland etc etc.
Cheers Roy Livesey..PC 180
ex-Traffic and Paget Parish Constable......
PS I still have my Police Commendation for chasing and catching a TR3 driven by a Maitre'de at 90 mph on Camden straight with Jim Lyons alongside me.
Editors note - At Roy's suggestion I wrote to Geoff Hunt who promptly responded and kindly gave me his insights into Alan and Agnes Waddicor which you can read at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/articles/624-alan-and-agness-waddicor
26th January
On 20th November 2017 the Royal Gazette published a beautiful Letter to the Editor written by one of our former police officers, John Swift, about the great generosity of a wonderful couple who settled here in Bermuda and made a tremendous contribution to their adopted country The couple were Alan Waddicor and his wife Agnes. You can view the letter in the Royal Gazette at http://www.royalgazette.com/letters-to-the-editor/article/20171122/waddicors-embody-spirit-of-christmas
Alan had served in the Royal Navy during the War, and in 1953 he applied for and was accepted as a constable in the Bermuda Police. He arrived here after first attending the Police Training College at Mill Meese in Staffordshire. Unfortunately, records of most of the officers recruited in the early 1950's have been lost, including Alan's but an old friend of his, George Hammond, recalls that just before Alan left the Force in the early 1960's he had been promoted to Sergeant and was working at Operations. Alan had returned to the UK in 1957 to marry the love of his life, Agnes, and the two settled here in Bermuda for the rest of their lives.
Agnes had been very involved with the Girl Guides in England and she continued to serve the Bermuda Girl Guide movement with tremendous dedication. Although an outwardly quiet couple both Alan and Agnes developed a great love of and commitment to the Island as so clearly described by John Swift in his letter to the editor which we have published in our Ineresting Articles column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/articles/624-alan-and-agness-waddicor
We would be delighted to hear from you if you could provide us with more personal details about Alan and Agnes during their many years here in Bermuda.
17th January
Dave "Big Joe" Needham - We just heard from our old friend and former colleague Dave “Big Joe” Needham who served in the Bermuda Police from September 1966 – June 1970, before moving on to Canada. Dave was an avid rugby player who served in Central Division and in Cycle Squad.
Dave came out with quite a group of new recruits with previous police experience (his was in the West Riding Constabulary) as you can see in this photo of them arriving at the airport fresh of the plane. The photo was featured in our ”Who, When and Where” column which you can view at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/who-when-where/163-whowherewhen4#comment-76
He set up his own very successful Productions Company in 1993 which he recently handed over to his lovely daughter, Ashleigh, although Dave and his wife are still involved in the business. They live just north of Toronto and are no doubt feeling the cold at the moment, and maybe dreaming about warmer climes!
Dave still has fond memories of living and working in Bermuda, and he was one of a number of our former colleagues who attended a grand reunion of ex-Bermuda police officers back in 1997. You can view the reunion group on our website at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/who-when-where/97-canadianreunion
Dave just sent us this “plaque” which makes it clear he still has still has the very highest regard for the Police, and is proud of the fact that he served as a police officer.
Message from Cathy Scotland - We have just received the following from Cathy Scotland who was extremely grateful for all the kind comments made about Ian by so many of his friends and former colleagues, both here on our website and in the article on our ExPo Facebook page which reached some 1200 people (see https://www.facebook.com/BDAExPolice/.
Message from Cathy Scotland:
I would like to thank all the ex-police colleagues & friends who expressed their condolences on the passing of Ian, also the kind comments to myself. As per Ian's wishes, he was cremated here in Bermuda in full Sunderland supporters outfit. His ashes will be scattered at Roker Park sometime in the future.
Regards Cathy Scotland
Editors note - You can read more about the sad death of Ian under Lates News" at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/latest-news/618-sad-death-of-ian-scotland
1st January
I would like to start the New Year wishing all of our friends and colleagues a very Happy and Healthy New Year.
Cheltenham Reunion being planned by Angus Brown – We hear that former Sgt Angus Brown who served here from June 1971 – October 1989, and who is now living in the UK, is proposing a 2 day reunion in Cheltenham in September of this year (2018). It is intended for this to coincide with the September race meeting at Cheltenham but the precise dates for this have not yet been set. As soon as they are available Angus will circulate both the dates and suggested arrangements for the reunion. The hotel will be Holiday Inn in Cheltenham town centre.
Angus is trying to gauge the interest in this so anyone who would wish to attend can drop him a note at angusbrownuk@yahoo.co.uk .
Obviously the hotel will book up for the race meeting so Angus would like numbers as soon as possible so rooms can be booked.
Commissioner’s annual New Year Party - The first official Police function of the year is traditionally the Commissioner’s Annual New Year Party, which used to be called the “Sherry Party” held in the main hall at the Police Recreation Club. Our present Commissioner, Michael DeSilva is a great believer in maintaining this tradition and this year was no exception.
You can read more about this year's New Year Party and see more photos in our “Interesting Articles" column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/articles/633-commissioner-s-new-year-day-party
“Bermuda: Parish by Parish” - While attending the annual New Year Party I chatted with Chris Wilcox and his wife Marianne at which time Chris informed me that he is about to launch the sale of his excellent new book, “Bermuda: Parish by Parish” which is a beautifully illustrated collection of photographs all of which were taken by Chris covering all nine parishes.
For more information about this outstanding new publication which is now available for sale go to our “Interesting Articles” column at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/articles/634-parish-by-parish-by-chris-wilcox