Inspector Jack "Tug" Wilson
“Jack” or “Tug” as a lot of people called him, was born on March 3, 1909 in Blyth, Northumberland, England. He had one sister and 4 brothers.
Jack started out his working life in the coal mines, as his father before him, but decided fairly quickly that it was not the life for him. He joined the British Army and in August 1931 was sent to Bermuda with his regiment, the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. Jack bought himself out of the army, taking up residence in Bermuda and joining the Bermuda Police Force 9th August 1933. He met his wife to be Lorraine Doe around 1936.
P.C. Jack "Tug" Wilson and his fiance Lorraine Doe - 1936
Jack married Lorraine on August 3, 1939, just 4 weeks prior to the start of The Second World War. They headed for the UK on their honeymoon only to receive, within a week or two, a cable from the Bermuda Police ordering him to return immediately to Bermuda as war was being declared. They managed to get on the first convoy without their luggage which disappeared for 3 months before finally getting to Bermuda. Luckily they got back safely as many others didn’t.
Jack served as a regular constable for a number of years on the beat eventually earning the rank of Sergeant in 1941. He was promoted to Inspector in January 1953 and was transferred to Police Headquarters “A” Department where he worked in administration and was in charge of Stores.
In 1961 he moved briefly to Somerset as Insoector in Charge of Western Division. In July of that same year he transferred to Traffic and remained there until his retirement on 4th March 1964.
During his service Jack was award the Colonial Police Medal for Meritorious Service in January 1959, the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in June 1952 and the clasp in 1958.
“Tug” Wilson was a very popular officer with a wry sense of humour and always proud to be a “Geordie”. His wife, Lorraine, was very effervescent and outgoing. Lorraine and Jack loved to travel and took many trips to Europe and the U.S. over their years in Bermuda. They loved entertaining friends of which they had many, and family, although they never had children.
Jack and Lorraine circa 1971
Jack took employment as an Inspector with the Bermudan Immigration Department after retiring from the police until he reached the age of 65. Not yet willing to settle into his armchair he found employment in charge of security at one of the local hotels.
Around 1975 Jack and Lorraine decided to try life in Canada and moved to British Columbia to be with their niece Betty and her husband John Eastwood who had also served in the Bermuda Police before moving to Canada. (CLICK HERE for article on John "Fred" Eastwood.) Not too keen on the Canadian winters they ended up like most Canadians as “Snow Birds” heading south for the winter, in their case Bermuda. This worked perfectly for them.
Jack developed a health problem which slowed him down more in his later years and he passed away on March 2nd, 1990. His wife passed away in 1997.
Editor’s Note - Jack and Lorraine were close friends of my wife’s parents, and Jack gave Marian away on our wedding day in 1970 (her father had passed away the previous year). Although he had retired by then he always loved to chat about his time in the Police Force and was very proud of having been a Bermuda police officer.
Jack once showed me a keep-sake he had received at his retirement “do” from one of the Trustee prisoners who used to work at Traffic. It was a lovely poem praising him for being a very kind and considerate officer. The author of the poem was “Buck” Burrows.
Our sincere thanks to Betty Eastwood for helping to put together this article about her Uncle Jack.