A 'Motley Crew' from Cycle Squad
We told you that this motley crew was clearly assembled at the Traffic Department, Prospect, but we wanted to know who they are, which "squad" were they in, and when was this photograph taken? We also mentioned that one of these officers is currently spending his 50th wedding anniversary in the Canary Islands and wanted to know which one it is.
In this case we had excellent information from a variety of sources including Terry Cabral in the U.S. and from Davie Kerr in Scotland, identifying our “motley crew”! It was, of course, the Cycle Squad crew identified as (l-r standing) Dick Murphy, Andy Bermingham, Neville Darrell, Tony Watson, Mike Caulkett, Gary Perinchief, and Dick Johnson, along with (l-r kneeling) Sergeant Sean Sheehan and Geoff Hunt. To narrow down when the photograph was taken we consulted with Mike Caulkett, who provided the image from his slide collection, and he remembers being transferred to Cycle Squad in July 1965. On checking the slide he discovered that it was dated September 1965 by the developers so this photograph was taken between July and September 1965.
And if anyone had been checking our KEEPING IN TOUCH column closely you would have noticed that we ran a brief story about Geoff Hunt heading off to the Canary Islands a few weeks ago with his wife, Olive, to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We hope they had a fabulous time and look forward to hearing more from Geoff when he returns to the U.K.
On a sad note, retired Inspector Sean Sheehan passed away 4 years ago on 2nd March, in his native Ireland. His daughter Cliona has been in touch with us (having heard about our website on Facebook) and she had no problem picking out her dad on the photo. She tells us that she and her mom, Patricia, and her sister Aine - all of whom are settled back in Ireland - will be getting together on 2nd March to remember Sean. We have invited the family to write a tribute to Sean, one of our most unfogettable characters, for our HALL OF FAME. We will keep you posted.
Just one more comment about the officers assembled for this photograph. How many can recall three of these men, Neville Darrell, Mike Caulkett, and Gary Perinchief making a late night journey on very quiet roads from Hamilton Police Station to St. George's Police Station on their motorbikes, and how long it took them to complete their journey!!!