History from Police Archives Two teaching packagesfrom the Open University The Open University History from Police Archives Two teaching packages from the Open Iniversity Prof. Clive Emsley Dr Terry Waterfi eld History Department Faculty of Arts The Open University Walton Hall Milton Keynes MK7 6AA The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). Preface This CD provides resource material from the Police Archive held at the Open University for two projects designed for Key Stage 3 and sixth-form students. The material is presented in the form of two teaching packages: one to study the role of the police during the Second World War and the other to generate discussions about the responsibilities of citizenship. Both topics have associated work sheets with suggestions of how the material might be used. The role of the Police during the Second World War This package is designed particularly to provide a resource for Key Stage 3, and specifi cally for the study of the home front during the Second World War. Some of the documents are, however, quite lengthy and might well be best used with older students and in other contexts. The documents are divided into short chapters with a narrative link about the role of the police during the war. The Police and citizenship These documents have been selected to provide an understanding of the role of the police in English society and, specifi cally, to generate class discussions about both the complexities of this role and about citizenship responsibilities in general. This material should sit comfortably with any GCSE and sixth-form study course. The documents are divided into short chapters with a narrative introduction linking the role of the police and the behaviour and/or responsibilities of society. Organisation of material This guide has been divided into four parts: the narrative for each of the two sub- jects; the worksheets, which are organised by topic within each subject; images of the documents themselves, and fi nally transcripts of the handwritten documents. Small images of the documents have been included on the worksheets for refer- ence and to provide a direct link between questions and documents. To facilitate printing for classwork, each topic, worksheet, and document set starts on a new page. Copyright The contents of this CD are protected by the law of copyright in the United King- dom and international treaties worldwide. No part of these contents may be reproduced, decompiled, stored in any other retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani- cal, photocopying, recording or otherwise except in accordance with UK copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988 and copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992, or any other law pertaining to intellectual property in the appropriate terri- tory without the prior permission of The Open University. © The Open University 2008 Police Archives i ii Police Archives © The Open University 2008 Contents Preface ..................................................................i Contents .............................................................. iii Police in Wartime ....................................................1 Introduction ................................................................... 1 Police during the Second World War ................................... 3 The Blitz ........................................................................ 5 County Chief Constable .................................................... 7 A Volunteer .................................................................... 9 Modern Echoes ..............................................................11 The Police and Citizenship ...................................... 13 Introduction ..................................................................13 The Police Service ..........................................................15 Defi nitions .....................................................................19 People’s Rights and Police-Public Relations .........................21 Keeping Order on the Roads ............................................23 Equality and Gender in the Police Service ..........................25 Work Sheets ........................................................27 Introduction ............................................................ 27 Police in Wartime ..................................................... 29 The Blitz - General discussion ..........................................29 The Blitz - Preparations ...................................................31 The Blitz - Air Raids ........................................................33 The Blitz - After the Raid .................................................35 County Chief Constable - General discussion ......................37 County Chief Constable - Mr Florey’s farm .........................39 County Chief Constable - Unity Mitford ..............................41 County Chief Constable - Sir Oswald Mosley .......................43 County Chief Constable - Re-civilianisation of Europe ..........45 A Volunteer ...................................................................47 Modern Echoes ..............................................................49 The Police and Citizenship .........................................51 Defi nitions and Police in a Democracy ...............................51 People’s Rights and Police-Public Relations .........................53 Keeping Order on the Roads - General discussion ...............55 Keeping Order on the Roads - Accidents ............................57 Keeping Order on the Roads - Traffi c .................................59 Keeping Order on the Roads - Speed .................................61 Equality and Gender .......................................................63 Documents .......................................................... 65 Police in Wartime ..................................................... 65 The Blitz .......................................................................65 The Blitz - Preparations ...................................................67 The Blitz - Air Raids ........................................................71 The Blitz - After the Raid .................................................87 County Chief Constable ...................................................91 County Chief Constable - Mr Florey’s farm .......................107 County Chief Constable - Unity Mitford ............................111 County Chief Constable - Sir Oswald Mosley .....................119 County Chief Constable - Re-civilianisation of Europe ........129 A Volunteer .................................................................133 Modern Echoes ............................................................139 The Police and Citizenship ....................................... 141 The Police Service in England and Wales ..........................141 © The Open University 2008 Police Archives iii People’s Rights and Police-Public Relations .......................143 Keeping Order on the Roads - Accidents ..........................147 Keeping Order on the Roads - Traffi c ...............................149 Keeping Order on the Roads - Speed ...............................161 Equality and Gender .....................................................163 Transcripts ......................................................... 175 The Police in Wartime ............................................. 175 Fred Fancourt’s experience as an ambulance driver ...........175 St Johnston’s letter to his parents ...................................177 Acknowledgements ............................................. 179 iv Police Archives © The Open University 2008 Police in Wartime Historians construct their narratives from documents and from interrogating docu- Introduction ments. At the Open University we have always focused on developing this skill with our students and we suggest a brief set of guidelines for approaching any document (or other trace of the past - a photograph, a building, etc). This may be of use to you in using this material with your own students: • First, what kind of document is it? • Second, what is the context of the document? What were the events that surrounded it? And for what reason was it created? • Third, what are the obvious things that you can learn from the document - put simply, what does the author/photographer want the reader/viewer to know as a result of the document? • Fourth, what is the unwitting testimony of the document? In other words, what can you learn from 'reading between the lines'? What were the author's assumptions? What can you learn from the document about things that were going on that are not really part of what the author wants his reader to see - perhaps because he or she takes them for granted and part of his or her world (as opposed to the world of the historian); perhaps because he or she wants to gloss over them? • Fifth, what does the document add to our knowledge about the subject under investigation? Does it support the view that we already have? Or does it nuance or challenge that view? Finally, it might be worth advising students to keep in mind one or two things about the written documents that historians use in looking at the period of the Second World War. The documents that follow were written by people who sometimes may have used language in a rather different way from that which is common today