WHERE DID ALL THAT KIT COME FROM?
WPFC’s Surprising Assets
Sir Albert “Badger” Brock, Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, hasn’t taken sides in the Civil War; his preoccupation is good order within the law. He’ll support any faction he considers is closest to his values. In his opinion, this precludes communists or BUF, both of which he’ll always oppose without exception. Whether or not a faction is actually communist of Fascist is decided by Brock himself.
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] Chief Constable Brock in the uniform of Honorary Colonel-in-Chief of Sir Gilbert Hill’s Legion of Frontiersmen]
When he conceived the idea of a Flying Column, he had in mind a unit of about 30 specially selected constables and sergeants, organised in sections of 10 and provided with requisitioned transport to enable them to quickly deploy to trouble spots in Wiltshire and further afield if requested. Realising that this new force needed a dynamic leader with a modern outlook, he decided to appoint Ronald Biggsworth-Hill to the position. On the face of it this was an extraordinary decision. Biggsworth-Hill had served briefly in the BUF and had no police experience whatsoever. However, Brock saw the qualities in the young man that were required for this job and appointed him as leader of the Column with the rank of Chief Superintendent.
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Chief-Superintendent Bigsworth-Hill in his rather operatic, self-designed, uniform
Many knowledgeable people were very surprised when the photographs of the Column’s Passing Out parade appeared. No longer was it a group of 30 coppers in old delivery vans. Where had all this extra equipment come from?
The answer was from the exertions of its leader, Ronald Biggsworth-Hill. He had set to work immediately with great enthusiasm and gusto. His boss had initial concerns about him designing and wearing an elaborate uniform and shaving his head like the Italian dictator Mussolini. However Bigsworth-Hill convinced him that this was necessary to give a sense of esprit de corps to the new unit. Once over that hurdle, Biggsworth-Hill looked round for ways of increasing the effectiveness of the Column. Leaving the training of the rank and file to his experienced sergeants, he made excursions to nearby Salisbury Plain to see if there may be useful equipment abandoned, mislaid or forgotten by the army in the confusion caused by the out break of the Civil War.
He was in luck right from the start. In an abandoned RAOC workshop, he discovered a neat little armoured scout car. It was a prototype that had been under assessment by the army but forgotten about when hostilities broke out. Along with the vehicle itself were a mass of spares, manuals and tools. Within 24 hours, Biggsworth-Hill had the whole lot shipped to his Wiltshire HQ. He had found himself a suitably impressive command vehicle. Within days, and greatly encouraged by his find, he was back on the plain, scouring it for useful kit.
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The Chief with his “neat little scout car”
He quickly made a very useful find; a Vickers machine gun, complete with spares and plenty of ammunition. Bizarrely, he discovered the Vickers in the deserted married quarters of a Pay Corps Lieutenant-Colonel! This find was whisked off to HQ and Bigsworth-Hill continued his searches.
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The Vickers MG – crew in training
After his initial successes, the next few days were a disappointment until one of his team reported spotting an isolated shed at the end of disused track. “You never know”, thought Bigsworth-Hill and set off to investigate. And hit the jackpot! Inside the shed was an 18pdr gun, with a full complement of spares, tools, manuals and ammunition. It was an obsolescent MkII but had never been used. Bigsworth-Hill surmised that it may have been a reserve gun in a unit that was converted to the MkIV and had just been overlooked during the swap over. Whatever the actual story, he didn’t care – it was his now.
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The “jackpot” – The Chief’s 18pdr
Back at HQ, Chief Superintendent Bigsworth-Hill was a happy man after his acquisitions on Salisbury Plain. Happy but not satisfied. He wanted a fast, reconnaissance element in his command. His first thought was mounted infantry but all his modernist ideals rebelled against the notion of horses. Mechanisation was his watchword. Motorcycles were what he needed but they were at a premium. The Civil War had virtually ended production of British machines and existing stocks had been hungrily snapped up by the various factions at the beginning of the war. Even requisitioned bikes were hard to come by and anyway, a hodge-podge of assorted vehicles was unacceptable equipment for what was intended to be the élite unit in his command. He discussed the problem with Chief Constable Brock who was sympathetic. A day later, Brock telephoned Bigsworth-Hill and told him he may have hit on a scheme that would solve the motor-cycle problem. “Can’t say any more just now. Leave it with me” he said and hung up.
Bigsworth-Hill heard no more for a couple of weeks and concentrated on the training of his machine gun and artillery crews. Then he was called in to see the Chief Constable. Without any preamble, Brock told Bigsworth-Hill that there was ship docking in Liverpool in a week’s time and on it was a consignment of Harley-Davidson motorcycles for the reconnaissance section. They were to be taken by rail to Swindon from where Bigsworth-Hill was to collect them. He was astounded! How had this come about? It transpired that in the 20’s, Brock had spent some time In Milwaukee with the local police department. He had kept in touch with several senior men there. They in turn had good relations with the Harley-Davidson company that was based locally. A call from Brock oulining his problem had produced a typical no-nonsense, “can-do” response from the Americans and this was the result. Bigsworth-Hill had his motorcycles.
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Largesse from The States – The Chief’s motorcycle dream realised
His good fortune was not yet exhausted. He travelled to Swindon with sergeant Ted Mundy to organise the transport back to HQ of the motorbikes. Overnight, in a pub by the goods yard, Mundy got into conversation with a member of the GWR Railway Police who mentioned that a lone tank had been sitting on a flatbed in the sidings for months, covered by a canvas sheet. Apparently it was a Canadian design which had been sent to the UK for appraisal and no-one knew what to do with it. Coupled to the flatbed was a goods wagon which contained everything necessary to get the tank serviceable and maintain it. Ted passed this information onto Bigsworth-Hill who recognised another opportunity. Within twenty-four hours the unwanted tank had a proud owner and was attached to the first goods train headed for Devizes.
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Out of the blue – The Chief finds some armour
With this acquisition, Chief Superintendent Bigsworth-Hill felt his command was equipped for action. The next step would be to find out how his men would perform in action. Had their training been successful? Would their equipment justify the effort that had gone into finding it? It was time to find out.
Doug
Chief-Superintendent Ronald Bigsworth-Hill, commander of the WPFC, was erupting with impatience to try out his unit now that it was fully equipped and had undergone at least basic training. Chief Constable Brock had confirmed Ronald’s rank (officially, he’d been Acting Chief Superintendent up until now) which served to increase Ronald’s determination to get his men into action.
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Sir Rufus with Wrench, his butler in the cosy comfort of the butler’s pantry. They are discussing the arrangements for upcoming visit of Chief Superintendent Bigsworth-Hill. Esmeralda Golightly VII, one of Sir Rufus’ Afghan hound is with them
It was at this time that Chief Constable Brock was contacted by Sir Rufus Pitt-Bulstrode, Lord Lieutenant of the neighbouring county of Borsetshire*. The county was under threat from a loose alliance of revolutionary groups that were massing on its northern border. Having largely escaped the ravages of the Civil War, Borsetshire now appeared to be on the brink of invasion and it had to be admitted, it was seriously unprepared. Sir Rufus was acquainted with Brock and they shared a tenuous family link so it was no surprise that he turned to Brock for assistance. He’d heard of the WPFC and was aware that Brock intended it for use anywhere it was needed, not just in Wiltshire. Brock agreed to send a detachment comprising the best trained elements of the Column.
Encouraged by this, Pitt-Bulstrode set about organising some Borsetshire units. He also contacted his cousin, Sir Gilbert Hill. Hill lead a well trained company of volunteers who had seen service defending Herefordshire’s Golden Valley. They had subdued all local attempts to wrest control of the valley from Sir Gilbert and so he was able to second some of them to assist Sir Rufus. Sir Gilbert is also the uncle of Chief-Superintendent Bigsworth-Hill.
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Reinforcements from Sir Gilbert Hill. Lead by Freddie, Sir Rufus’ son who has been helping Sir Gilbert, they comprise some much-needed support weapons including the famous steam armoured car, the POUM mortar crew, Mad Wullie McSpaniel the tank hunter and Nanny Pankhurst, the grenadier
The Chief-Superintendent was delighted by news of action for his command and within hours of the co-operation deal being finalised, he set off for Borsetshire in his new scout car with Sergeant Ted Mundy driving. The detachment was due to follow within 48 hours but Ronald wanted to meet Sir Rufus as soon as he could and discuss how best to proceed with their unified force.
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The "Chief" approaches Much-Rampling manor for his meeting with Sir Rufus
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Sir Rufus may have been slightly anxious for the safety of his gateposts as “The Chief’s" armoured car bore down upon them. However the driver, Sergeant Ted Mundy swept safely through with some aplomb
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Sir Rufus and his wife, Lady Ferocity, greet "The Chief". With them is their second daughter, Lady Recreation Pitt-Bulstrode, her mother is keen for her to meet the dashing Chief-Superintendent. There are 5 daughters altogether but the eldest, Lady Anticipation, has no interest in meeting eligible young men - she prefers horses, dogs and slaughtering wildlife
They met at Sir Rufus’ country house and, after meeting Lady Pitt-Bulstrode and the five Pitt-Bulstrode daughters, the two leaders got down to serious talks.
It soon became clear that neither were completely happy with the standard of training their men had had or, indeed, their own preparedness for command. Neither had commanded more than a section of about ten men. The way forward occurred to both of them almost simultaneously. "Let’s organise a field exercise - your lot against mine" said Ronald "Do you know, I was thinking along the same lines myself" retorted Pitt-Bulstrode. Once that decision was made, organising the event was completed in a matter of days. "We’ll stage it in the Ambridge area," decided Sir Rufus "There’s some unruly elements in that part who have caused me some trouble recently so a show of force there would be very useful." The two men quickly agreed on what units could take part and Sir Rufus supplied the necessary maps and a day set for the action to take place, a week hence.
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The crucial meeting between Sir Rufus, "The Chief" and the Bishop of Felpersham, the Right Reverend Chauncey Lancelot
It so happened that the Bishop of Felpersham was at The Manor on other business and, as an ex-Colonel in the Royal Marines, he was delighted to accept the rôle of adjudicator. "If there’s one man from Borsetshire we can trust to be neutral, it’s got to be the Bishop," joked the Chief Superintendent, slapping the worthy prelate on the back.
A scenario was devised based on the premise that the Crown Jewels had been spirited out of London and hidden in the Ambridge area of Borsetshire. The object of the exercise was to secure the three farms in the exercise area. As soon as he got back to his palace, the bishop began deciding the details of the exercise.
<next - The Field Exercise>
Doug