A good friend of mine, Andy Green, recently mentioned that his grandfather was a former Liverpool City Police officer and I asked him if the family had any photographs, I was delighted when he told me that they did. Armed with the photographs and the information provided by his son I am thus able to relate the story of Charles Green.

Charles (Charlie) Green joined Liverpool City Police in 1926/7, he was stationed in A division at Hatton Garden working in Liverpool City Centre. Liverpool City Police played a major role in Liverpool’s blitz defenses and Charlie was stationed at Hatton Garden throughout the war. Charlie lived in Fazakerley and his son recalls “because of the damage caused to the roads and buildings in the city by the Luftwaffe, it was not unusual for public transport to be disabled and Charlie would often walk the 6 miles to and from work”.

As well as their usual duties, police officers took charge of blitz incidents, putting out fires, controlling traffic and clearing whole areas until bomb disposal squads could make unexploded bombs safe. It was not unusual for Charlie to help in rescuing people from blitzed buildings, often having to recover the bodies of the dead. He also did a spell of fire-watching from the top of the Cathedral which was still under construction, a duty which no officer could possibly have relished. Charlie like most officers was on shift work which meant a month on days, afternoons and nights. Often during the blitz officers would remain on duty long after their shift or be unable to travel home, his son said “when Jack, my brother, and I were small we only saw him on his rest day and had to creep around the house when he was on nights”.

After the War, in about 1946/7 Charlie had a spell in the Traffic Division which gave him an opportunity to learn to drive, a few years later he was promoted Sergeant and went to, Westminster Road. Around about 1955 he went to work in the Chief Constable s office in Hardman Street, Charlie remained at headquarters until his retirement in the 1960’s.

Bob Edwards
June 2013