Introduction
These are unpublished works that have been written by serving, or ex-serving, police officers and deposited with the MPHC.
PC 138-Z Arthur Battle
Written around 1966, Battle’s memoir is one of the most comprehensive texts written about policing in 1930s London. Battle was born during the Edwardian period on 20 August 1907 in Bedfordshire. Prior to joining the police, he was employed as a clerk - the second largest occupational pool of recruitment for the force in 1927. Being posted initially to the 'N' (Islington) Division in north London in 1929, he was transferred to the 'G' (Finsbury) Division in 1931 where he worked for most of the decade. Taking and failing his sergeant exam twice, Battle served as a constable for the rest of his career, retiring in 1954 after 25 years of service.
Note: Battle included a number of full page cartoons in landscape mode; these have been rotated and cropped to fit the screen for easy viewing.