"The Girls in Blue"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23281, 25 February 1939, Page 13 (Supplement)

"The Girls in Blue"

London's Policewomen II Disorderly

"THEY COME QUIETLY"

By SHEILA O'CA

(World Copyright Reserved)

ONE of the most amusing and, to some people, "revolutionary" features of Britain's gigantic process of rearmament is the peacetime introduction of some eort of military service for women. During the Great War, Britain had her corps of W.A.A.C.S. Now she has her W.A.T.S.—an organisation for training women for service behind the lines as lorry-drivers, etc. ' The spectacle of young women in khaki marching solemnly has proved |oo much for many sober Londoners; ■this is very strange", indeed. Londoners, more than any people in the should be used to the 6ight of ■women in uniform, for they possess » women's police force that has become jporld famous —"the girls in blue." You may meet "the girls" anywhere In London; in a shop, hotel, restaurant, bar, bottle party, night club, on a racecourse or round a roulette table. But in- those haunts you won't find them in uniform. . . Many a forward

young man has unknowingly tried-to make a date with a policewoman or offered her a lift home in. his car. . . Raw Recruits

plete outfit of plain clothes, including make-up if she wants it. The oentral stations have not only special lockers as changing-rooms for "the girls" but canteens and common rooms as well. Plain-Clothes Duty The most exciting moment of a policewoman's life is when she is ordered alone on plain-clothes duty for the first time. The light winking above a blue pillar or a police box in the street may mean that a policewoman is wanted off the beat to change into plain clothes immediately. Her normal plain-clothes work consists mainly of fetching, escorting and taking evidence from women and children. As many provincial police forces apply, to London for assistance, she may, do a good deal of travelling. > Good women drivers have their turn at speed patrol work —a surprise for the unsuspecting motorist. When it comes to actual crime the policewoman's experience as a sleuth is gained at first by working in the com-

pany of a superior officer. Six women have already been promoted to the Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard. Toward the end of her second year of probation the policewoman keeps a sharp look-but for surprise visits from her "skipper," as the woman constable playfully refers to her inspector or sergeant. On those visits may depend the prospects of a career. By this time a woman constable has had a pretty rich experience, including perhaps drunks. ; " Two at a Time " One of "the girls" in the West End of London had occasion early in her career to take into custody a drunken man.He came ' quietly—overawed by the novelty of being marched, off by a woman. She mentioned it to her friends. Ever-since,-when they are contemplating a night out in town, they tease her by-inquiring beforehand where her beat lies, so that should they get unduly merry they may have the honour to be "run in" by her! There is another woman sergeant in the. Force with quite a reputation for

But those would all be fully-fledged policewomen, specialists who are Tarely seen in blue. With the fledglings—probationers, raw recruits and trainees — fchey make, up just- over a hundred and Ih'ey live together in the Bayswater district of London. : There is nothing on the outside of their "Section House"—three houses joined—to distinguish it from the (boarding houses and one-room flatlet establishments in which the district abounds. Inside the policewomen's Section House combines- the service of a, good hotel with the,, comforts of home. One of the blessings of a policewoman's life is that she need not always get up for breakfast, or at any fixed hour,- provided she is. in, time for going on duty. . When, she is posted to a station, after four weeks' training a London policewoman. always takes a little personal luggage with her. ,It contains a com-

handling drunks. She ha« been seen leading them off two at a time before now. .• '

In one of London's Royal Parks there is a tali and distinguished-looking woman with a complexion so good that it might be made up and a figure so graceful that her uniform cannot hide it. She is one of the Force's "glamour girls." Work at Night \ Yet the glamour brigade dresß quietly. One does not need to be gowned and made-up so elaborately when going out on night-life duty. The people who go to night clubs and such places are not particularly well dressed on the average. . Police cars are sometimes available to take "the girls" home in the early hours of the morning, but often' they just catch the all-night bus. j Policewomen have a month at a, time on night duty, but the hours are not necessarily fixed. Provided the period "on" amounts to seven and a-half hours (including refreshments) at the station, they are liable to go on and come off at any hour. / j Their training includes lessons in selfdefence, and several of "the girls" are jiu-jitsu experts pining for a chance to test their skill.

The uniform hats they wear make up in comfort what they lack ip be-

comeliness. Underneath the navy blue is cork, as light as a feather, as in a, tropical topee. Underneath the cork is a great variety of shades and lengths of hair—one officer has hair she can sit on —but the Force has yet to acquire a proper blonde. Former Actresses In case of a rush of blondes to Scotland Yard, however, it should be noted that in 1937 out of a thousand applicants (all colourings) only 24 were successful. „ t In addition to education, character and keenness applicants must have physical fitness. This includes perfect eyesight, sound teeth and feet: a policewoman must measure not less than sft. 4in. barefoot and have no "facial deformities."- » • ; \

Although apparently 60 exclusive, the British women police are yet a widely representative body.Among them are heard Oxford, Lancashire, Irish, Scottish, Corsican and many other accents; As 24 is the minimum age, recruits- include former actresses, nurses, school teachers, typists, shop assistants and ladies of leisure. It is rumoured even, that one of "the girls" a little while hack had been presented at Court before joining:!