Name/Title
Metropolitan Police constable's ceremonial 'No.1" uniform tunic c1960sEntry/Object ID
602Description
Black/blue coloured wool closed high collar long police tunic, with eight large buttons to the front, no pockets and four large buttons around the rear vent. All buttons are chrome plated and marked "Metropolitan Police" with a Queen's crown. There are metal clips either side to hold a belt and the chromed metal letter "A" and the numbers "621" separated by a dot on either side of the collar. On the left cuff are two fabric loops for attaching a duty band. Inside is a stencilled mark "58 7A FWH". There are also pockets in the inside of each side of the rear vent and a very small internal pocket on the left adjacent to the fourth front button hole from the bottom.Use
For a Metropolitan Police constable to use when on ceremonial dutyContext
Tunics very similar to the one pictured were used in most UK police forces from the late 1850s and 1860s, when they replaced the earlier tail coated styles. They were normally worn with a leather belt. The Metropolitan Police replaced this style of tunic for day use in 1897 when they adopted a shorter 5 button closed neck tunic with two breast pockets and no belt. However these older pocketless tunics were retained for ceremonial use and continued to be used for night duty until the late 1930s.
Even when no longer used at night these tunics without pockets were retained in the Metropolitan Police for ceremonial duties and special occasions and were called "Number ones" or "No.1s". They continued to be issued to officers and worn for certain duties until the late 1960s/early 1970s, including state occasions such as the "Trooping of the Colour" ceremonies. They were worn together with a "snake's head" leather belt (item 1269) which was held in place by the metal clips on the tunic, any medals the officer had been awarded, and a whistle chain hooked onto the second button and hung down the front, with the whistle often tucked into the belt as shown in photographs, even though these tunics have a special small internal pocket especially for a whistle. A striped white and blue duty band (items 68 and 93) was threaded through a loop on the left cuff. The museum has another example of one of these tunics which still has its duty band (item 1156). The lack of external pockets in these tunics is compensated for by having special pockets in the tails of the rear vent.
This particular tunic was issued to PC Bob Bird who was a police officer in the Metropolitan Police in the 1960s and went onto become a mounted officer. He transferred to Sussex Police in 1974 when the force was recruiting experienced mounted officers to create a more effective mounted unit. He used the tunic in London both on foot and mounted ceremonial duties. The "A" on the collar denotes that he was assigned to A Division, which covers the Westminster and Whitehall areas of central London and was heavily involved in ceremonial policing. He was issued with the number "A.621"when he joined the Mounted Unit and was stationed at the stables located in Great Scotland Yard, known by the letter code 'GY", which still exist and provide horses to patrol central London.
Unlike in Sussex Police, alpha numeric collar numbers used in the Met. are not officer's warrant numbers, they signify a Divisional number, which will change upon a transfer to another Division or promotion.
This tunic though not actually used in Sussex, is certainly of a style that would have been worn in all of the region's police forces from the 1850s/1860s until the beginning of the 20th century and in some forces until the 1920s. It was probably made in 1958, as signified by the "58" stencilled number inside.