Name/Title
Military General Service Whistle dated 1916 later used by East Sussex ConstabularyEntry/Object ID
2329Description
Nickel silver military general service whistle. Marked "J. Hudson and Co. Birmingham, 1916" and "Patent 5727-08"Use
For police officers and others to raise the alarm and summon assistance.Context
The use of the whistle by police to replace the rattle as a means of raising the alarm, only became widespread after 1884, when whistles were adopted by the Metropolitan Police in London. Joesph Hudson and Co. supplied these whistles to the Met. and the "Metropolitan" trademark was registered to reflect this, the connection being used heavily in the company's marketing.
To begin with a number of Birmingham based companies produced whistles for the police but Hudsons soon became the largest manufacturer. The company was formed in 1870 and is still in existence as The Acme Whistle Company. Whilst most famous for producing whistles, Hudson and Co. also manufactured other items of police equipment until the 1950's.
The correct name for a police type whistle is a General Service Whistle or GWS, as they were not only used by the police, and after 1884 they became popular not just with police but with all manner of other institutions as well as with the general public.
While many police forces had whistles made with their names stamped on them, some only used unpersonalised examples. West Sussex Constabulary is thought to be one such force, given the lack of any known whistles with their name on. Even those police forces that did buy named whistles, are thought to have purchased plainer unnamed whistles as replacements or to supplement their supplies. This was because personalised whistles were more expensive and had to be bought in larger numbers. Hudson and Co. had a minimum order policy for such marked whistles of 144 or a gross.
This particular whistle has the date 1916 stamped on it which identifies it as having been made for the British military in that year. During the First World War thousands of general service whistles were supplied to the military. This particular whistle is part of a collection of items from an ex East Sussex Constabulary superintendent, and would have been used in the force. It and other ex military examples are evidence that the force often issued its officers with military surplus whistles to augment supplies of whistles marked with the force name.