Name/Title
Plain lightweight short truncheon c1960Entry/Object ID
613Description
Plain lightweight short wooden truncheon 11 inches (280mm) long, with five grove grip and imitation leather stitched strap.No maker's stamp or mark.Use
For use as a defensive or offensive weaponContext
Though UK police forces did issue short wooden truncheons for use by detectives, senior ranks and women officers, they tend to be far better made than this example, which is crude and has an imitation leather strap. It seems likely that this is a homemade truncheon and is not of a style associated with proper manufactured police issued examples. It is likely that it was made for private use or may possibly have been made during the Second World War when all manner of homemade weapons were made, especially for early Home Guard use. As it came from Sussex Police, it may have at sometime been seized as an offensive weapon.