Name/Title
West Sussex Constabulary special constable's tunic c1936 - 1952Entry/Object ID
288Description
Black wool constable's tunic with high closed collar, seven large chrome plated buttons to the front, two breast pockets and two epaulettes, both pockets and epaulettes having small chrome plated buttons. All of the buttons are marked "West Sussex Constabulary" with a King's crown and marked to the rear "Special Quality". The chrome plated metal numbers "562" are attached to each side of the collar, which also has two metal badges marked "SC" topped with a King's crown. There are holes in the epaulettes suggesting something else was originally attached there.Use
For use by a male special constable in West Sussex ConstabularyContext
Closed neck tunics with two breast pockets were used by constables and sergeants in West Sussex Constabulary from c1905, replacing an earlier tunic without pockets, designed to be worn with a leather belt.
To begin with these breast pocketed tunics had five front buttons, but in 1936, a number of changes were made to uniforms, including the introduction of a seven buttoned tunic like the one pictured. At the same time police helmets were re-introduced for the first time since they were replaced by caps for all officers in 1912.
The presence of the "SC" badges on the collar of this particular tunic indicate that it was used by a special constable and the King's crown on those badges, suggest that it was in use before 1952. The buttons are from West Sussex Constabulary, indicating that it is from that police force, and date from before 1952. However, it is known that many police forces continued to use King's crown insignia, after 1952 when Queen Elizabeth came to the throne and in West Sussex it was used until the late 1950s.
This style of tunic continued to be worn by regular officers in West Sussex until March 1950 when an open necked tunic was adopted for constables and sergeants, worn with a shirt and tie. To begin with the closed neck tunics were retained for night duty but eventually they were completely replaced by the open necked examples for use by regular officers. However special constables within West Sussex Constabulary continued to wear closed neck tunics like this one for a number of years.
Regular officers in West Sussex Constabulary wearing this type of tunic wore chrome metal "WS" letters on their epaulettes. Photographs from the 1950s show that by then special constables did not have these letters on their epaulettes. An examination of this particular tunic shows that there are holes in the epaulettes indicating that they originally had "WS" letters attached. This suggests that this may be a re-issued tunic originally used by a regular officer. However the museum also has what is believed to be an earlier special constable's tunic with a different style of special constabulary insignia that still has "WS"on the epaulettes (item 337). So the tunic pictured may be a similar earlier special's tunic that has been altered with more up to date special constabulary insignia.