This sombre memorial is in the police station on Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush.
DS Head, DC Fox and their driver, PC Wombwell were on patrol in plain clothes in an unmarked police car. They saw a Standard Vanguard estate van parked in a residential side street near Wormwood Scrubs with three occupants. They probably thought that an escape was being planned and went to question them.
The men in the van were Harry Roberts and John Duddy, both convicted criminals with a history of violence. They shot the police officers with pistols. The third man, Jack Witney, had convictions for theft. All three were given Life sentences. Duddy died in Parkhurst Prison in 1981, Witney was released in 1991 and Roberts served almost 48 years being released in 2014. The public were shocked and outraged at these violent murders and there were calls for the death penalty to be re-introduced. It had been abolished in 1965. There was a memorial service at Westminster Abbey attended by the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The Shepherd’s Bush Murders led to the establishment of the Police Firearms Wing and the Police Dependants’ Trust. There is also a memorial in Braybrook Street, where the shootings took place.
London still has more than its fair share of violent crime and unarmed police officers still get killed but somehow that August afternoon in 1966 seems particularly outrageous. I am glad that there are two local memorials to remind us of the danger in which the police put themselves.
I was in Uxbridge police station yesterday morning because the station in Hammersmith closed some two years ago and I needed to report a lost car key. The green car has electronic ignition and a serious design flaw. It is possible to place the key on the roof and start the car. There is no warning signal when it falls off. When you reach your destination the loss becomes evident. Fortunately there is a spare key but if the lost one doesn’t turn up I will have to have the ignition code re-programmed.
Christopher,
I share your fustrations about modern motoring. My new set of wheels has the same push button start system, which often means by the time I arrive at my destination I have forgotten were I put the key: trouser pocket, jacket pocket, door bin, center cup holder, on the floor, between the seats? No, it was in the boot with the shopping. Perhaps your problem may be mitigated by attaching a magnet to your keyring, that way hopefully your key would remain in loco until you reach your destination.
The other issue with your Mini is the colour: green can not be seen. You should have opted for canary yellow. Lord Kitchener had his Rolls Royce painted yellow so the London police would recognise him driving around the capital and clear any traffic obstructions.
Lord Lonsdale, the Yellow Earl, was first President of the AA and a Conservative. The AA nationally and the Conservatives in Cumbria still use some yellow on rosettes.
My own solution to the new electronic car keys is to wear the key on a “ribbon” “cord” “string” “bootlace” around my neck. That way it is always with me whether inside or outside the car.
Just to clarify a point, Geoffrey Fox was the driver, not Dave Wombwell.
And all three officers were from Shepherds Bush Police Station, not Uxbridge.