William Noel Downing first became a Special Constable in the City of Birmingham Constabulary in May 1926, when he volunteered his services during the emergency declared around the General Strike. Previously he had volunteered as a Private in 1914 (Public School’s Pals Brigade 21st Royal Fusiliers) . He went on to gain a commission in the Welsh Guards.
One long service medal and ‘bar’ are in our possession together with some correspondence regarding his appointment and retirement. Although we do not know the precise dates of his service, the biggest clue is the Special Constable medal that bears the head of George V. This medal is awarded for nine years service, a record he would have achieved some time in 1935, if, as seems likely, he had first joined up in 1926. The bar stamped ‘1942’ was for a further ten years service. However, as service in wartime was counted as triple time, this would explain how he could achieve ’19 years’ service in a relatively short span of time.
The letter gives a date for Noel first joining the reserve constabulary in February 1939. This would imply a much increased commitment to the police service. The Special Constabulary were unpaid volunteers, and only had to do 50 duties per year. A duty would usually consist of a four hour shift. In early 1939 the Reserve Constabulary was being built up from retired Police Officers and experienced Special Constables not of conscription age.
Noel’s family business interest had in fact largely been sold in 1931, when Noel was still only 42. His role in the sold malting businesses after this date does not appear to have been a full time occupation and being a Special Constable was a role he certainly had time for. The opportunity to work more duties as a Reserve Constable from Feb 1939 was therefore a natural choice for him.
Just as in the First World War, both Noel and his wife Molly volunteered their services a second time round in 1939 – with Molly re-training as a nurse and working in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. Both received the Defence Medal for these services.
At the end of the war, their daughters grown up, the couple decided to retire and move to Hampshire. Noel resigned as a Reserve Constable in Aug 1945.
Sources and Notes
- In the Sep 1939 Register Noel Downing describes his occupation as Maltster (Master)
- The Downing businesses had been subsumed into Associated British Maltsters (ABM) in 1931 and the new boss Hubert Cherry-Downes appears to have relentlessly streamlined the various family-run malting businesses ABM acquired. It is assumed Noel retained a Directorship or senior management role in this wind down. ABM was headquartered in Newark on Trent.