Handbags and Handcuffs

A member of the Wisborough Green WI and a regular speaker at our meetings here at Broadbridge Bombshells WI, Sheila Willis never fails to entertain and educate, and tonight was no exception with her talk on the role of women in the police force over the years.

Sheila, a woman police officer herself from 1966 -2012 almost did not become a police officer at all – when she joined the minimum height was 5’ 4” and she was ¼" short of that, despite standing tall and hanging weights off her ankles, but the beehive hairdo swung it for her! 

A woman’s role has changed radically over the years. Sheila wore a smart uniform, but had a skirt instead of trousers, and she carried an actual handbag!  Her transport was Nellie, a proper sit-up-and-beg bicycle which has been her faithful companion ever since - though Nellie now resides in Sheila's garden sporting a fetching display of geraniums. 

WPCs in those times had nothing but their status and quick wits with which to protect themselves... sometimes the ‘accidental’ sight of a short skirt and pretty legs could be enough to distract a couple of brawling chaps and give Sheila the opportunity to defuse the situation.

It was a few years before WPCs were issued with a ‘truncheon’ and even this was sized to fit into the very small handbag! This was never going to strike terror into the hearts of burglars and miscreants.

For us in 2026, the complete lack of communication between officers and their stations in those early years is astounding. When coming on duty in the 60's, a constable would be issued with a card detailing the night’s route, and a series of phone boxes and times. At these predesignated times, the constable had to be by the phone box and remain there for 10 minutes to enable the station to make contact should this be needed. If a member of the public who wanted to use the phone, they had to vacate the box and also wait for the required ten minutes before they could resume their call.

Radios and phones were eventually introduced in 1968, though the first ones were the size and weight of house bricks, and one of the upgraded models had an automatic aerial that had a painful tendency to shoot up an unwary nostril.

This was the era when householders would tell the police when they were going on holiday and extra patrols were sent to make sure that the property was secure. Sheila loved ‘Beat B’ and was particularly diligent in checking the houses and gardens of large and luxurious properties on Reigate Hill.

As well as Sheila's personal experiences in the police force, we also learnt a little about the history of women in the Police Force. Edith Totton, a middle-class suffragette was a member of the Women's Police Reserves in 1914. Edith was given the task of patrolling 2,000 men in an army camp with regard to their behaviour in the pubs and the many young ladies who frequented the camp. Edith would chat to the ladies, get to know them, and any prostitutes would be warned, and removed as needed. 

At the end of the First World War, these women stayed on in their jobs, but it wasn't made easy for them, as all police forces were headed by men - women were regarded as vinegary spinsters or blighted middle-aged fanatics. In addition to this, the criteria for entry was harsh: including the 5'4' height restriction, women were also not allowed to have young children, had to accept lower pay, and didn't qualify for a pension, and if there were two officers of the same rank, the man would always outrank the woman, they had no power of arrest, and many were regularly insulted and told to 'get back to the kitchen.’

Not all did.  Gladys Moss was an officer in Worthing depicted in the film ‘Wicked Little Letters’ she wore trousers and rode a motorbike. If you haven't seen the film, please watch it, not only is it hilarious, but it also shows the trials and tribulations a WPC had to go through to be taken seriously.

Nowadays our expectations of equal opportunities for women in all aspects of life is a given, so it was extremely challenging for us to see a poster from 1930 looking to recruit ‘hefty’, unmarried girls, capable of dealing with ‘rough and tumble’, but also had the requirement that they should be ‘fairly good looking’.

Thank goodness things finally started moving forward for women in the police force, although admittedly at a fairly slow pace: in 1923 WPCs were granted the power of arrest, in 1937 they could take fingerprints, in 1967 they were issued with warrant cards, and a year later the first female officer of colour Sislin Fay Allen was recruited. 1970 saw the first female members of the mounted branch, and in 1971 women could work in the dog section.

In 1977 during the Queen’s Jubilee, as an armed officer, Sheila had been promoted from carrying a handbag to carrying a fire arm... this illustrates very dramatically how much equality for women within the police force had progressed over the previous decade. It also vividly shows how much more dangerous the job had become for all police officers male and female alike. We paused then to remember some of the women police officers who had died while in the line of duty:

1955, Ethel Violet Bush and Kathleen Perot. 1984, Yvonne Fltcher. 2012 Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes.

Brave women all

On a lighter note, a ripple of laughter from some of the older members, greeted the theme tunes for Dixon of Dock Green, Z Cars, Juliet Bravo, The Gentle Touch and The Bill with ladies on the box starring all the way to 2014 which saw Happy Valley and Line of Duty.

As always, Sheila’s talks manage to blend hard facts, humour and information. We all enjoyed her talk, the end of which was greeted with applause and thanks.