Sir Percy Joseph Sillitoe

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

DL (22 May 1888 – 5 April 1962) was a chief constable of several police forces. He changed the role of radios, civilian staff, and women police officers within the police. He was later

Director General of MI5 __NOTOC__ The Director General of the Security Service is the head of the Security Service (commonly known as MI5), the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency. The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director Gen ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's internal security service, from 1946 to 1953.

Life

Born in London, Sillitoe was educated at

St Paul's Cathedral School St Paul's Cathedral School is an independent school associated with St Paul's Cathedral in London and is located in New Change in the City of London. The school has around 220 pupils, most of whom are day pupils, both boys and girls, including ...

(then St Paul's Cathedral Choir School). By 1908, he had become a Trooper in the

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' Britis ...

and, in 1911, transferred to the Northern Rhodesia Police. During the First World War , Sillitoe served in the East African campaign with the Northern Rhodesia Police. In 2009, it was revealed that he had had a relationship with Mary Museba, a local woman of the

Bemba people The Bemba belong to a large group of Bantu peoples, primarily in the Northern Province, Zambia, Northern, Luapula Province, Luapula, Muchinga Province, Muchinga and the northern Central Province, Zambia, Central Province of Zambia. The Bemba e ...

, from the Abercorn District of

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

; they had a son, John Alexander Sillitoe, born in 1918. After serving as a political officer in Tanganyika until 1920, Sillitoe returned to England with his family. In 1923, Sillitoe was appointed Chief Constable of Chesterfield, a position he held for the next two years. After a further year as Chief Constable of the East Riding of Yorkshire in 1925, he became in 1926 the Chief Constable of Sheffield, where he was credited with authorising "reasonable force" to break the hold of criminal gangs.(2004-09-23). Sillitoe, Sir Percy Joseph (1888–1962), police officer and intelligence officer. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 5 Dec. 2017, fro
link
/ref> Sillitoe was Chief Constable of

City of Glasgow Police The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police organisation covering the city and royal burgh of Glasgow, from 1800 to 1893, and the county of city of Glasgow, from 1893 to 1975. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to ...

from 1931 to 1943, when he was credited with breaking the power of the notorious Glasgow razor gangs, made infamous in the novel '' No Mean City''. During his time as chief constable of Glasgow, he was also credited with the introduction of wireless radios allowing communication between headquarters and vehicles (which had previously relied completely upon the use of

police box A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in some countries, most widely in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from th ...

es), use of civilians in police-related roles, and the introduction of compulsory retirement after 30 years service. Sillitoe is further credited with the introduction of the ''

Sillitoe tartan Sillitoe tartan is a distinctive chequered pattern, usually black-and-white or blue-and-white, which was originally associated with the Police Scotland, police in Scotland. It later gained widespread use in the rest of the United Kingdom and ov ...

'', which is more commonly recognized as the checkered pattern, usually black-and-white, on police cap bands, originally based on that used by several

Scottish regiment Scottish regiments are Military organization#Commands, formations, and units, military units which at some point during their existence have had a form of connection with Scotland. Though the military history of Scotland dates back to the era o ...

s on their Balmoral and

Glengarry The Glengarry bonnet is a traditional Scots cap made of thick-milled woollen material, decorated with a toorie on top, frequently a rosette cockade on the left side, and ribbons hanging behind. It is normally worn as part of Scottish military ...

headdresses. In 1944 Sillitoe was made the chief constable of Kent and he employed Barbara Denis de Vitré to lead the women's force. When she arrived, Kent had two policewomen and the following year there were nearly 150. Sillitoe went on to head

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

. His reputation was damaged by the 1951

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

of the spies

Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet double agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection ...

and Donald Duart Maclean, and by the investigation afterwards, which showed that MI5 had been unaware and slow to act. Sillitoe was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in 1936 and

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1942 New Year Honours.

References

Sources

* Sir Percy Sillitoe, ''Cloak Without Dagger'', Cassell, 1955 * A. W. Cockerill, ''Sir Percy Sillitoe'', W. H. Allen, 1975 * R. Deacon, ''The Greatest Treason: The Bizarre Story of Hollis, Liddell and Mountbatten'', rev. edn 1990 * The Times, ''Obituary'', 6 April 1962 * A. W. Cockerill, "Secrets & Skeletons - A Biography of Sir Percy Sillitoe", 15 Jun. 2013

External links

The Glasgow Story – Chief Constable Sir Percy Sillitoe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sillitoe, Percy 1888 births 1962 deaths People from Tulse Hill Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire British Chief Constables Directors General of MI5 British colonial police officers Colonial Administrative Service officers British South Africa Police officers People educated at St. Paul's Cathedral School Deputy lieutenants of Glasgow Knights Bachelor