Quote Originally Posted by Brit plumber View Post
He really should have been awarded a bravery medal at the time as he was unarmed when he made the arrest. But....those officers of the day didn’t expect attention or reward, they just cracked on with it.
Indeed, and with no body armour, no tasars, no sprays and often walking your beat on your own, with nothing more than a trucheon and a whistle.

My Dad was awarded a QCBC in 1974 (along with 3 other PC's) for disarming an armed bank raider in West London in Oct 1973. The guy was Army, and had gone AWOL with a loaded SLR and had held up a bank in Gloucester before heading towards London and attempting a raid on a Barclays about half a mile from Hayes nick. One of the customers was an off-duty PC, who managed to raise the alarm, just as Dad and his dog van partner were leaving Hayes nick after a refreshment break. They arrived just as chummy was legging it to his car carrying a bag of cash and the SLR, Dad saw his chance as he was trying to manoevre the SLR in the confines of the car and tried the rear door which was unlocked and jumped in behind him and wrestled him into a head lock, as then the other two managed to get the SLR out of his hands via the front doors. The SLR was loaded, can't remember though now if there was one in the chamber though. I've still got my Dad's old police diary covering that day, and he covered it with hardly any drama in a succinct 3 lines worth in his usual 'just doing his duty' manor.
All 3 were awarded the QCBC at the old London GLC building in spring of 74 by the then Marshall of the RAF. The squaddie got 5 years. I don't whether that was courtesy of a RMP establishment or not though?