| Surname: | Arey |
| Initials: | T W |
| Rank: | Corporal |
| Army Number: | P/3133 |
| Notes: | MFP. Info from service record: Formerly Civil Police Sergeant residing at 25 Briar Close, Evesham. Age on enlistment 29. Served home 9/12/1915, Army Reserve 10/12/1915 to 22/5/1916. BEF 2/7/1916 to 5/9/1919. Home 5/9/1919 to 3/10/1919. Sailed Southampton in SS King Edward 2/7/1916 to Havre. 4/7/1916 5 GB Depot Rouen. 4/7/1916 APM Calais. 7/7/1917 APM Rouen. 4/9/1919 UK for discharge. Awarded the Victory and War Medals. First served abroad (1) France, 2/7/1916. Thomas Watkins Arey Extract from the Cheltenham Chronicle, 4/8/1934. TO BE SUPERINTENDENT AT REDDITCH. Police Inspector Thomas Watkins Arey, of Pershore, is leaving the district in a few weeks' time. he has been appointed Superintendent at Redditch. Inspector Arey was a sergeant at Redditch 13 years ago, and returned there from Astwood Bank in 1925 as Inspector before coming to Pershore. Now he succeeds Superintendent Frederick Smith, who is retiring from the Force. Inspector Arey will be much missed by a host of friends in Pershore, for during his eight years he has been in charge of the Pershore District, the second largest in the county, he has discharged his duties with ability and fairness. The record of criminal cases on which he has been engaged during that period included many of more than ordinary gravity. Apart from his official duties Mr Arey has found time to give very substantial help to local organisations promoted for the benefit of the town and district, including the Evesham Divisional Boot Fund for Poor Kiddies, originated by Supt. A Pass, which has proved an incalculable boon to many parents during the past six years. Inspector Arey has raised during that period, with the help of his constables, between five and six hundred pounds for this deserving cause in the Pershore district alone. As a member of the committee of the local British Legion branch he has loyally fulfilled all the work devolving upon him. HIS POLICE CAREER. He joined the Worcestershire Constabulary in 1906 and went to Dudley, which borough was then policed by the county, under the late Chief Supt. Speke. In 1908 he was transferred to Stourport as divisional police clerk to the late Supt. Walker, formerly of Pershore. In 1912 he passed the Board of Trade examination and was appointed weights and measures inspector for the Southern Division of Worcestershire with the rank of Sergeant. During the war he was in France and rose to the rank of sergeant in the Military Foot Police and was acting Quartermaster Sergeant at the time of his demobilisation in 1919. He then resumed his old appointment in the Weight and Measures Department until transferred to Evehsam as Sergeant-Clerk under Supt. Pegg, of Pershore. Two years later he went to Astwood Bank, where he was appointed Inspector, and went to Redditch, where he remained until August, 1926, when he came to Pershore, succeeding the late Supt. A Gray, whose promotion and transference to Halesowen occurred at this time. Mr Aray will be succeeded by Inspector E Price of Tenbury Wells, in the Stourport Division, who has served as constable and Sergeant at Bromsgrove, and who took Mr Arey's place at Astwood Bank in 1925, where he was popular as a sportsman and for his work in connection with charitable institutions. |
Decoration Record: | |
| Decoration: | Mention in Despatches (London Gazette: 31446 Page: 8793 July 10, 1919) |
| Citation: | France & Flanders. |