| Surname: | Rogers |
| Initials: | F T |
| Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Army Number: | P/2560 |
| Notes: | MMP. Awarded the Victory and War Medals. Later Pte. 20 London Regt. No. G/30428 also shown as Royal West Kent Regt with same No. Extract from the Thanet Advertiser 28 December 1945. LAST OF THE OLD SCHOOL. RAMSGATE POLICE RETIREMENTS. With the retirement on Monday of four of Ramsgate's police officers, the old borough force that we knew in the days just after World War I will die out. The four popular members of the force - now the Ramsgate Division of the Kent County Constabulary - who will make their last reports after over a quarter of a century of public service are P/S Frederick Thomas Rogers, of 81 Crescent Road; P/S William Arthur Buddle, of 21 Nethercourt Gardens; D/C Albert Foster, of Nairobi, Dane Crescent; and P.C. John Frederick Kemp, of 410 Margate Road. The public generally will wish these "last survivors" of the old school a long and happy retirement, which they wall deserve. Sgt. Rogers is well-known to the older and younger generations and the former remember the athletic achievements of his early days. He was a good all rounder and as one of the local wrestling stars came into the public limelight before his police career. In the days before the 1914-18 War exiting tournaments were held at the King's Theatre and the Royal Victoria Pavilion and Sgt. Rogers appeared in many of them. He was an exponent of the art of "catch as catch can" and ju0jitsu and one of his proud feats was to stand up to the famous Henry Irslinger, then middle-weight champion of the word for 8 minutes 40 secs at the at the Kings's. At the same place he fought against the equally famous Young Hackensmidt, bantam weight champion of the world. A Big attraction> One of Sgt. Roger's regular opponents was Oliver Sloan, who lived in Ramsgate until sailing to Canada about 30 years ago. The two appeared at various halls in East Kent and were always a big attraction. With Percy Bevan, Sgt. Rogers was one of the founder members of the first Ramsgate Boxing Club. (Picture of P.S. Rogers in police uniform with helmet.) After attending St. Lawrence School, Sgt. Rogers had a number of jobs and then, at the outbreak of the first World War, entered Ramsgate Borough Police Force as a temporary constable. He joined the Mounted Military Police in 1915 and served in Egypt, Palestine and France. One of the mounted escorts for General Sir Arthur Murray, Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, he later went up into Palestine when the wire road, railway, telephone and oil lines, running parallel, were taken into the country from the Saini peninsular. He was at the second and victorious Battle of Gaza. Wounded at Havering Court. In May, 1918, Sgt. Rogers applied for a commission and was transferred to the 20th London (Territorial) Regt. for training. Within a few days,m however he was drafted to France, travelling by way of Italy. Going into the front line on the Arras-Cambrai sector, he was wounded at Havering Court in September, 1918 and was on convalescent leave when the Armistice was signed. Sgt. Rogers rejoined the borough force as a constable in February, 1919 and in the following year transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department. He went back into uniform in 1926 on promotion to Sergeant. In his career, Sgt. Rogers was commended on seven occasions. Five of the commendations came from the borough magistrates, one from the county magistrates and the other from the Watch Committee. The commendation from the Watch Committee followed a fire at a photographer's premises in the Arcade. The seat of the fire was in the basement developing room and after breaking into the building, Sgt. Rogers descended through dense smoke to deal with it. Groping round in the dark he found the water tap used by the photographer and was able to extinguish the outbreak before the arrival of the fire brigade. Bag in Harbour. One of the most exciting experiences in his police life earned him the commendation of the county magistrates. A businessman at Sandwich had been robbed of between £20 and £30 in money and reported the loss to the Police. Asked what outsiders were likely to know the"geography" of his premises, he mentioned a Ramsgate man. One of those curious coincidences which sometimes make police work easy led to the downfall of the thief. The day after the robbery the Inner Basin of Ramsgate Harbour was drained and on the bed was found a Gladstone bag, weighted with chalk, which was identified and belonging to the Sandwich businessman. Sgt. Rogers immediately went to the lodging of the man whose name had been given and was informed by the landlady that his quarry was in bed with a cold. Warned that the man usually kept a revolver under his pillow. Sgt. Rogers rushed into the bedroom and pounced on him. It was the most unusual arrest he had ever made. Having "got his man" he then proceeded to look for the evidence. The silver was found in a drain pipe but the notes were not so easy to discover. Then the landlady remembered seeing a few grains of sugar on the floor. Sgt. Roberts immediately went to a tall sugar tin, emptied it on the table and there in the bottom were the notes. Comrades' Welfare at Heart. Sgt. Rogers has always had the welfare of his comrades at heart and for many years has represented Ramsgate sergeants at the annual conference of the Police Federation of England and Wales. He was chairman of the locals sergeants' board for a long period. |