Download or read book Scotland Yard s Ghost Squad written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Second World War ended, England was bombed-out and starving, with practically every saleable commodity rationed. It was the age of austerity and criminal opportunity. Thieves broke into warehouses, hijacked trucks and ransacked rail yards to feed the black market; others stole, recycled or forged ration coupons. Scotland Yard was 6,000 men under strength but something dramatic had to be done and it was.Four of the Yards best informed detectives were summoned to form the Special Duties Squad and were told: Go out into the underworld. Gather your informants. Do whatever is necessary to ensure that the gangs are smashed up. We will never ask you to divulge your sources of information. But remember you must succeed.They did. Divisional Detective Inspector Jack Capstick, a brilliant thief-taker and informant runner, Detective Inspector Henry Clark, who knew the south London villains as few other detectives did and in addition, possessed a punch like the kick of a mule, and Detective Sergeants Matt Brinnand and John Gosling, who topped the Flying Squad wartime arrests, both individually and collectively. In under four years they arrested 789 criminals, solved 1,506 cases and recovered stolen property valued at 250,000 or 10 million by todays standards, with the aid of their informants, undercover officers and their own, unsurpassed ability.The Special Duties Squad was a one-off. How the four officers accomplished their task is divulged in this thrilling book, using hitherto unseen official documents and conversations from people who were there.
Download or read book The Ghost Squad written by Gerald Verner and published by Linford. This book was released on 2017-01-05 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mingling with the denizens of the underworld, taking their lives in their hands, and unknown even to their comrades at Scotland Yard, are the members of the Ghost Squad - an extra-legal organization answerable to one man only. The first Ghost operative detailed to discover the identity of the mastermind behind the buying and selling of official secrets is himself unmasked - and killed before he can report his findings to the squad. Detective-Inspector John Slade is his successor - but can he survive as he follows a tangled trail of treachery and murder?
Download or read book Scotland Yard s Flying Squad written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2019-10-30 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the famed London police unit, by a former member and author who “knows how to bring his coppers to life on each page” (Joseph Wambaugh, New York Times–bestselling author of The Onion Field). Since 1919, Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad has been in the forefront of the war against crime. From patrolling London’s streets in horse-drawn wagons, it has progressed to the use of the most sophisticated surveillance and crime-fighting equipment. The Squad targeted protection gangs who infested British racecourses and greyhound tracks, and later the highly effective Ghost Squad was formed to tackle black-marketeering in the aftermath of the Second World War. As crime soared in the 1950s and ’60s the Flying Squad, or C8 Department as it was now known, became involved in the most serious cases nationwide—The Great Train Robbery, the Brink’s-Mat robbery, The Millennium Dome and Hatton Garden heists. Today the ruthless drug and people trafficking gangs that seek rich pickings in London and elsewhere are in their sights. Despite many high-profile successes, allegations of corruption have haunted the Flying Squad, and after the conviction of officers in 2001 there was a very real possibility of disbandment. Yet this most famous of police units survived—and today continues to fight and be feared by the hardest of criminals. This book draws on firsthand accounts to tell the Flying Squad’s thrilling story, and includes a foreword by John O’Connor, a former commander. “A book that true crime aficionados will want to read.” —Washington Times
Download or read book The Sweeney written by Dick Kirby and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2011-07-12 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of sixty years of Scotland Yards top crime-busting department has been written over a twenty year period by a former detective who spent over eight years with the Flying Squad The Sweeney.The meticulous research by the author has uncovered files never before released by the Yard and he has amassed the tales of bravery and top-notch investigations, carried out by the Squad officers of yesteryear.The book commences with the dramatic account of the daring gold bullion and jewellery raid in 1948 by a gang of well-organised criminals from the newly-opened Heathrow Airport. The Flying Squad were lying in wait for them and what happened next, was described by a judge at the Old Bailey as, The Battle of Heathrow.The Flying Squad was formed to stem the tide of lawlessness, following the First World War; from humble beginnings using horse-drawn wagons, they swiftly progressed to high-speed cars. Taking on the might of the Racetrack Gangs, armed robbers and smash & grab raiders, the Squad was brought to the forefront of the publics attention.The war years, the secret post-war Ghost Squad, the horse-doping scandals, the Great Train Robbery, the Bank of America robbery, Supergrasses and corruption are recounted with its scrupulous attention to detail. The book is filled with thrilling, amusing and always compelling anecdotes from the men who were there. It was the Flying Squad who inspired the popular TV series. This book reveals what life was really like in The Sweeney.
Download or read book Scotland Yard s Casebook of Serious Crime written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2021-06-23 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Real-life stories of cops vs. criminals from a veteran of the Metropolitan Police and author praised for his “engaging style” (Joseph Wambaugh, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Harbor Nocturne). Dick Kirby, former long-serving Met officer and bestselling author, recounts the policing of the twentieth century, when uniformed officers were visibly part of the community, patrolling their beats and protecting the public’s property. Detectives detected, cultivating informants and, like their uniform counterparts, knowing the characters on their manor. What’s more, they were backed by their senior officers, who had on-the-job experience. Drawing on both celebrated and lesser known cases, Kirby describes in plain speak crime-fighting against merciless gangsters, desperate gunmen, inept kidnappers, vicious robbers, daring burglars, and ruthless blackmailers. Using his firsthand knowledge, he highlights the often-unconventional methods used to frustrate and outwit hardened criminals—and the satisfaction gained from successful operations. Praise for Dick Kirby’s previous books “A gritty series of episodes from his time in the Met—laced with black humor and humanity.” —East Anglian Daily Times “A great read with fascinating stories and amusing anecdotes.” —Suffolk Norfolk Life Magazine
Download or read book Scotland Yard s Murder Squad written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1906 the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was asked by the Home Office to make available skilled investigators for murder inquiries nationwide as few constabularies had sufficiently skilled – or indeed, any - detectives. Thus was born the Reserve Squad, or Murder Squad, as it later became known. Despite a reluctance by some forces to call upon The Met, the Murder Squad has proved its effectiveness on countless occasions with its remit extended to British territories overseas. A particularly sensitive case was the murder of a local superintendent on St Kitts and Nevis. A former Scotland Yard detective, the author uses his contacts and experiences to get the inside track on a gruesome collection of infamous cases. Child murderers, a Peer’s butler, a King’s housekeeper, gangsters, jealous spouses and the notorious mass murderer Dr Bodkin Adams compete for space in this spine-chilling and gripping book which is testament to the Murder Squad’s skills and ingenuity - and the evil of the perpetrators. Brimming with gruesome killings, this highly readable book proves that there is no substitute for old fashioned footwork and instinct.
Download or read book Murder Files from Scotland Yard and the Black Museum written by R. Michael Gordon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-07-11 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the files of Scotland Yard’s “Black Museum” (open only to police officers) come true crime stories of some of the most infamous murder cases of the 19th and 20th centuries—the Lambeth Poisoner, “baby farmer” Amelia Elizabeth Dyer, the Gentleman Vampire of Bournemouth, the Brides in the Bath Murders, the Rillington Place murders and many others. Along the way, investigators pass a number of crime-solving milestones, included the first use of fingerprint technology, the early use of photography and the first time “The Yard” enlisted the press to help hunt down a killer.
Download or read book Scotland Yard s Gangbuster written by Dick Kirby and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-11-30 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the late 1960s the Richardson Torture Gang and the Kray Twins were removed from the London scene by ACC Gerry McArthur and DS Nipper Read respectively.Predictably it was not long before the vacuum this left was being filled. With McArthur retired and Read moved on, who was to sort out the new gangland threat.Step forward Detective Chief Superintendent Bert Wickstead. Having cut his teeth on young desperadoes and neo-Nazis in North London and solved Londons biggest post war bank robbery, Wickstead was well qualified to head up the Yards Serious Crime Squad.First to fall were the Dixon brothers, followed by the Tibbs family. As his fame spread he took on the West End Maltese Syndicate specialising in prostitution and extortion. When he broke up the Norma Levy call ring, two cabinet peers had to resign.Inevitably Wicksteads career was dogged by unproved allegations of malpractice but, as this riveting insider account conclusively proves, he more than earned his sobriquet The Gangbuster.
Download or read book Unsolved Murders in South Yorkshire written by Scott Lomax and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whilst the passage of time can and has uncovered many secrets, killers could get away with their crimes in 1596 when Shakespeare penned these words and this is certainly the case in more recent times as Unsolved Murders in South Yorkshire clearly demonstrate.The early chapters include cases of historic interest where killers certainly went to the grave in the knowledge they had got away with murder. Cases include suspicious deaths which left detectives in South Yorkshire baffled, but which were, it would seem, acts of callous murder which were not recognised as such due to dubious police opinions and practices. There are also cases of clear murder such as a man shot in the head during the Victorian period, whose killer was never identified.The later chapters, however, feature more recent cold cases where there is still the possibility that the wicked men or women who were responsible for such acts of inhumanity may remain within our society.Cases include a man murdered for less than 70 in a city centre multi storey car park, a teenage girl abducted, sexually assaulted and left dead on a dung hill, a young mother who entered prostitution and died at the hands of a man with more than sex on his mind, a pregnant woman who left home one day to go shopping but was found days later dead in a ditch with her throat cut and a disabled woman who was strangled in her home which was then set ablaze.For some of these cases there is the chance that someone has information which, despite the passage of decades, could lead to one or more individuals standing trial for murder. Justice can still prevail.
Download or read book A History of London s Prisons written by Geoffrey Howse and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2013-01-19 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of The A-Z of London Murders takes readers behind the bars of the city’s numerous jails and tells the tales of their most infamous inmates. London has had more prisons than any other British city. The City’s “gates” once contained prisons but probably the most notorious of all was Newgate, which stood for over seven hundred years. The eleventh-century Tower of London was used as a prison for a variety of high profile prisoners from Sir Thomas More to the Krays. Discover the background of a variety of historic places of incarceration such as the Clink, the King’s Bench Prison, and debtors’ prisons such as the Fleet Prison and the Marshalsea. “Lost” prisons such as the Gatehouse in Westminster, Millbank Penitentiary, Surrey County Gaol in Horsemonger Lane, the House of Detention, Coldbath Fields Prison, and Tothill Fields Bridewell Prison are also described in detail; as are more familiar jails: Holloway, Pentonville, Brixton, Wandsworth, and Wormwood Scrubs. In A History of London’s Prisons, Geoffrey Howse delves not only into the intricate web of historical facts detailing the origins of the capital’s prisons but also includes fascinating detail concerning the day-to-day life of prisoners—from the highly born to the most despicable human specimens imaginable—as well as those less fortunate individuals who found themselves through no fault of their own “in the clink,” some soon becoming clients of the hangman or executioner.
Download or read book Death on the Beat written by Dick Kirby and published by Wharncliffe. This book was released on 2013-04-04 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Little shocks the British public more than learning of the killing of policemen and women whilst tackling criminals. Even the vast majority of hardened crooks baulk at what is seen as the ultimate crime _ the mandatory death sentence in days of capital punishment reflected public disgust at such a crime, particularly when the police were largely unarmed. This book spans fifty years of crime enforcement and describes in detail the ever present danger to the police who patrolled LondonÍs streets and who lost their lives in the line of duty. Many of the police officers died carrying out run-of-the-mill police duties; from PC Nat Edgar, shot in 1948 by a burglar to PC Patrick Dunne, the home beat officer murdered while investigating a domestic incident in 1993; it took 13 years for his killer to be brought to justice. WPC Yvonne Fletcher was mercilessly gunned-down policing a demonstration in Central London in 1984, as was Detective Sergeant Ray Purdy, whilst arresting a cheap blackmailer. PC Ray Summers, an officer with less than two years service, stabbed to death as he broke up a gang fight, and the three-man crew of the ïQÍ car wiped out by gunmen in 1966, all feature in these pages. There are the thrilling stories of the investigations into the IRA after the murder of PC Stephen Tibble and the horrific bombing of Harrods store which cost three brave police officers their lives. Retired detective Dick Kirby has drawn deep on his knowledge and contacts within and outside the Metropolitan Police to track down those people who were there, who were involved in the investigations and those who were left behind; and how the trauma of losing a colleague or a loved one affected them. Written in his trademark gripping authoritative style, Death on the Beat, Dick KirbyÍs ninth book, promises to be the best yet.
Download or read book The Ghost Squad Flies Concorde written by Edmund Wallace Hildick and published by Dutton Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 1985 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Four young ghosts who have banded together to prevent crimes fly to England to investigate a swindler.
Download or read book Deadly Derbyshire written by Scott Lomax and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2012-09-20 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of historical British true crime stories, with illustrations included. From the murder of Hannah Hewitt in 1732 to John Cotton’s killing in 1898, Deadly Derbyshire gathers dramatic, atmospheric true tales of murder and manslaughter in this county in England’s East Midlands. Read about the “fiery” circumstances of the death of John McMorrow; a farm tragedy at Stoney Houghton; and killings for pittances such as three eggs and a sixpence. You’ll also discover stories of unprovoked and wicked deeds and numerous suspicious deaths. Based on extensive research of newspaper archives, uncovering a large number of cases never previously explored, this compendium examines the darker side of this historical port city.
Download or read book Whitechapel s Sherlock Holmes written by Dick Kirby and published by Wharncliffe. This book was released on 2014-11-30 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Fred Wensley, a Somerset gardener who joined the Metropolitan Police in 1888 and retired, forty-one years later as Chief Constable of the CID, is an extraordinary one.??After an abortive attempt to catch 'Jack the Ripper' by nailing strips of bicycle tyres to the soles of his boots, Wensley got stuck into arresting the ne'er-do-wells of Whitechapel, where he would spend twenty-five years of his service.??Within months of joining the CID, Wensley, while off duty, arrested a double murderer. He smashed the murderous Bessarabian and Odessa gangs, brought the Vendetta gang to book when, brandishing revolvers they tried to storm a police court, played a decisive part in the Siege of Sidney Street and created the Flying Squad.??Wensley's career was dogged with controversy; when Stinie Morrison was convicted of murder, was he, as he claimed, framed by Wensley? And was Edith Thompson, hanged for the murder of her husband, as Wensley stated, 'a cold-blooded murderess' or, as her defence counsel claimed, 'a fanciful dreamer'? ??The first King's Police Medal was awarded to Wensley; he was appointed OBE and commended on many of occasions.??Retired Flying Squad officer, turned author, Dick Kirby has dug deep to paint a fascinating portrait of the man dubbed, 'The Greatest Detective of all Time'.
Download or read book Scotland Yard s Murder Squad written by Dick Kirby and published by Pen and Sword True Crime. This book was released on 2020-07-30 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get a behind-the-scenes look at fourteen historic cases from the Murder Squad of Scotland Yard in this collection perfect for true crime fans. In 1906 the Metropolitan Police Commissioner was asked by the Home Office to make available skilled investigators for murder inquiries nationwide as few constabularies had sufficiently skilled—or indeed, any—detectives. Thus was born the Reserve Squad, or Murder Squad, as it later became known. Despite a reluctance by some forces to call upon The Met, the Murder Squad has proved its effectiveness on countless occasions with its remit extended to British territories overseas. A particularly sensitive case was the murder of a local superintendent on St. Kitts and Nevis. A former Scotland Yard detective, the author uses his contacts and experiences to get the inside track on a gruesome collection of infamous cases. Child murderers, a Peer’s butler, a King’s housekeeper, gangsters, jealous spouses and the notorious mass murderer Dr. Bodkin Adams compete for space in this spine-chilling and gripping book which is testament to the Murder Squad’s skills and ingenuity—and the evil of the perpetrators. Brimming with gruesome killings, this highly readable book proves that there is no substitute for old fashioned footwork and instinct.
Download or read book Routledge Revivals History Workshop Series written by Various Authors and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-07-30 with total page 4146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published between 1975 and 1991, this set reissues 13 volumes that originally appeared as part of the History Workshop Series. This series of books, which grew out of the journal of the same name, advocated ‘history from below’ and examined numerous, often social, issues from the perspectives of ordinary people. In the words of founder Raphael Samuel, the aim was to turn historical research and writing into ‘a collaborative enterprise’, via public gatherings outside of a traditional academic setting, that could be used to support activism and social justice as well as informing politics. Some of the topics examined in the set include: mineral workers, rural radicalism, and the lives and occupations of villagers in the nineteenth century; working class association; the development of left-wing workers theatre and the changing attitudes to mass culture across the twentieth century; the changing fortunes of the East End at the turn of the century; the position of women from the nineteenth century to the present; the miners’ strike of 1984-5; the social and political images of late-twentieth century London; and a three volume analysis of the myriad facets of English patriotism. This set will be of interest to students of history, sociology, gender and politics.
Download or read book Ian Fleming s James Bond written by John Griswold and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2006 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ****Updated and expanded including many illustrations by George Almond. Plus clearer translations of foreign terms. Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations and Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories officially approved by Ian Fleming Publications Ltd (formerly Glidrose), with a Preface by Andrew Lycett and Forewords by Zoë Watkins, Publishing Manager, Ian Fleming Publications Ltd.; Raymond Benson, author of The James Bond Bedside Companion, six original 007 novels, and numerous non-Bond novels. This book is the result of analysis of each of Fleming's James Bond novels. Within are glossaries of applicable terminology and references with detailed chronologies of events including annotations. Detailed chronologies of events are represented at a day-of-week, month, day, year, and time-of-day level. Glossaries contain translations of foreign terms, annotations, and other information of interest such as detailed information on the origin of Saramanga's name (The Man with the Golden Gun). Maps have been created for many of the novels along with in-depth information concerning specific topics such as, the Moonraker bridge game and the Goldfinger golf game. In many instances, monetary amounts have been converted to their 2001 purchasing power equivalent. Differences found between published versions and the original Fleming manuscripts archived at Indiana University's Lilly Library have been noted.
