Post-war recruitment for the Colonial Police Service was either from the UK Police Service, or from a select number of experienced ex-Palestine or Malaysian Police Officers, or by direct entry, after UK training, of officers with no previous police experience. The latter were on short term contracts to meet the demands of expansion in post-war emergencies such as the Mau Mau, the Malaysian and Cyprus rebellions.

Percy Wild’s Bwana Police gives a fascinating and detailed account of his service in Kenya and Botswana.

He joined the Kenya Police in 1955 during the latter part of the Mau Mau Emergency. He stayed on after Independence and in 1971 he moved to Botswana where he served with the Police Mobile Unit (a paramilitary wing of the Force) as a Training Officer and Company Commander, retiring in 1976 with the rank of Superintendent.

This book will appeal to all those who served in Africa during the ‘Wind of Change’ and is written in a practical, detailed and entertaining style.

Arthur Hughes Jenkins’ A Long Beat traces his long and chequered career in the Cardigan County Police Force, from which he resigned in 1945 with the rank of Sergeant to join the Colonial Police. Firstly, he was direct entry Inspector in Hong Kong on a two-year contract and then transferred to take charge of the Falkland Islands Police, the smallest Force in the Colonies with a complement of ten officers.

After three years he was transferred to Grenada in the Eastern Caribbean as Chief of Police. Later he was appointed to command the St. Vincent Force.

Finally, he served for ten years in British Guiana, retiring in 1964 with the rank of Deputy Commissioner, having been awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service.

This is a perceptive record of Police Service in widely contrasting areas of responsibility, culminating in a Colony which was undergoing political change in the run-up to Independence with a background of constant inter-communal tension.

Sadly, he died a few months prior to publication of his book in 1994.