Home Office Recruiting Advert, c. 1968

Around 1968, the Home Office ran a national recruiting campaign in an effort to attract new police officers. One of their adverts that appeared in national daily papers involved a blurred image of a Jaguar 340 Traffic Car, GUR 655G, based at North Herts Traffic Base, Stevenage. The picture was obtained by a photographer lying flat on the ground of Headquarters Car Park, while PC 616 Reg Marshall drove the car round and round, trying to just miss him so that he could get an action shot, much to the amusement of HQ staff who were looking on. The other photograph of the car is a still shot from the same photoshoot.

Following a period on Traffic, Reg became the Chief Constable’s driver and at the time of writing (2020) is living in retirement with his wife in Germany.

Current day officers might like to read the attractive pay scales of the day!