Dick Kirby - IRA Terror on Britain’s Streets 1939–1940: The Wartime Bombing Campaign and Hitler Connection

IRA T ERROR ON B RITAINS S TREETS 19391940

DICK KIRBY

has also written:

Rough Justice Memoirs of a Flying Squad officer

The Real Sweeney

Youre Nicked!

Villains

The Guvnors Ten of Scotland Yards Greatest Detectives

The Sweeney The First Sixty Years of Scotland Yards Crimebusting

Flying Squad 19191978

Scotland Yards Ghost Squad

The Secret Weapon against Post-War Crime

The Brave Blue Line

100 Years of Metropolitan Police Gallantry

Death on the Beat

Police Officers killed in the Line of Duty

The Scourge of Soho

The Controversial Career of SAS Hero

Detective Sergeant Harry Challenor MM

Whitechapels Sherlock Holmes

The Casebook of Fred Wensley OBE, KPM

Victorian Crimebuster

The Wrong Man

The Shooting of Steven Waldorf and

The Hunt for David Martin

Laid Bare

The Nude Murders and

The Hunt for Jack the Stripper

Londons Gangs at War

Operation Countryman

The Flawed Enquiry into London Police Corruption

Scotland Yards Gangbuster

Bert Wicksteads Most Celebrated Cases

The Mayfair Mafia

The Lives and Crimes of the Messina Brothers

Scotland Yards Flying Squad

100 Years of Crime Fighting

Scotland Yards Murder Squad

The Racetrack Gangs

Four Decades of Doping, Intimidation & Violent Crime

The Wartime Bombing Campaign and Hitler Connection

DICK KIRBY

Foreword by

SIMON CRAWSHAW QPM

Former Deputy Assistant Commissioner

New Scotland Yard

First published in Great Britain in 2021 by

Pen & Sword True Crime

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

Yorkshire Philadelphia

Copyright Dick Kirby 2021

ISBN 978 1 52678 642 5

eISBN 978 1 52678 643 2

Mobi ISBN 978 1 52678 644 9

The right of Dick Kirby to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact

PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England

E-mail:

Website:

Or

PEN AND SWORD BOOKS

1950 Lawrence Rd, Havertown, PA 19083, USA

E-mail:

Website:

To Ann

Hers was a proud and noble face,

A secret heart, and eyes

Like water in a lonely place

Beneath unclouded skies.

A bed, a chest, a faded mat,

And broken chairs a few,

Were all we had to grace our flat

In Hazel Avenue.

James Elroy Flecker

The Ballad of Camden Town

His style of writing pulls no punches and he tells it the way it is. Highly recommended. POLICE HISTORY SOCIETY MAGAZINE

These are the real-life accounts of a tough London cop. DAILY EXPRESS

All of the stories are told with Dick Kirbys acerbic black humour in a compelling style, by a detective who was there. AMERICAN POLICE BEAT

New Scotland Yard legends are vividly brought to life by a man who had walked the walk, the Flying Squads own Dick Kirby. JOSEPH WAMBAUGH, AUTHOR OF THE CHOIRBOYS

Its a rollercoaster ride; detectives who took crime by the scruff of its neck and wouldnt let go. EAST ANGLIAN DAILY TIMES

I am delighted that Dick Kirby has written this book. I am sure those who read it will realize how very hazardous the life of a policeman is. MICHAEL WINNER

Kirby looks to untangle facts from speculation and questions everything. GET WEST LONDON

Ex-cop Dick Kirby has now laid bare the Krays empire. DAILY STAR

A vivid and fascinating account of policing some of the eras most serious crimes, written by an experienced and retired police officer. THE LAW SOCIETY GAZETTE

Real Boys Own stuff, this. Tinged with a wry sense of humour makes this an excellent read. METROPOLITAN POLICE HISTORY SOCIETY

This is a fast-paced, riveting read, made even more enjoyable by Kirbys trademark humour. TANGLED WEB

This is simply the best book about police gallantry ever written and arguably the best book about any sort of gallantry awards. It comes with our highest possible recommendation. HISTORY BY THE YARD

A sensational and gripping account. PEGASUS YEARBOOK

Dick Kirby pulls no punches as he looks in depth at some of the most infamous names from the criminal underworld. MEDIA DRUM WORLD

Murder, torture and extortion all feature prominently as Mr Kirby investigates some of the most famous incidents of the post-war era. DAILY MAIL

Old-school, but effective how the Met took the fight to the underworld. THE SCOTSMAN

D ick Kirby was born in 1943 in the East End of London and joined the Metropolitan Police in 1967. Half of his twenty-six years service as a detective was spent with the Yards Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad.

Married, with four children and five grandchildren, Kirby lives in a Suffolk village with his wife. He appears on television and radio and can be relied upon to provide forthright views on spineless senior police officers and other politicians, with their insipid, absurd and mendacious claims on how they intend to defeat serious crime and reclaim the streets.

He contributes regularly to newspapers and magazines, reviews books, films and music and writes memoirs, biographies and true crime books, which are widely quoted this is his twenty-first.

Kirby can be visited on his website: www.dickkirby.com

M y thanks go to Simon Crawshaw, one of the Yards finest operational Deputy Assistant Commissioners, for taking the trouble to read through the book and add a thoughtful and perceptive foreword. As always, thanks also go to Brigadier Henry Wilson for his help and encouragement, together with the rest of the staff at Pen & Sword Books: Matt Jones, Tara Moran, Jon Wilkinson for his brilliant, imaginative jacket designs, and George Chamier, to whom Im most grateful for his eagle-eyed editing.

In addition, I received much-needed help from: Clive Bishop; Corrine Brazier, Subject Matter Expert, West Midlands Police; Sioban Clarke, Womens Police Historian; Chief Constable Andy Cooke QPM, Merseyside Police; Karen Crutchlow, West Midlands Police; Jackie Eggleton, Metropolitan Women Police Association; Eryll Fabian; Mike Fabian; Bob Fenton QGM, the Ex-CID Officers Association; Paul Finegan, Curator, Dartmoor Prison Museum; Hazel Fothergill, PA to the Chief Constable, Merseyside Police; Mark Henry; Chief Constable Ian Hopkins QPM, Greater Manchester Police; Martin D. Lyddall; Kate McNichol, PA to the Chief Constable, West Midlands Police; Jayne Milne, PA to ACC Vanessa Jardine, West Midlands Police; Alan Moss; Michael Nesbitt; Chris Nolan; Susi Rogol, editor, the London Police Pensioner ; John Royle; Graham Sutherland; and Chief Constable Dave Thompson QPM, West Midlands Police.