A tribute to our oldest member the late Douglas Stewart
It is with great sadness that we announce the recent death of Douglas Stewart who passed away aged 104 on 31 December 2022.
John Williams, Benevolent Fund Chairman, pays tribute to Douglas below.
Everyone at West Midlands Police Benevolent Fund would like to send our deepest condolences to his family at this sad time.
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Douglas back in the summer of 2018 with the Chief Constable at the time, Sir Dave Thompson.
The chief and I visited Douglas, in his home, to celebrate his milestone 100th birthday and to present him with a special police badge and an enlarged copy of his police service record dating back decades. We also gave him a special birthday cake marking his 100th year.
Doug – was our oldest member of the West Midlands Police Benevolent Fund, he was also a member of the National Association of Retired Police Officers.
In the earlier years Doug served in the Armed Forces and was a part of the Royal Engineers during World War II.
He became a prisoner-of-war and while held in Poland he helped to dig a tunnel to unselfishly let others escape. He was kept as a prisoner for three years before he was repatriated from eastern Europe back to England.
Doug went on to become a bobby in Birmingham and served with the West Midlands Police for almost 30 years.
He started with the then called Birmingham City Police in Ladywood in 1946 at the age of 28 and then spent most of his years on the area cars after passing the advanced driving course.
Known by most as Doug, he finished his time with the force as a road safety officer in schools in 1973.
Even after his subsequent spell with the police, the father-of-two continued to work as a rent collector, manager of Northfield Baths, a council road safety officer and jewellery shop worker before finally retiring at the age of 85.