R. C. M. Jenkins

Jenkins was born Robert Cyril Morton Flint to medical student Isabella Murray Morton Flint, and was adopted by William and Bertha Jenkins circa 1898. Much of his childhood life is undocumented however he was recorded as Robert Morton Jenkins in the 1911 census, aged 13, as a school boy. He attended school in Stalisfield Green. William Jenkins was a woodcutter and farmer, and lived with Bertha and Robert at Darby’s Court in Stalisfield, near Faversham, Kent.[1]

Jenkins served in the First World War in the Royal East and West Kent Regiments, starting on 15 September 1914, seeing active service in France. From 1914 to 1916 he served with the 2/1 Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles Division as a Trooper, later serving as a Private with the 11th (Lewisham) and 8th Battalions of the Royal West Kent Regiment. In 1918 he was recommended for commission but was wounded before the arrangements could be made.[2] He was released from the army in February 1919, his service at the front entitling him to the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.[3] Jenkins contributed anecdotes of his time at war in France in the 1934 book 'The History of the 11th (Lewisham) Battalion' by Captain O.S. Russell. He was mentioned in dispatches by Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig and the certificate issued in March 1919 is signed by Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War at the time.

During the conflict, it was the responsibility of local police forces to document every bomb site, something which he and his staff kept detailed records of. Unfortunately these records were destroyed after he retired. Kent was an important county during the war, and was thought to be a probable avenue for invasion by Germany. Even before Jenkins’ arrived at Folkestone, Germany had attempted to land spies in the county in preparation for invasion, which by 1940 had been well-planned by Hitler. Herne Bay in Kent was used for test trials of the "bouncing bomb" eventually to be deployed during Operation Chastise by No. 617 Squadron RAF – better known as "The Dambusters." A colleague of Jenkins, an Inspector Setterfield, was responsible for overseeing the bomb trials in the county. The police had the unenviable task of training up the local Home Guard, managing the disorder caused by visiting allied troops and dealing with the aftermath of German air raids. The officers of Kent, and indeed other towns targeted by the Germans, were the only persons obliged to perform such tasks as ensuring all lights were switched off during a raid (even going so far as snuffing out the odd offending light bulb with an air rifle) and pulling civilians from the wreckage of their own bombed homes.[19] Captured German pilots were often thrown into the same cells as the common miscreant, with one recorded example of four enemy prisoners rounded up and taken back to an officer’s house, where the officer told his wife to make sure they didn’t leave.[20] With the war also came a period of amalgamation for local police forces, with many of the smaller ones absorbed and reformed into larger organisations. Folkestone became part of Kent County Constabulary in 1943, with Jenkins taking the post of ACC No. 3 District, based in Folkestone. Other boroughs and cities ordered to merge were Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Rochester, Ramsgate and Margate. The order to merge was made on 1 April 1943 and although compulsory was touted as a temporary measure. Post-war though, these forces never regained their autonomy. The 1946 Police Act saw further reform, with his former force in Penzance absorbed into the Cornwall County Constabulary.[21] Between 1940 and 1944, many Kent officers were killed during air raids. Amongst those killed included members of the Kent Special Constabulary, some of whom had served in World War 1 and had offered their services to the county irrespective of age or infirmity.[22] On 1 January 1946 Jenkins, and a number of senior British police officers in England and Wales, received the King’s Police and Fire Services Medal for Distinguished Service.[23] Details of the honours were listed in the Supplement to the London Gazette. In 1949 he received the King’s Police Medal for Conspicuous Dedication to Duty.[24]

RCM Jenkins was the Chairman of the Kent County Constabulary Sports Club and regularly played in the Kent Police Bowls Division. He was made a serving Brother of the Venerable Order of Saint John on 1 January 1950. In 1951 his force saw the murder of one of their own when PC Alan George Baxter was shot dead by army deserter Alan Poole. The subsequent operation to apprehend Poole was attended in person by CC John Ferguson. The siege ended with Poole’s death when he was shot in the chest by a police marksman.[25] In 1952, he was seconded to Newport Borough Police to see the force through a period of upheaval when its Chief Constable Clifford Montague Harris was reprimanded for a number of indiscretions in office.

Jenkins was bestowed an OBE in the 1953 New Year Honours. He assumed the position of Acting Chief Constable in 1962 when CC Geoffrey White collapsed and died at an ACPO dinner. White was a comparatively young man who was said to have fired the force with his enthusiasm, a starkly different man than his decidedly austere predecessor. His death was a shock to all.[26] He retired on 16 May 1963 aged 65, after 44 years and 89 days of service, with an exemplary record. In his retirement he wrote articles for local newspapers, including a piece for the Kentish Gazette in 1964, in which he reminisced about his time at the Canterbury City Police, almost fifty years after his tenure at the small force. Jenkins died of a heart condition on 18 March 1973 at his home in Bearsted, and was survived by his wife Ethel. According to his relatives, knowledge of Jenkins’ ailment was kept secret from Ethel until his death. His funeral took place at Bearsted Church near Maidstone in 1973 and was organised by the Kent police. One of the uniformed pallbearers in attendance was his great-nephew, also a police officer at the time. Ethel died in 1987, and the house they shared, custom-built according to Jenkins' specification, was later demolished.

Whilst at Canterbury, before he was married, he took lodgings at 8 New Street, St. Dunstan’s, the marital home of his colleague and mentor PC Bertie Inge, and his wife Julia [nee Jordan] and their three children. Jenkins had served in the same trench as Frank Jordan in France in the First World War, and sent letters to Frank's family on his behalf, as Frank could not read or write. Frank's sister Ethel replied for the family, and post-war Robert and Ethel would meet and eventually marry. They wed on 30 September 1919 at St Werburgh’s Anglican Church in Hoo, Kent. Robert and Ethel had three children; two sons Roy and Donald, and a daughter, Marjorie. Marjorie married, but would suffer tragedy when her husband Roy Taylor perished in the 1957 Lewisham rail crash. Roy married Kitty (Kathleen Ann nee Delaney) and became a fruit farmer at Court Lane Farm, Hadlow, Kent. Donald married Effie (née James) in 1944 and had two sons Barrie and Peter. Donald became The Engineer and Surveyor of Dartford Council, then became The Planning Officer at Sevenoaks council. Jenkins and his wife Ethel backed their son Roy in a fruit growing venture and were founder members of R.C.Jenkins Limited. The company purchased a block of orchards at Hadlow, Kent in 1957 named Court Lane Farm. The 63 acres of orchards were planted with culinary and dessert apples. Roy had trained at the Kent Farm Institute and worked in the fruit industry and it was his ambition to become a fruit grower. Jenkins was involved in the enterprise and dealt with administrative matters leaving Roy to manage the business. During the 1960s the farm was developed with the building of a farmhouse and range of farm buildings including cold storage facilities. In 1969 Roy became ill and died as a result of a heart attack on 20 December leaving Kitty a widow and three school-age children. Jenkins now took on the management of the enterprise to ensure its survival until Roys eldest son Paul was able to take over. During the next three years, Jenkins oversaw significant improvements in the enterprise including a major investment in grubbing old orchards and planting modern intensive orchards on dwarf rootstocks and mechanisation of plant and machinery. Jenkins proved himself a capable fruit farmer and by the time of his death, the farm and enterprise were in good heart. Many of Jenkins’ relatives serve or have served in the police, in Coventry, Wales and Kent from 1901 to the present day. Jenkins' tenure in Penzance left its mark, he loved Cornwall and holidayed there many times after he transferred to Kent. Jenkins was a man of smart bearing and always dressed immaculately whether in or out of uniform. Habitually when off duty he would wear a smart suit and a brown trilby hat. He was highly dedicated and put everything into his work. When at home he would spend a lot of his time in his private study or associating with friends. He lived with Ethel at 109 Ashford Road in Bearsted, Maidstone, until his death. Although his given name was Cyril, he was affectionately referred to by those close to him as "Jenks."