Obituary - Arthur Atchison

Arthur Atchison a past Chairman of DPF and ROA has died aged 89 years.

Arthur was born on 12th September 1919 in Liverpool and spent his childhood days growing up in the Wavetree district of Liverpool. At the outbreak of war in 1939 he joined the Kings Regiment (Liverpool). He went on to serve in various parts of the world including behind Japanese lines in Burma and earned his sergeants stripes. Having served with the 'Chindits' during the Burma Campaign he was awarded the Burma Star. In 1945 he found himself posted to one of the dedicated units formed as part of the Occupying Forces in Germany and served for a time in the Corps of Military Police dealing with POW's and maintaining law and order at the end of the war. During his Army service he reached the rank of RSM.

Following discharge from the army and after a short spell with the Transport Police in Liverpool he joined the War Department Constabulary (renamed the Army Department Constabulary in 1964) and was first stationed at Fazakerley, an ordnance factory sited in the north of Liverpool. In the early 1960's Arthur was promoted Sergeant and transferred to Donnington. He later earned promotion to Inspector and transferred to Woolwich Arsenal.

Early on in his police career Arthur became interested in the ADC Association and soon became an active representative rising to the position of Chairman. He was a strong advocate for amalgamation of the departmental constabularies into a single force and helped persuade the official side of the merits in the federation being formed some 6 months before the formation of the MDP, thus ensuring the federation was involved every step of the way in the lead up to the merger of the three forces.

On amalgamation in 1971 Arthur became the DPF's vice-chairman until 1972 then served for a further term as vice-chair from 1975 to 1976 prior to being elected National Chairman.

Arthur was at the helm during several turbulent years and with the help of others at that particular time successfully achieved the Parity Agreement reached following publication of the Wright Report in 1978. This was heralded a major victory for DPF and in the main has stood the test of time to this day.

During his time as Chairman Arthur was highly regarded as a staunch supporter of the DPF, often outspoken and never afraid to represent members individually and collectively to the best of his utmost ability. This was evident at a time during the mid 1970's when a combination of events led to the DPF's right to be consulted on matters affecting members' welfare and efficiency being brought into question. Matters came to ahead when Arthur was summoned to appear before the Chief Constable of the day in the presence of a senior CID Officer and reminded that he was a Police Officer first and always. This action caused deep offence and it was clear that the representative rights of the DPF were under serious threat as was the constitutional role of Chairman. During that distressing episode when Arthur was under tacit threat of some form of legal proceedings for acting as leader of the federation it was essential that joint agreement be quickly reached setting out how industrial relations matters would be handled in the future. Government ministers, senior civil servants and lawyers became involved and strenuous efforts got underway to resolve the issues resulting in a Procedural Agreement being drawn up that gave DPF among other things the right to be properly consulted.

The chief constable, who was in his last months of service, retired. What lay behind his action or who advised him was never made known. It is however worth recording that a senior member of the Scottish Bar when consulted described the whole episode 'absurd'. Absurd it was but left unchallenged would have constituted a lasting threat to the DPF. It was recorded at the time 'that the steadfastness of our Chairman in the face of such gross intimidation was a shining example to all'

Arthur retired as Chairman in 1982 and also from the force. However, he continued to act as an Advisor to the Federation for several years afterwards and then became involved in the formation of the Retired Officers Association in 1987. In those early days Arthur served on the Committee and then elected Chairman for several terms.

In retirement he moved from Woolwich back to Donnington for a time then settled in the village of Meriden, West Midlands.

Given his background Arthur had always taken a keen interest in politics and during his retirement years maintained an interest in the continuing development of the force and federation, never hesitating to offer comment - critical or otherwise - on some new policy or development. He also enjoyed railway modelling, walking and reading.

In 2004 Arthur moved to Pembroke, South Wales to be near his daughter Dot and son in law, John. Owing to poor health he later moved into a Residential Care Home. Arthur settled in to his new surroundings and was doing fine until more recently when his health began to fail. Sadly he passed away peacefully on Friday 23rd January 2009. Arthur's wife Sadie and son Alan, a police officer with West Midlands Police, predeceased him.