Ronald Allen Moore
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Ronald Allen Moore | |
|---|---|
 Ronald Allen Moore as an Inspector in the Calcutta Police | |
| Born | 1 March 1920 |
| Died | 2 August 2013 (aged 93) |
| Education | St. Patrick's School |
| Known for | Involvement in quelling post-independence communal riots in Calcutta |
| Spouse | Colleen Mary Dunn (m. 1944) |
| Police career | |
| Department | Calcutta Police (1941–1977) Indian Police Service (1968–1977) |
| Branch | Headquarters (1941–1942)
Mounted Branch (1942–1946) Calcutta Armed Police (1946–1949; 1958–1962; 1966–1977) Training School (1950–1958) Civil Defence Training (1962–1964) Home Guard (1964–1966) |
| Service years | 1941–1977 |
| Rank |  Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police |
| Awards |  President's Police Medal |
Ronald Allen Moore PPM (1 March 1920 – 2 August 2013) was an Anglo-Indian police officer and boxer.
He served in the Calcutta Police Force from 1947 till 1977 in various roles, and concurrently from 1968, the Indian Police Service.
Early life[edit]
Moore was born on 1 March 1920 in Asansol to Benjamin Moore, a fireman in the East Indian Railway and World War I veteran, and Bridget Carroll, a housewife.[1]
Upon matriculation from St. Patrick's School in Asansol at the age of 18, he followed his father and joined the East Indian Railway as a fireman.[2]
Career[edit]
Early years in the police force: (1941–1946)[edit]
Following a meeting with the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Moore joined the Police Training School in Alipore.[2]
After completing initial training, Moore was posted to the Headquarters Force as a Sergeant. Initially, he was tasked with walking the beat in central Calcutta.[2] After six months patrolling the beat, Moore successfully applied to the force's mounted branch.[3]
Whilst on a mounted patrol in 1942, Moore was hit by a tram. His horse died, and he suffered back injuries as a result of which he was out of action for three months.[3]
Riots, independence and first stint in the Armed Police: (1946–1949)[edit]
In 1946, Moore was promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major and posted to the 'B' Company of the Calcutta Armed Police.[4] Writing about the Calcutta riots of 1946, Lieutenant General Sir Francis Tuker, the final General-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command in the Indian Army before independence, mentioned in his memoir 'While Memory Serves':
"Calcutta had a considerable force of Gurkha armed police who usually came in and used their weapons whenever things were getting beyond the power of the ordinary constabulary….The Gurkha armed police were in action all over the town, to be ostracised later on by the Indian communities for quietening their areas of the rioting city with their rifles….We in the Army were always admirers of the Indian Police and believed that no other police force of its kind could have stood up for so many years with unimpaired efficiency to the storm of calumny and abuse that that force had had to endure."[5]
Moore's unit, 'B' Company CAP was involved in the massacre of a Muslim majority district in Calcutta in 1946. However, the government took no further action against the members of 'B' Company, as Indian independence was near.[6]
Subsequent promotions and commendations: (1949–1958)[edit]
Moore attended the Instructor's Course at the Army School of Physical Training in 1949. He returned to the police force the same year and was appointed the chief drill instructor at the Police Training School—a course he graduated from eight years earlier.[7]
Promoted to Inspector in 1950, Moore was appointed the Deputy Commandant at Police Training School. Later that year, he rescued a Cadet Sub-Inspector at the training school from drowning in a tank, an action for which he was awarded the Kendall Humanitarian Life-Saving Medal.[7]
In 1956, Moore was promoted to Assistant Commissioner (junior grade) by the Public Service Commission, posted to the Traffic Police. That same year, Moore rescued a linesman who was electrocuted after becoming trapped on the overhead power lines. For this, the state government awarded him a High Commendation.[8]
Transfers and return to the Armed Police: (1958–1968)[edit]
Moore returned to the Armed Police in 1958, this time at the helm of 2nd Battalion CAP, the unit which succeeded the 'B' Company he once led as Sergeant Major.[8]
In 1962, he was appointed as the Assistant Commissioner of Police for Civil Defence Training, after attending a civil defence training course in Nagpur.[8]
The next year, in 1963, Moore, was invovled in the shooting an adult female elephant that ran away from Calcutta's Zoological Gardens.[8]
Moore was transferred twice in the next 4 years, first to the newly-established Home Guard, and then the 4th Battalion CAP, where he was involved in police operations against the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency.[9]
In 1967, he was appointed to the West Bengal cadre of the Indian Police Service, the agency providing leadership above the ranks of Assistant Superintendent of Police to Indian police forces. The next year, after his appointment was confirmed, he retired from boxing.[9]
Final years in the police and retirement: (1968–1977)[edit]
In 1970, he was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police, at the helm of 2nd Battalion CAP. The next year, he was promoted to Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police.[9]
Moore retired from both the Calcutta Police and the Indian Police Service in 1977.[10]
Later years and death[edit]
Moore emigrated to Kalamunda, Western Australia after retiring from the police force, where he passed away aged 93 on 2 August 2013.
Boxing career[edit]
During World War II, Allied forces from the United Kingdom and America were deployed to Calcutta, which served as an entry into the Southeast Asian theatre of the war. Moore began boxing at the United States Army's Camp Howrah, with a mentor, Lester Carter, who was serving with the US Army Military Police Corps.[11]
His boxing career spanned 26 years, and he retired as the undefeated All India Heavyweight Professional Boxing Champion and holder of the HH Maharaja of Cooch Behar's Championship Belt.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Moore married Colleen Mary Dunn, the daughter of a former station master on the East Bengal Railway in 1944.[1]
Their son, Peter Moore (born June 1945) is a former officer of the Calcutta Armed Police, and later London's Metropolitan Police Service.[12]
Awards and honours[edit]
Moore was a recipient of the Police Independence Medal given to members of Indian police forces when it became a republic in 1950.[7]
He was also an awardee of the President's Police Medal, for his involvement in overcoming the Bagmari riot in Chitpur, a suburb of northern Calcutta, in 1966.[10]
| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
|
President's Police Medal (PPM) | For involvement in police action against Bagmari riots in 1966 |
|
Police Independence Medal | Awarded to all members of Indian police forces on 26 January 1950 |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Clayton Roberts (2019-07-21). An Ordinary Bloke. Retrieved 2024-07-14 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b c Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 1. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ a b Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 2. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 3. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ Tuker, Francis (1850). While Memory Serves. Cassell (publisher).
- ^ Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 3–4. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ a b c Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 5. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ a b c d Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 6. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ a b c Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 7. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ a b Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 8. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 1–2. ISSN 1327-1652.
- ^ Moore, Peter (2011-01-31). "An Ordinary Bloke". International Journal of Anglo-Indian Studies. 11 (1): 9. ISSN 1327-1652.
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