45: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.), Civil Division, Knight Commander's badge and breast star; Knight Bachelor's breast badge, type II, silver-gilt and enamel; The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael & St. George (C.M.G.), Companion's neck badge; Royal Victorian Order (C.V.O.), Commander's neck badge (reverse officially numbered 1203); The Most Venerable Order of St. John, Officer's breast badge, silver and enamel; King's Police Medal, George VI, type II, for Distinguished Service (officially impressed: Colonel, Commissioner, Police of the City of London); 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, 1939-45 Defence and War Medals; General Service Medal 1918, George VI obverse, 1 clasp, Malaya (officially impressed: Colonel Federation of Malaya Police); Africa General Service Medal 1902, Elizabeth II obverse, 1 clasp, Kenya, with m.i.d. oakleaf (officially impressed: C.P. COL. A.E. YOUNG C.M.G.); 1937 Coronation Medal (unnamed, as issued); 1953 Coronation Medal (unnamed, as issued); Police Exemplary Service Medal, George VI (officially impressed: Commissioner, City of London); Sweden, Gustav VI Adolf, Gold Merit Medal (unnamed, as issued, awarded for services to sport, 1962); Argentina, Order of Merit, Commander's neck badge, type II; Austria, Honour Badge for Merit, Commander's neck badge, type II; Belgium, Order of the Crown, Commander's neck badge; Cameroun, Order of Valour, Officer's breast badge; Chile, Order of Merit, Commander's neck badge; Denmark, Order of the Dannebrog, Commander's neck badge, Frederick IX cypher on obverse; Finland, Order of the White Rose, Commander's neck badge; Finland, Order of the Lion, Commander's neck badge; France, Order of the Black Star of Benin, Commander's neck badge; Germany, Federal Republic, Order of Merit, Commander's neck badge; Greece, Royal Order of the Phoenix, Commander's neck badge; Iceland, Order of the Falcon, Commander's neck badge; Iran, Order of Merit, Officer's breast badge, type II; Iraq, Order of Al-Rafidain, Grand Officer's breast badge and star; Italy, Republic, Order of Merit, Grand Officer's breast badge and star; Italy, Republic, Order of Merit, Commander's neck badge; Ivory Coast, National Order, Commander's neck badge; Japan, Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class neck badge; Jordan, Order of the Star, Commander's neck badge; Liberia, Order of African Redemption, Commander's neck badge; Nepal, Order of Tri Shakti Patta, Commander's neck badge;Netherlands, Order of Orange-Nassau, Commander's neck badge; Niger, Order of Merit, Commander's neck badge; Peru, Order of Merit, Commander's neck badge; Portugal, Republic, Military Order of Christ, Grand Officer's neck badge and star; Senegal, National Order of Merit, Commander's neck badge; Sudan, Order of the Two Niles, Commander's neck badge; Thailand, Order of the Crown, Commander's neck badge; Tunisia, Order of the Republic, Commander's neck badge.
Generally Extremely Fine, mounted in a large glazed display frame (measures 56 inches x 36.5 inches / 143 cm x 93 cm vertical, approx) along with a pair of Royal Ulster Constabulary collar badges and photographs of Colonel Young as Commissioner of the Federation of Malaya Police, Commissioner of the Police of the City of London and Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Colonel Sir Arthur Edwin Young, K.B.E., Kt., C.M.G., C.V.O., K.P.M. (1907-1979) was born in Portsmouth in 1907. Educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, he joined the Portsmouth Police as a Cadet in 1924, and was one of the few police officers to have risen through the ranks to become a Commissioner. After a succession of rapid promotions he was made Chief Constable of Leamington Spa in 1938 and Senior Assistant Chief Constable of Birmingham in 1941. During the Second World War Young was seconded for service with the Allied Control Commission for Italy, with the honourary rank of Colonel in the army, and placed in charge of public safety and policing, a post which he held from 1943 to 1945. Following the end of the Second World War he returned home and was appointed Chief Constable of Hertfordshire in 1945. Subsequently, in May 1947, he was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Police of the City of London and promoted Commissioner of the force in 1950, retaining this appointment until 1971. Renowned as a trouble-shooter, during his period in office as Commissioner of the Police of the City of London Young was frequently seconded for service with, and acted as advisor to many overseas police forces, for which services he received numerous awards and decorations. Most notably, he visited the Gold Coast (Ghana) to advise the government on the reorganisation of the police force there in 1951, was appointed Commissioner of the Federation of Malaya Police at the height of the Emergency period, 1952, and in 1954 was appointed Commissioner of the Kenya Police, during the Mau Mau rebellion. Colonel Young's final secondment saw him serving as the first Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, 1969-1970, immediately prior to his retirement in 1971.
Colonel Young was awarded the King's Police Medal, 1952, appointed C.M.G., 1953, made C.V.O., 1962, knighted in 1965, and made a K.B.E. in 1971 for services to Northern Ireland.
Colonel Young's periods of secondment from the Police of the City of London saw him serving in some of the most troubled hot-spots, so far as policing was concerned, during the second half of the 20th century. When the communist insurgency or "Emergency" broke out in Malaya, it soon became apparent to the government of the day that the rebels were a serious threat. In 1952 General (later Field Marshal Sir) Gerald Templer was appointed High Commissioner of Malaya, Commander-in-Chief and Director of Operations. Templer's position was essentially that of a dictator, with instructions to do whatever was necessary to quell the uprising. It was obvious to him that the problem was not just a military, but also a policing one, the people having lost confidence in the police and being unwilling to support them for fear of communist reprisals. To improve the effectiveness of the Malay police force Templer sought and was given the services of Colonel Young. Together, Templer and Young conducted an energetic counter-insurgency campaign. For his part, during his fourteen months in Malaya, Young reorganised the administration and eliminated the inefficiencies of the policing system, which up to his arrival had hampered the fight against the communist insurgents. Departmental duties were reassigned to give more responsibility to Staff Officers at Police Headquarters, and free the Commissioner from mundane administrative chores. This allowed Young to devote himself to directing and coordinating policy. Training and retraining of police personnel was made a priority, and the emphasis was shifted from a paramilitary function to ensuring that members of the Malayan Police Force were properly trained in basic civil police duties. Particularly keen to foster better relations between the police and the public, Young inaugurated "Operation Service". Outside every police station he had erected a sign depicting two clasped hands, with the word "Service" in the appropriate language for each district. This campaign, highlighting the role of the police as protectors of the people, had a remarkable effect on the morale of the police, who now came to see themselves as friends, not enemies, of the local populations. Young's tactics also involved a shift in strategy, moving the force from close security work designed to defend against attacks, to one where it went onto the offensive, with police intelligence gathering as its backbone. The police, as they gained the confidence of the people by giving them protection, received increased reports of communist activity. Young was enormously popular among those alongside whom he served in Malaya, his officers and men much appreciating his energy and dedication. He proved a great tonic for the police force, whose morale had been very low. Young travelled extensively, saw a large number of people, and according to one of his contemporaries in the force, not only exuded confidence, but also managed to inspire everyone around him with that confidence (Sir Kerr Bovell, personal papers, Rhodes House Library). In the process he became firm friends with Templer and greatly contributed to the generally harmonious relations which prevailed among senior officials. Young's reform of the Malay police service eventually turned the tide in the war against the insurgents. Though he did not stay on to see the end results of his reforms, returning to London after 14 months in Malaya, within two years of his arrival more than two thirds of the communist guerrillas had been wiped out, the terrorist incident rate had dropped from 500 a month to less than 100, and the combined police and army casualty rate from 200 a month to less than 40. These successes were gained despite the fact that Young had converted the Malayan police force from being a paramilitary one to an essentially civilian one.
In Kenya, Young served in the same capacity as in Malaya, with the brief of reorganising and reinvigorating the police service there. Again, Young set about reforming the local police service, dealing ruthlessly with any cases of police irregularity (at his instigation the C.I.D. became a diligent and active deterrent to potential offenders whose consciences might otherwise have proved unequal to the situations confronting them). Although seconded for one year's service in Kenya, Young eventually resigned his post at the end of 1954. Colonel Young's resignation brought into the open a fierce dispute that had been simmering behind the scenes during his tenure in office. Colonel Young believed absolutely in the doctrine that a police force should be independent of the executive and responsible directly to the law. In Kenya, Young found himself confronted by the Colonial concept of a police force, where District Commissioners, administering tribal police in areas not served by the colony police, could authorise and condone methods and procedures which were not in accordance with the strict letter of the law (deeming such practices to be, in their opinion, practical and effective). This applied in particular to a certain latitude of direction allowed to African chiefs and headmen who served them. For Colonel Young, a principal at the heart of the British police philosophy was at stake. This difference of opinion proved absolute, and Colonel Young resigned from his post at the end of 1954.
Young was posted to Northern Ireland in 1969 by the Callaghan government, following the outbreak of the Troubles, with instructions to implement the Hunt Report recommendations on policing in Northern Ireland. On his arrival, the Inspector-General of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Anthony Peacocke, was asked to resign, and Young was made the first Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The Hunt Report and Young's appointment came at a time of increased tension during the first phase of the Troubles. On 11th October 1969, the day after the Hunt Report had been published (recommending among other things the disbanding of the B Specials), there was extensive rioting in the Protestant Shankill Road region, which quickly developed into a full-scale gun battle with the army. Hundreds of shots were exchanged, and Constable Victor Arbuckle was killed, the first police officer to lose his life during the troubles. On arrival in Northern Ireland, Young immediately set about negotiating with the various civilian "defence committees" and disarming the R.U.C., tactics aimed at gaining police access to no-go areas. At a meeting with members of the Central Citizen's Defence Committee on 22nd October 1969, agreement was reached, and from 8am the next morning unlimited numbers of foot patrols composed of R.U.C. men and Royal Militiary Police officers began to operate in areas they had previously been excluded from. Though largely a propaganada exercise, it was a start. Further progress, however, would not be forthcoming. By late 1969 the Provisional I.R.A. had appeared on the scene. A group of hardliners in Belfast staged an armed coup and ousted the I.R.A. leadership, who they blamed for failing to stop Protestant attacks on Catholic neighbourhoods. By Easter of 1970 the Provisionals felt themselves in a strong enough position to end the honeymoon between the British Army, disarmed R.U.C. and Catholics, provoking a weekend of violence. Soon bombings were a commonplace, along with attacks on police homes. In November 1970 Colonel Young's tour of duty in Northern Ireland came to an end. He left Northern Ireland having pushed through all the Hunt proposals, the B Specials having been disbanded and replaced by a new R.U.C. Reserve. His tour of duty had not been an easy one, difficult both for himself and for the R.U.C. He had, however, achieved his objectives and opinions were generally favourable. As Chris Ryder in his history "The R.U.C., A Force Under Fire" notes "Nobody likes a hatchet man and, not surprisingly, the R.U.C. had not taken Young to its heart. But Young did what was expected of him, and in the long run it paid dividends for the force."
An Honourary Commissioner of Police, New York, Colonel Young was also a member of the Advisory Council, National Police Fund, 1950-71 (Chairman, Education Committee), a member of the Council of the Police Athletic Association, 1952-71, Vice President of the Police Mutual Assurance Society, 1960-71, a Director, Police Extended Interviews, 1962-71, Vice-Chairman of the National Small-Bore Rifle Association, 1964, Chairman of the Police Council of Great Britain, 1965-1971, member of the Board of Governors of the Police College and Atlantic College, 1966-71, of the Lifesaving Federation from 1968, and President of the Greater London Scout Society from 1972.
Colonel Young, who was thrice married, twice widowed, and a member of the Athenaeum Club, died on 20th January 1979.
Group accompanied by various original award certificates, transmission and permission to wear letters, etc., relating to many of the orders, decorations and medals bestowed on Colonel Young, the award certificates including K.B.E., 1971, signed "Elizabeth R" and countersigned "Philip" by Prince Philip as Grand Master of the Order, C.M.G., 1953, signed "Elizabeth R" and countersigned "Athlone" and "Clarendon" as Grand Master and Chancellor of the Order, C.V.O., 1962, signed "Elizabeth R" twice, and countersigned by "Scarborough" as Chancellor of the Order, Coronation Medal, 1953, Argentina, Order of Merit, 1961, Austria, Honour Badge for Merit, 1966, Belgium, Order of the Crown, 1963, Cameroun, Order of Valour, 1963, Chile, Order of Merit, 1965, Denmark, Order of the Dannebrog, 1951, Finland, Order of the Lion, 1961, and Order of the Rose, 1969, France, Order of the Black Star of Benin, 1961, Germany, Order of Merit, 1958, Iceland, Order of the Falcon, 1963, Iran, Order of Merit, 1959, Italy, Order of Merit, Commander, 1958, Ivory Coast, National Order, 1962, Japan, Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1971, Netherlands, Order of Orange-Nassau, 1950, Peru, Order of Merit, 1960, Portugal, Military Order of Christ, 1955, Senegal, National Order of Merit, 1961, Sweden, Gold Merit Medal, 1962 along with various transmission and permission to wear letters, including those for the many of the above mentioned orders, plus Greece, Royal Order of the Phoenix, 1964, Iraq, Order of Al-Rafidain, 1956, Italy, Order of Merit, Grand Officer, 1969, Jordan, Order of the Star, 1966, Liberia, Order of African Redemption, 1962, Nepal, Order of Tri Shakti Patta, 1961, Niger, Order of Merit, 1969, Sudan, Order of the Two Niles, 1964, Thailand, Order of the Crown, 1960, and Tunisia, Order of the Republic, 1961
