Kenneth William Botting – retired Chief Superintendent
I first met Ken Botting in December 1958 when he was a newly promoted Police Sergeant posted to Horley. I was stationed there as a very raw probationer constable. He and Georgina moved into a police house opposite the lodgings I was in. Our meeting was on Longbridge Roundabout just north of Gatwick Airport. It was a supervisory meeting. Traffic was much lighter then and as we stood together on the roundabout I demonstrated what another PC had shown me. The roundabout was surrounded by high street lights. In the centre of the roundabout was a control box with a light sensitive pod sticking out of the top. It was broad daylight but by placing my police uniform helmet over the pod I could make all the street lights come on, not just on the roundabout but down the length of the A23 from the roundabout to the airport. Sergeant Botting was not impressed.
Although during our respective police careers we occasionally found ourselves stationed in the same place at the same time, it was only recently that I found out about his army service during World War II. Born in Wallington on 6th June 1924, he was educated locally and on leaving school he worked in the accounts office of Hadfields the paint manufacturers. Just a year into the war, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. He trained as a radio operator but after a spell in Italy, he returned to England to train in gliders preparing for Market Garden to secure the crossing of the Rhine. His unit headed for the bridge at Arnhem to take part in the famous battle there. The bridge was captured for a while but eventually the Germans overpowered the British, causing many casualties.
Ken was taken prisoner by the Germans and was marched with other prisoners to Germany, loaded into cattle trucks and taken to a prison camp near Dresden. When Dresden was bombed by the RAF, they were marched through the Black Forest to the outskirts of Prague, being bombed on the way by the Russians. Eventually relieved by the American Army, he returned home via Amsterdam and Brussels, where he learnt that his brother, who had joined the RAF, had been killed. He was then posted to India in readiness to engage with the Japanese in the Far East but returned to England when that conflict came to an end.
When demobilised he applied for, and was accepted into the Surrey Constabulary as Constable 244. After initial training, he was stationed at Guildford, Dorking, Leatherhead, Weybridge and then Farnham. He was a keen athlete. Only last week details were announced of the arrangements and the route of the 2012 Olympic torch to be carried by a relay of runners around Britain. In the lead-up to the1948 Olympics, Ken was chosen to be one of the torch bearers. He was afterwards given a replica of the Olympic torch that he had mounted on a shield and gave to the force as a trophy for cross-country running.
While he was stationed at Farnham who should be working there in a civilian capacity but Miss Georgina Brown, the future Mrs Botting? They were married in 1952 at St Andrews Church, Frimley Green. Christopher was born in 1957, Janet in 1960 and Nicholas in 1964.
In 1961, Ken was temporarily transferred to the British Police Unit in Nyasaland for nine months.
As a family, they were moved about the county as Ken moved through the ranks. They moved to Horley when he was promoted to sergeant, then back to Farnham, to Camberley when he was promoted to inspector, to Caterham when he was promoted to chief inspector and then to a house on the estate at Mount Browne, Guildford when he was posted to the force HQ. While there, he was promoted to superintendent and the family moved from a 3-bedroomed police inspector’s house around the corner to a superintendent’s 4-bedroomed house. The family moved again, this time to a police house in Weybridge when he was appointed deputy to the officer in charge of the division. In 1972 he was promoted to chief superintendent in charge of that division. The last move came when he and Georgina bought the present house in New Haw.
Ken retired in 1977 and took a job as Emergency Planning Officer with Surrey County Council. He joined Woking District Rotary Club. He took part in the Hospital Car Service. He enjoyed golf and bowls. A chorister as a lad, at Caterham he enjoyed being a member of the Caterham Community Choir.
Ken Botting served the people of Surrey as a police officer for over 30 years, and in various capacities for several further years, having already served the people of Britain during his days in the Army. We all have reason to be grateful to him and to be thankful that we were lucky enough to know Ken Botting.
He died in hospital on 8th May 2011. He leaves a widow (Georgina), two sons and a daughter.
I first met Ken Botting in December 1958 when he was a newly promoted Police Sergeant posted to Horley. I was stationed there as a very raw probationer constable. He and Georgina moved into a police house opposite the lodgings I was in. Our meeting was on Longbridge Roundabout just north of Gatwick Airport. It was a supervisory meeting. Traffic was much lighter then and as we stood together on the roundabout I demonstrated what another PC had shown me. The roundabout was surrounded by high street lights. In the centre of the roundabout was a control box with a light sensitive pod sticking out of the top. It was broad daylight but by placing my police uniform helmet over the pod I could make all the street lights come on, not just on the roundabout but down the length of the A23 from the roundabout to the airport. Sergeant Botting was not impressed.
Although during our respective police careers we occasionally found ourselves stationed in the same place at the same time, it was only recently that I found out about his army service during World War II. Born in Wallington on 6th June 1924, he was educated locally and on leaving school he worked in the accounts office of Hadfields the paint manufacturers. Just a year into the war, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Royal Artillery. He trained as a radio operator but after a spell in Italy, he returned to England to train in gliders preparing for Market Garden to secure the crossing of the Rhine. His unit headed for the bridge at Arnhem to take part in the famous battle there. The bridge was captured for a while but eventually the Germans overpowered the British, causing many casualties.
Ken was taken prisoner by the Germans and was marched with other prisoners to Germany, loaded into cattle trucks and taken to a prison camp near Dresden. When Dresden was bombed by the RAF, they were marched through the Black Forest to the outskirts of Prague, being bombed on the way by the Russians. Eventually relieved by the American Army, he returned home via Amsterdam and Brussels, where he learnt that his brother, who had joined the RAF, had been killed. He was then posted to India in readiness to engage with the Japanese in the Far East but returned to England when that conflict came to an end.
When demobilised he applied for, and was accepted into the Surrey Constabulary as Constable 244. After initial training, he was stationed at Guildford, Dorking, Leatherhead, Weybridge and then Farnham. He was a keen athlete. Only last week details were announced of the arrangements and the route of the 2012 Olympic torch to be carried by a relay of runners around Britain. In the lead-up to the1948 Olympics, Ken was chosen to be one of the torch bearers. He was afterwards given a replica of the Olympic torch that he had mounted on a shield and gave to the force as a trophy for cross-country running.
While he was stationed at Farnham who should be working there in a civilian capacity but Miss Georgina Brown, the future Mrs Botting? They were married in 1952 at St Andrews Church, Frimley Green. Christopher was born in 1957, Janet in 1960 and Nicholas in 1964.
In 1961, Ken was temporarily transferred to the British Police Unit in Nyasaland for nine months.
As a family, they were moved about the county as Ken moved through the ranks. They moved to Horley when he was promoted to sergeant, then back to Farnham, to Camberley when he was promoted to inspector, to Caterham when he was promoted to chief inspector and then to a house on the estate at Mount Browne, Guildford when he was posted to the force HQ. While there, he was promoted to superintendent and the family moved from a 3-bedroomed police inspector’s house around the corner to a superintendent’s 4-bedroomed house. The family moved again, this time to a police house in Weybridge when he was appointed deputy to the officer in charge of the division. In 1972 he was promoted to chief superintendent in charge of that division. The last move came when he and Georgina bought the present house in New Haw.
Ken retired in 1977 and took a job as Emergency Planning Officer with Surrey County Council. He joined Woking District Rotary Club. He took part in the Hospital Car Service. He enjoyed golf and bowls. A chorister as a lad, at Caterham he enjoyed being a member of the Caterham Community Choir.
Ken Botting served the people of Surrey as a police officer for over 30 years, and in various capacities for several further years, having already served the people of Britain during his days in the Army. We all have reason to be grateful to him and to be thankful that we were lucky enough to know Ken Botting.
He died in hospital on 8th May 2011. He leaves a widow (Georgina), two sons and a daughter.
