London's Ghost Squad Detectives
The Undercover Police who Cracked Post-War Blackmarket Crime
At the end of WWII, London was awash with crime. The undercover Ghost Squad was extremely successful, making record numbers of arrests and recovering valuable property
The period following WW2 saw a sharp rise in criminal activity, particularly in London. Initially the Metropolitan Police were short of men as large numbers had volunteered for service in the Armed Forces and were not immediately available. Scotland Yard was dealing with a succession of notorious murderers – Christie, Haig and Heath - and fraud was on the increase.
The Black Market
Despite the ending of the War, rationing continued and with it came the rise of the Black Market. Ration cards were forged, lorries hijacked and large-scale thefts from commercial premises were becoming commonplace. Organised crime was getting out of hand and there was pressure on the over-stretched police to get on top of the situation.
An Unconventional Solution
Conventional policing methods were making little impression on the more sophisticated gangs that were cutting into the economy. It was therefore decided by senior officers at Scotland Yard to form a special unit. Its members would work undercover and cultivate contacts in the underworld who were prepared to inform on their criminal colleagues – at a price. These methods were seen as highly unconventional and controversial – and to traditionalists, they were distasteful. The officers concerned were to act as though they were ghosts – they would not make arrests nor appear in court. Instead they would pass on their information to the Flying Squad or other detectives in the areas of operation.
The Ghost Squad
Early in 1946, the Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Sir Ronald Howe, MC, called together the men chosen for this assignment. The team was initially led by Detective Inspector John Capstick (nicknamed Charley Artful) and consisted of Detective Inspector ‘Nobby’ Clark and two Detective Sergeants, John Gosling and Matthew Brinnand – both seconded from Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad. Brinnand and Gosling had between them topped the arrest figures for 1944 both collectively and individually. These highly experienced officers were close friends and were used to working together.
Into Action
There began a series of extraordinary events in which, despite the initial plans, the Ghost Squad officers were often personally involved in chases and arrests. They won the confidence of some of the key characters who inhabited the darker side of London’s criminal life; they set traps for the sophisticated, new brand of villains and received information that led to the recovery of enormous quantities of stolen goods.
Patience and Luck
The record of the Squad’s activities details a remarkable sequence of tip-offs, raids, intuitive interventions and sheer hard work. As the techniques of the detectives were refined, they earned the trust of those who passed them vital information and slowly the tide of crime was turned. Often lorry loads of cigarettes, whiskey or furs were tracked from the bonded warehouses from which they were stolen, to the ‘receivers’ who were ready to pay the thieves. In many cases the stolen property was seized and all parties to the crime were arrested, later receiving substantial terms of imprisonment.
Brief But Successful
The activities of the Ghost Squad were wound up in September 1949. In the three years and nine months of its existence, the Squad achieved 789 arrests that led to 1,506 cases being solved and the recovery of £253,896 worth of property – a phenomenal sum for those times.
As one little crook had said, "Never in criminal history was so much porridge handed out to so many by so few!"
(Of the original members, only John Gosling served throughout the existence of the Squad. He took over command and achieved the rank of Detective Superintendent before retiring from the Met. Police in 1956.)
Sources:-
The Ghost Squad by John Gosling - WH Allen - 1959
The Scotland Yard Files by Paul Begg and Keith Skinner -Headline Books - 1992
