A Fistful Of History

The Knuckleduster Carried by Inspector Thompson, Winston Churchill’s Personal Bodyguard 

By

Brian Moyse & Roy Shadbolt

Introduction

Collecting, researching and studying vintage and antique arms is one of those passions that can always bring surprises, including in areas which had previously been of little interest.  As a lifelong knife enthusiast who originally grew up on an English farm, ‘knuckledusters’ have always been an unique area of study that I have previously paid little attention to.  However all this changed during a visit to my dear friend and fellow ex-pat Brian Moyce who was living in Texas.  Brian had recently acquired what can only be described as a truly spectacular historic weapon; one with links to not only one of the Metropolitan Police’s finest, but one which was also rarely more than a few feet from the iconic British leader and hero to the free world, Winston Churchill (later Sir).  Surprisingly this was no fine presentation firearm or sword, but a lowly set of knuckledusters.

Historical perspective

This 'Knuckleduster’ has a fascinating history and provenance in that it belonged to Walter Henry Thompson.  Inspector Thompson was with the Metropolitan Police Special Branch of Scotland Yard for almost 30 years.  For nineteen of those years he was assigned as protection officer and bodyguard for Winston Spencer Churchill.  We are told that Mr. Thompson carried this Knuckleduster in one pocket and his Colt 1911 .45 automatic pistol in the other.

Sergeant Thompson, as he then was, first met Winston Churchill in 1921 at the age of 30 when he was assigned to protect him.  This first period as Churchill's bodyguard lasted eight and one half years whereupon Thompson returned to Scotland Yard.  He was reassigned to protect Churchill in 1931-32 which for the most part was in the USA.

Thompson retired in 1936 & opened two grocery stores.  All was well until 1939 when Winston Churchill sent for Thompson and asked him to return to his role of personal bodyguard.  This request was readily accepted and Thompson soon found himself protecting the British Prime Minister, arguably one of the greatest statesmen of all time.

Thompson remained in this role until 1945 when Winston lost the general election and the office of Prime Minister.  Walter Henry Thompson had risen to the rank of Detective Inspector & protected Churchill for a total of nineteen years.  During this time he travelled some 200,000 miles all over the world with Churchill and saved his life on more than twenty occasions both at home and abroad.  

For his service in protecting Winston Churchill and service to his country, Walter H. Thompson was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in 1945.  At this time he retired again and lived with his second wife in Kent, the same county in England as Winston’s beloved home, Chartwell.  Post-war Walter Thompson befriended a fellow B.E.M. recipient, James F. Dix.  Dix had been a sergeant in No 3 Commando before returning to his regiment, the Beds & Herts, after the Commandos were disbanded in 1945.  During this friendship - which lasted up until Thompson’s death from cancer in 1978 at the age of 87 - Walter gave his trusty 'knuckleduster' to Dix.  

In 1978, James Dix in turn passed this amazing artifact onto his longtime friend and collector, Richard L Ashley.  Ashley was a former police armorer with a well-known arms collection in the UK.  In order to share this special piece of history with others, Ashley had often exhibited Walter Thompson's knuckles at various events and functions including the British Resistance Organization (BRO) Museum in Parham Suffolk in the UK.  This historically important artifact was recently acquired by my friend and co-author Brian through his personal friendship with Richard L. Ashley.

Knuckleduster Details

The 'Knuckleduster' itself is of conventional design and believed to be of French or Belgian manufacture from the 1914-1918 era.  It weighs six and one-half ounces or between one-third and one-half of a pound.  Physically it measures approximately  4” across and 3” high with four triangular spikes, each of which is between one-quarter and one-half inch high.  There are markings on both sides between the holes for the third and fourth fingers.  On one side is a 'Cartouche' containing the two letters, V.&M.  The reverse has no cartouche but has the three letters L.E.M. over the word BREVETE, which in turn is followed by a four digit number 3.0.0.(X), the fourth digit unfortunately being undecipherable.

This knuckleduster is very well made and was constructed with an unusually high attention to detail not normally found in this kind of weapon.  The parts of the original finish (visible where there is no rust pitting) are extremely smooth.  There is no visible gate or parting line which one would expect from a cast or forged steel part.  Incredibly, you cannot even see where the gate or parting line might have been ground off.  In addition, the spikes are narrower than the knuckleduster is thick.  This seems insignificant but from a manufacturing perspective it is more complex and thus more costly.  If you look at most other knuckledusters the spikes are of the same thickness as the main part.  Making the spikes thinner is much more work than keeping them the same thickness as the rest.  Also, the spikes are quite sharp with well-defined edges which is also difficult to achieve in a cast or forged part.

While it is not clear exactly how it was made, it is of high quality craftsmanship as it either required an unusually high quality casting or it was subsequently worked by tedious filing and polishing afterwards.  The fact that there are no visible grinding or file marks means any finishing operations were done with a high degree of care and attention.  This is true even in areas where one would expect  such marks would have survived "pocket wear" over the years, such as inside the finger holes and at the base of each spike.  I think it is safe to assume that the knuckleduster was originally made to this high degree of quality because we can tell from examining it that it has seen very little wear (the spikes are still sharp), and that there are no traces of filing or grinding even in those areas which are well protected from wear.

Final Thoughts

Although this weapon falls outside of what is often collected today, it is reminiscent of times past when one needed all the help they could get in a sticky situation.  I have seen many knuckledusters in my time - some very fine and interesting indeed -but none can compare to the astonishing history of this example.  Inspector Thompson was devotedly at Churchill’s side for nineteen years, and it is likely that this weapon was in his pocket for much of that time.  It is even more likely that at least on one occasion Churchill himself had his fingers wrapped around this as he held it in his fist and inspected the tools of his personal protection officer.  

This small, simple weapon is undoubtedly a significant fistful of history and in its own small way was right there by Churchill’s side during Britain’s darkest days, ready to fend off any attempt on the leader’s life.  Knuckledusters along with other weapons are prohibited in Britain today and as an amateur historian it often pains me to see such bad press rained on such items.  This is one example that demonstrates perfectly the historical significance of such a weapon and from a time where such things were less politically sensitive.  As a Police Officer walking the streets late at night in modern times our reliance is often placed on our radios but back before this technology was available a Bobbies street smarts were all important, perhaps even a pair of knuckles such as these gave one that all important edge to keep the peace.

Authors Notes:

Since first being written this articles had also been published in both the Peeler ( The Friends of The Metropolitan Police Historical Collection, No16 2016) and the BAFM Journal (The British Association of Friends of Museums (No 106 2014).

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