A gallantry K.P.M. pair awarded to Roy Havelock Haslam, Deputy Commissioner, Indian Police

King’s Police Medal, G.V.R., 1st issue (Roy Havelock Haslam, Asst. Supt. Agency Pol. Kathiawar, Bombay Pol.); Jubilee 1935, unnamed as issued, very fine (2) £400-450

K.P.M. London Gazette 1 January 1918. The recommendation states: ‘For conspicuous gallantry under fire during an attempt by convicts to break out of the Rajkot State Jail on the 1st and 2nd of December 1916. Mr Haslam was on duty from 6 p.m. on the 1st December 1916 until after 6 a.m. on the 2nd December and was exposed to fire from weapons used by the convicts throughout the whole period. Colonel Britton and all other officers present concurred in their appreciation of Mr Haslam’s coolness and pluck, of which the Agent to the Governor was personally witness. He inspired confidence in the members of the Police force under his command.’

Roy Havelock Haslam was born on 30 October 1892, and joined the Indian Police on 14 November 1913. Whilst serving with the Agency Police at Kathiawar in 1916, Haslam won the King’s Police Medal which was presented to him by the Governor of Bombay, after the conclusion of the war, on 7 December 1918. During the war he was appointed a Second Lieutenant, Infantry, I.A.R.O., on 8 August 1917, and was attached to the 1/10th Jats, Indian Infantry, from 3 November 1917. On 22 January 1918 he was appointed an Army Recruiting Officer at Rajkote, and granted the temporary rank of Captain from 2 February 1918. Haslam was promoted Lieutenant, Infantry, I.A.R.O., on 8 August 1918, and was released from the Indian Army at the close of 1918. He was promoted Superintendent of Police in April 1925 and, in December 1927 he was appointed Superintendent and Deputy Commissioner at Bombay. In November 1928 he was appointed Superintendent of Police at Aden, and in that capacity received the 1935 Jubilee medal. In 1937 he was Superintendent of Police at Satara, and in July 1939 he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police for air raid precautions in Bombay. Haslam is shown in the India Office List of 1945, but not in that of 1947, and presumably died in that period. Sold with copy service details, medal entitlement, and copy news cuttings.