A true story (from a bygone age) about “tactical contact” told to me by my late brother…
We grew up in an eastern England coastal town whose main industry was North Sea fishing. The lads and men who crewed the trawlers and drifters were a pretty rough and tough bunch and after a week at sea much enjoyed spending their wages in the local pubs. One particular pub near where we lived was a favourite meeting place and was opposite the local police house. One night my brother was in this pub and two of the local well known fisher boys, as they were affectionately known, (in their drain pipe suits and crew cuts), arrived and started causing trouble abusing and threatening those enjoying a pint or two.
The landlord asked them to behave themselves which only made matters worse. He then ‘phoned the police house across the road and asked if someone could come over to help. The resident bobby, a sergeant who had been a tail gunner in a Lancaster during WW2, popped his uniform jacket on and strolled across the road into the pub. He politely asked the two lads to stop being a nuisance and go home. The tougher (and braver?) of the two said to the sergeant that if he took his jacket off, he’d give him a good hiding. The other lad stepped up and also agreed.
The sergeant agreed, removed his jacket and promptly without further conversation laid these two lads out stone cold…..
