My Dad Was At Hendon Police School In 1958

A Memory of Colindale.

My late father was a police officer with the Royal Malaysian Police between 1953 and 1982 inclusive. In the early years of his career he served under several British officers and was sent to the thick jungle of Malaya to fight against the communist terrorists which were putting up an armed struggle to take control of the country after the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945. I know about it as I have in my possession photographs of him taken with several British officers in the jungle as well as in the barracks.
A year after Malaya gained her independence in August of 1957 from the British he was sent to England to undergo a police training course at the Hendon Police School. He was there between August 1958 and January 1959. I still have photographs of him taken at several locations within the compound of the school including one which was taken at the entrance as shown in the picture above.
This year, 2010, in May I travelled by train from London to Colindale to take a glimpse of the school. To my astonishment everything is now completely different. Nothing is left of any remnants of the school as captured in the photographs taken by Dad 50 years ago. I felt good to be there, knowing that he was here for 5 months 50 years ago.
I also took the opportunity to visit the RAF museum which was a walking distance from the Colindale tube station and spent about 3 hours touring the entire museum.