HM Waterguard
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HM Waterguard |
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The Home Page also contains: |
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This web site started life as a page on the Tomasin Family History Project web site. It was to be a page that attempted to describe my life and work in HM Customs & Excise.
From 1966 until 1972, I was an Assistant Preventive Officer - a proud member of Her Majesty's Waterguard. On transferring from the Air Ministry, I was at first a supernumerary in London Port - 'Room 11' and the Harpy. After the Waterguard Training Centre, I secured a fixed post at London Heathrow Airport. In 1972 I was promoted to Officer (EO) and continued to work in the newly reorganised Department, first as Officer in Charge at Exeter Airport, then as an Officer - Preventive and EPU - and Senior Officer - Accounts, Administration & EPU - at Avonmouth, before promotion to SEO and a spell in HQ London - RAMCS - as a Senior Consultant. I finally returned to Bristol where I became becalmed in the LVO, and took early retirement as a Surveyor (SEO) in 1995.
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The more I wrote, the more I realized that the Family History page was becoming too large for its original purpose - to record my personal history and written for my children, my grandchildren and their descendents. Over the 2006 Christmas period, I re-conceived the page as a web site in its own right. In January 2007 I registered the web site as www.hm-waterguard.org.uk and started an associated Rootsweb e-mailing list- HM-WATERGUARD-L-request@rootsweb.com, discontinued in 2011 and replaced by hm-waterguard@hm-waterguard.org.uk. This allowed ex-colleagues and others interested in the Waterguard to correspond with each other. I also started a sister Rootsweb e-mailing list - HM-CUSTOMS-EXCISE-L-request@rootsweb.com - so that non-Waterguard colleagues and others interested in HM Customs & Excise in general could also correspond with each other. |
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A few letters to the editors of The Bond - the newsletter of the Federation of Customs and Excise Retired Members Associations & the Retired Members Society - and Portcullis - the C&E house magazine - announced the new web site, its aims and scope, and soon put me back in touch with ex-colleagues who were more than willing to share their memories, search their lofts and to loan me memorabilia from their own Waterguard days.
From those humble beginnings the word spread and material for the site flooded in . . . . . .
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After the initial success, it became obvious that the site was in need of the services of a 'proof reader/editor' who not only had a better command of English spelling, grammar and punctuation than myself, but who also had a Customs preventive background. Eric Preedy offered his services. Eric joined HMC&E as a Departmental Clerical Officer in 1968, starting preventive work in 1971 on the Irish Land Boundary at Newry then at Luton Airport until 1972 when promotion beckoned to Excise and VAT. For 20 years prior to his early retirement in 2007 he was an Anti-Smuggling Senior Officer at Heathrow Airport. He is interested in the history of HMC&E and knows his way around HMC&E records at the National Archives at Kew. Eric became a very valued 'official researcher' for the site and a regular contributor of ideas, facts and images. The site owes much to his interest and hard work. |
Since the 2005 merger of HM Customs & Excise with the Inland Revenue, forming HM Revenue & Customs, and the absorption of all the remaining Customs Preventive work into the Home Office's UK Border Agency, completed in 2008, the United Kingdom has lost the distinctively uniformed Customs Officer at its ports, land boundaries and airports. With them have gone the traditions and the expertise of the Waterguard.
Both these new organizations have sought to impose their own 'look and feel', often aggressively and at the expense of the HMC&E and Waterguard histories and traditions that went before them. This web site seeks to redress some that 'wonton' destruction and the re-writing of history that has gone with it . . . . . .
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This web site has been constantly updated since its inception. Since February 2008 regular monthly newsletters have both recorded and announced these updates. These newsletters have been included on the site and can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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July 2011 |
Trevor John Tomasin APO -1966 to 1972 |
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Many books have been written about HM Customs & Excise over the years. Some are solely about the Waterguard service and some only have chapters about the Waterguard service. You can view the suggested books for further reading by selecting the 'button' on the right |
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Visitors to the site are encouraged to leave comments, criticisms & suggestions about the site and its content - Did you find it easy to navigate? Was it informative? Was it a pleasant experience? Your comments may help to improve the site. Please complete and 'SUBMIT' the Visitor's Comment Form available from the 'button' on the right. Thank you!. |
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You can view the Visitor's Book by selecting the 'button' on the right |
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One way or another, this site attracts queries about HM Customs & Excise in general, the Preventive Waterguard and the Waterguard service, as well as queries about the history, the officers and their work. These queries, from casual browsers, researchers and other organisations, can usually be answered by a further, in depth browsing of the site. However, if you can't find the answer you're looking for, fill out and 'SUBMIT' the C&E Enquiry Form available from the 'button' on the right and we'll try to help you as soon as possible. |
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This site incurs many maintenance costs - annual domain fees, annual web site hosting fees, copyright fees, software purchases and updates, legal charges & fees, post & packing charges etc. If you would like to make a contribution towards these costs by making a donation, you can do so by selecting the 'button' on the right |
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A Directory of Waterguard Sports & Social Clubs - including FOCERRSA, CERSA & Retired Members Sections of Revenue & Customs Sports & Leisure - can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right |
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A selection of Waterguard Merchandise. |
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The Waterguard Notice Board is provided for ex-Waterguard staff to advertise 'Waterguard' events. The Mailing List - hm-customs-waterguard-l@rootsweb.com - is used to announce a new notice has been posted on the 'board' which can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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The Waterguard Workshop is used to display Waterguard items about which more information is required or experimental pages on which opinions are sought. To view what is currently in the Workshop select the 'button' on the right. |
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In late 2008, the Waterguard site was selected by the British Library for inclusion in their UK Web Archive programme which contains websites that publish research, that reflect the diversity of lives, interests and activities throughout the UK. Like the Waterguard site, which is constantly changing, they contain information that is only available online. The Archive was designed to safeguard as many of these websites as practical by collecting, preserving and giving permanent access to key UK websites for future generations.
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Because the Waterguard website is revisited and 'snapshots' taken of it at regular 6 monthly intervals, viewers are able to see how it has evolved over time. The first 'snapshot' was take in April 2009, and 'snapshots' taken of the HM-Waterguard web site to date can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
On 31 January 2012 this web site comprised of 4097 computer files, plus sub-directories and associated files, amounting to approx. 18047.29MB of our Linux server space. For those with an interest, the site's 'hit rate' statistics can be seen by selecting the 'button's below:
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A list of current surveys being conducted by this site can be seen by selecting the 'button' on the right. |
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A list of the Pages and Sub-Pages that make up this site - indents indicate a sub-page.
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Anecdotes Aberdeen Division Belfast Division C&E & Waterguard Headquarters Cardiff Division Dover Division Glasgow Division Harwich Division HM Cutters & HM Launches Hull Division Leith Division Liverpool Division London Division London Airports Division Manchester Division Multi Divisional Newcastle Division Plymouth Division Southampton Division Waterguard Digs Waterguard Training Centre Contributions Directory of Sports-Social Clubs Error Page Further Reading about HM WaterguardHelp & FAQs Configuration of WTG e-mail Family History History (C&E) History Network (Flip Books & PDFs) History-Publications (Flip Books & PDFs) History-Snippets Home (index) Statistics Subscriptions Waterguard Merchandise Waterguard Notice Board Waterguard Workshop Legislation & Regulations Links Management Structures As at 1905 As at 1937 As circa 1960 Offices & Building Coastguard Customs & Excise Signage England Harpy Ireland Orwell Scotland Wales Official Instructions Pay & Conditions People Awarded Honours Bravery Awards 1905-1972 Colleagues - CVs CVs (A-D) CVs (E-H) CVs (I-L) CVs (M-P) CVs (Q-T) CVs (U-X) CVs (Y-Z) Colleagues in Harms Way Colleagues Initial Appointments Colleagues Obituaries Pete Shea Cartoons Preventive Staff Associations Roll of Honour 1914-1918 Roll of Honour 1939-1945 Sports & Pastimes Photographs Cinema Groups Aberdeen Division Belfast Division Cardiff DivisionDover Division Glasgow Division Harwich Division HQ, Cutters, WTC & Multiple Divisions Hull Division Leith Division Liverpool Division London Division London Airports Division Manchester Division Newcastle Division Plymouth Division Southampton Division Irish Land Boundary Rummage Crews Sports & Pastimes |
Recent Additions Recruitment Search the Site Site Credits Staffing & Promotion Stationery & Stores Date Stamps Cutter Service Headquarters The Outdoor Service Bangor Collection Belfast Collection Birmingham Collection Bo'ness Collection Boston Collection Brighton Collection Bristol Collection Cardiff Collection Cardiff & Newport Collection Chester Collection Cork Collection Cowes Collection Douglas (IoM) Collection Dover Collection Dublin Collection Dundalk Collection Dundee Collection Edinburgh Collection Falmouth Collection Galway Collection Glasgow Collection Gloucester Collection Greenock Collection Harwich Collection Headquarters Hull Collection Inverness Collection Ipswich Collection Irish Pre-Partition Collections Leith Collection Limerick Collection Liverpool Collection London Collection London Airports Collection London Central Collection London Port Collection London West Collection Lowestoft Collection Manchester Collection Newcastle Collection Northampton Collection Norwich Collection Nottingham Collection Perth Collection Plymouth Collection Portsmouth Collection Preston Collection Reading Collection Sheffield Collection South Wales & Borders Collection Southampton Collection Sunderland Collection Swansea Collection Waterford Collection The Waterguard Aberdeen Division Belfast Division Cardiff Division Dover Division Glasgow Division Harwich Division Hull Division Leith Division Liverpool Division London Division London Airports Division Manchester Division Newcastle Division Plymouth Division Southampton Division Swansea Division Headquarters Historical Stamps & Seals Official Forms Public Notices Surveys The Bond (Flip Books & PDFs) The Customs Journal (Flip Books & PDFs) The Work Abroad Airports Coast Preventive Force Cutter Service Fellow Travellers Foreign Air Bases Irish Land Boundary Launch Service Launch Service-Avocet Local Practice Maldon & Burnham on Crouch Waterguard Stations-Official Correspondence 1934-1962 Office Administration Ports & Creeks - Stations & Wharves Aberdeen Belfast Cardiff Dover |
The Work (Continued) Ports & Creeks - Stations & Wharves (Continued) Glasgow Harwich Hull Leith Liverpool London London Airports Manchester Newcastle Plymouth Southampton Sea Ports Seizures Some Recent Seizures Smuggling Smuggling - Circulars & Copycats Copycats Aberdeen Division Belfast Division Cardiff Division Dover Division Glasgow Division Harwich Division Hull Division Leith Division Liverpool Division London Division London Airports Division Manchester Division Newcastle Division Plymouth Division Southampton Division Swansea Division Smuggling - Sketches of Vessels Work Related Illness Tools & Equipment Tools & Equipment - other Training WTC Students Course & Group Photos 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 WTC Instructors Staff Photos 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 Uniform |
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