Frederick William PITCHFORD

aka Fred

New South Wales Police Force

[alert_yellow]Regd. # 7602[/alert_yellow]

Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 10 August 1953

Sergeant 2nd Class – appointed 15 December 1976

Final Rank = Dept. advertised his final rank as Sgt 3/C but he was appointed Sgt 2/C in 1976

Retired 14 April 1980 – Medical ( ankle injury leading to amputation from kick starting police motor bikes )

Stations: ?, “possibly” Wollongong in early 1950’s, Bega HWP ( 1968 – 1977 ), Penrith – retirement

Service: From ? ? pre August 1953? to 14 April 1980 = 26+ years Service

Awards: No find on It’s An Honour

Born: 28 October 1924

Died on: Saturday 12 November 2016

Age: 92

Cause: ?

Funeral date: Tuesday 22 November @ 11am

Funeral location: Star of Sea Catholic Church, Bega Street, Tathra, NSW

Buried at: Cremated

Memorial at: ?

Former local police officer Fred Pitchford was presented with his 20-year Police Medal by Inspector Jason Edmunds last week.

[alert_yellow]FRED is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO

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Funeral location: [codepeople-post-map]

FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal

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May they forever Rest In Peace

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Fred may have also have lived, as a lad, at 19 Atchison St, Wollongong and worked at Wollongong Police Station or the Wollongong Police Boys Club.

In the South Coast Times & Wollongong Argus, dated Monday 4 October 1954, page 5, Constable Fred Pitchford is mentioned at a dance at Wollongong Police Boys’ Club Ball as having decorated the hall and attending the Ball with his wife ( no Christian name mentioned for her ).

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142861770 and http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13367648

In Illawarra Daily Mercury on Wednesday 11 April 1951, page 9, Mr & Mrs Fred Pitchford of Fernhill ( Wollongong ) are mentioned having a son & heir born at the Bulli Hospital on Friday – being named Keith Frederick Pitchford.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/134010107

In the Illawarra Daily Mercury ( Wollongong ) on Monday 28 August 1950, page 12, a Fred Pitchford is mentioned ( no age ) as playing baseball at Stuart Park for Woonona.

trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/133830912

A Fred Pitchford is also mentioned as an Usher at the wedding of a sister – Dorothea May Pitchford – of 19 Atchison St, Wollongong. Parents being Mr & Mrs. W. J. Pitchford of that address. This appears in the South Coast Times & Wollongong Argus on Friday 10 September 1943, page 9.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142522533

15 year old Fred was mentioned in the South Coast Times @ Wollongong Argus on Friday 17 May 1940 as being a 15 year old who fractured his left collarbone and sustained head injuries & a sprained left wrist, when he fell from a bicycle in Crown St, and being admitted to hospital.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142194657

From 1970 – 1993, Frederick William Pitchford of various addresses around Tathra, is mentioned in Government Gazette of NSW under the Fisheries and Oyster Farms Act, 1935, as owner of various oyster leases.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220174600

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Letters to the editor, November 4

4 Nov 2016, 9 a.m.

BIRTHDAY BOY: Sue Cotterill and Wendy Dunn help long-time Tathra resident Fred Pitchford celebrate his 92nd birthday on October 28 with family and friends. — **BIRTHDAY BOY**: Sue Cotterill and Wendy Dunn help long-time Tathra resident **Fred Pitchford** celebrate his 92nd birthday on October 28 with family and friends.

http://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/4264346/letters-to-the-editor/

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Never too late

Steve Strevens
11 Aug 2008, 11 p.m.

A TATHRA man has been awarded the 20-year Police Medal, 28 years after he qualified.

Fred Pitchford was presented with his medal by Inspector Jason Edmunds at his home in Tathra last week.

The award was made after the New South Wales police decided to retrospectively recognise former sworn officers for their “diligent and ethical service”.

The medal is not given by virtue of long service, but on merit.

After working in Bega between 1968 and 1977 as a Second Class Sergeant (comparable to today’s Senior Sergeant) Mr Pitchford was discharged medically unfit from the force in 1980 and retired to Tathra.

Mr Pitchford had suffered severe ankle injuries that came from an accident after “arresting a couple of blokes” but mainly from kick-starting the old police Triumph motorbikes he rode.

Eventually, after nine operations on his ankle, doctors decided there was nothing further they could do and with complications arising, amputated his right leg below the knee.

At the presentation with family and friends, Mr Pitchford told of his experiences in Bega and the way policing then was completely different to today.

Mr Pitchford was in charge of the highway patrol and had 13 officers who were on the roads from Batemans Bay to the Victorian border.

There was one motorbike officer who was in Eden and lived in Wyndham, but the others were in cars and driving was not what it is now.

“For instance some of the roads were unmade and even the highways were nowhere near as good,” Mr Pitchford said.

“We drove Studebaker cars and then the Mini Cooper S, which really handled well on the winding roads.”

According to Mr Pitchford, the four men in Bega were very conscientious and drivers were certainly aware of their presence.

“They gave out between 200-250 tickets a month each,” he said.

Inspector Edmunds said it was an “absolute pleasure” to present Mr Pitchford with the medal.

“It is really important we don’t forget our history,” he said.

“And that we recognise the importance of all those years Fred served on behalf of the local community.”

After receiving the medal Mr Pitchford said it didn’t matter that it came 28 years after retirement, it was “just good to have it”.

“I always worked as well as I could so I am absolutely thrilled,” he said.

“It’s good to know they still think about the old fellas.”

http://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/1075405/never-too-late/

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Roving with Roy

1 Mar 2004, 9:20 p.m.

Bad break

Yet another wedding anniversary, their 54th, for Fred and Raynor Pitchford of Tathra and they celebrated it together at the Harbourmaster on a balmy evening.

Fred has a broken foot, but it is not as bad as it sounds!

With a “gammy” leg made partly of a plaster compound, Fred has to go downstairs backwards!

As he was performing this ritual recently he missed a step and broke his foot – the “gammy” one!

So it is not as bad as it sounds and Fred is still laughing.

For the record, before joining the police force from which, of course, he is retired, Fred was a menswear salesman with the Sykes family at Wollongong.

Legs on show

Talking of legs, there we were three of us blocking the footpath of Carp Street with only four legs between us!

How come, you ask?

Well, there was Fred Pitchford minus most of one leg, Chrissy Farrow minus more than half of one leg and resplendent in her comfy scooter and yours truly, fortunately with two legs!

And all as happy as sandpipers as pedestrians weaved around us, all with happy greetings.

Life is worth living!

http://www.begadistrictnews.com.au/story/1043268/roving-with-roy/

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Frederick William PITCHFORD