Edmund Colin LUSCOMBE [1917-1950]

The following notes appear on the Hong Kong Police website:

Born in 1917 in the UK, Mr Edmund Colin Luscombe joined the Force in 1937 as a Police Probationer, becoming an Assistant Superintendent in 1939. He was subsequently interned at Stanley during the Japanese Occupation. After the Second World War, he held the posts of DS (Divisional Superintendent) Central, DS Yaumati, Director of Criminal Investigation, and finally from May to September 1950, C.O.K.N.T. (Commanding Officer Kowloon and New Territories), holding the rank of Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police. He was also an Honorary Aide-de-Camp to the Governor.

On September 1, 1950, Mr Luscombe, then C.O.K.N.T., took command of an incident in which a kidnapping suspect had barricaded himself in a village house in Ha Kwai Chung Village, which was then in Tsuen Wan Division. Detective Sub-Inspector Alexander Leslie had already been shot dead by the time Luscombe arrived. Mr Luscombe attempted to lead a party into a village hut, but was shot through the heart and killed by the suspect. Chief Inspector F. J. Clarke was also shot and seriously injured. The suspect was eventually shot dead by the Police.

Mr Luscombe was only 33 years old when he died, and was survived by his widow and two children. In October 2000, to mark the 50th anniversary of his death, the Luscombe family donated to the Police Museum a copy of his portrait, together with photographs relating to his career. The portrait dated March 30, 1942 was completed whilst he was interned by the Japanese in Stanley Internment Camp. The artist "A. Savitsky" (Arseny Joseph Savitsky) was a Russian who migrated to Hong Kong in the early 1930s. In 1936, Mr Savitsky became a member of the Hong Kong Police Reserve. Following the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong he was interned with other civilians, including police officers, in Stanley Internment Camp. The portrait shows Colin Luscombe in the winter uniform of an Assistant Superintendent of Police.