Marksman unit

The boss Bill Duncanson. His organisation, fore-thought and sheer drive got us all together, weeded out the not-quites and moulded us together into one of the most, quiet, unknown, efficient units ever to be produced by the RHKP. Training spin-offs later adopted by SDU, produced their own specialist group,- The Flying Tigers. 

Have a look at the picture of the sterling and think of a 32 round magazine sticking out the side at right angles, this makes it a funny awkward shape to carry and conceal under a coat 'carry covert' is the expression. But if you adopt a modification from the Australian Special Forces then you are cooking. The mod.? was a short 6 round magazine welded at right angles onto the long 32 mag. Then you have a slim gun profile the size of a rolled up newspaper, loaded with a short mag, with the long mag lying alongside the length of the gun. With the stock folded- neat and covert.  Instant 6 round use then a quick change to the long 32 round mag. After all what would put you off,  looking at a .38 revolver barrel or a machine gun?

I joined the UK police 1968 and started taking interest in rifle and pistol shooting. From there I took an interest in competitions both UIT and combat involving .22 and full bore pistol and rifle. Shooting alongside UK greats Ian Booth. Geof. Partridge. I then started on the nationals and successfully competing in UK combat trials The many various sorts of combat scenarios encountered brought me into conflict with UK Police Firearms training at the time. Better things had to come because police officers would become injured under the training at the time. I then started to Liase with LT. COL Jeff Cooper US Army and the US army advanced firearms school (close quarter combat) (look up 'Gun Site' Arizona on the internet.) and the Brit. Army combat school (look up Bill Smith and Chris Godwin WO1's who taught at Sandhurst)I then started offering up combat firearms courses where you would survive the outcome and introduced the new Massad Ayoob stress fire courses to cope with the problems of being shot at. I was then given 24/7 access to a Home Office Combat range to teach to people from 'all over'. Then my friends Dick House and John Washington (john died HK early in service) joined RHKP and said what a nice place it would be for me to expand my experience, so I did - and did. When in HK I came across the same mundane training, this is how we did it then etc.etc.. which is alright popping at a target out of cover but what happens when you have to tactically engage and the target shoots back and you are not in-cover or in a street with people, that when you wish you were back in bed about to wake up after a nightmare. Not good and dangerous. So I stuck my finger in and stirred things up a bit. Had a bit of a ding dong with Bill Duncanson on the range at our first meet so he took me on and put me to work which I did, eventually bringing modern UK combat firearms techniques in all aspects to HK. This is where I admire Bill because he had the courage to adopt adapt improve. and things just got better. Whilst in HK I liased with the FBI, Marine Corps and State Dept. and took on an exchange of their combat and stress courses. and put that to use in HK. STORY somewhere in the RHKP firearms range store there is a complete stress fire/combat course and about 120 photos. When I prepared the course and photos the HK police developed them and the camera-man got called in to explain why his holiday photos were being developed instead of a police job. He got them mixed using the police camera for his own use etc.   After HK....now that was even more interesting and that would cover a lot of paper. Has that answered your enquiry.

Thanks for that philk, for the latest, click on the group photo MU titled mystery and see what is happening there. Ray

Also worth a mention that the police camera man (SOCO) was really very good, he also did weddings and baby shots using police equipment and as he did a 'special offer' to Officers nothing happened  to him as we couldn't really do without him.