A retired policeman appealed to the public on the eve of Remembrance Day to help his research into police officers who also served in the two world wars.

John Skinner wrote features published on the Bermuda Ex-police Officers Association website to highlight members of the then-Bermuda Police known to have seen military service in the First and Second World Wars.

He said: “There are two main reasons for producing these articles.

“The first is to record the history of our former police officers, and the second is to provide a source of information to anyone wanting to research their own family history.

“I would be very interested to receive information about any of the men named in the articles, and in particular those officers who joined the police force in 1919 for whom we so far don’t have any details of their service in the armed forces.”

Mr Skinner started a project three years ago to list people who served in the police force over the first century since its inception in 1879.

It grew to more than 2,000 officers and, as he carried out his research, the retired inspector found officers who served in the First World War, which resulted in his first article, Bermuda’s Brave Blue Line – World War One.

Mr Skinner later added a supplementary feature followed by stories of Bermuda’s policemen who were served in the military in the Second World War, which was published on Sunday.

But he said: “I know that there are personnel omitted who should be included.

“In most cases, it is because I could not verify that a particular record related to a specific person.

“I am keen to receive corrections and additions, which can be e-mailed to xbpoaresearch@gmail.com so that we can periodically update the articles on the ExPo website.

“Ideally, they should be accompanied by supporting documentation.

“We have already started liaising with the newly formed Royal Bermuda Regiment Association as we are very conscious of the fact that a lot of what we have written about is also the history of the Royal Bermuda Regiment.”

George Rose, a retired superintendent, also researches former Bermuda police officers and writes about them for the ExPo website.

He said he and Mr Skinner supported each other’s work.

Roger Sherratt, a retired chief inspector who is the editor of the website, said it was “open to anyone and we are always interested in receiving information about our former colleagues”.

He added: “John Skinner has done an absolutely first-class job in writing these excellent articles about our police officers who served their country during the two world wars.

“He has put countless hours into researching his subjects and I know he’d be delighted to receive more information, and possibly photographs, from their family members and descendants.

“I would like to think that all this historical information will be invaluable to future generations who might seek to learn more about their ancestors.”

Mr Sherratt said he was especially keen to find out the identities of 11 soldiers in a photograph, believed was taken at a casualty clearing station in July 1916.

The men are thought to have been part of the Bermuda contingent of the Royal Garrison Artillery.

*The Bermuda Ex-Police Officers Association website can be found atexpobermuda.com. Mr Skinner’s features are listed under “Articles” and his roll call of police officers from 1879 to 1979 is under “Expo Lists”.