A POLICE officer who served in Maldon for several years has celebrated his 100th birthday.

Wilfred “Wilf” Partis turned 100 in April, met with Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh and new recruits at a special ceremony at Essex Police Headquarters last week.

Throughout his 80 years of service with the police, he has been stationed in Maldon, Chelmsford, Tilbury and Grays, having first joined in 1938, shortly before the Second World War.

Mr Partis attended the ceremony on May 3 organised especially for him to mark his milestone birthday.

He was collected in style by the Chief Constable’s uniformed staff officer, who chauffeured him to our headquarters in Chelmsford.

Mr Partis and Mr Kavanagh were joined by new recruits PC Lily Palmer and PC Alex Burgess to share their experience of working for Essex Police over tea and biscuits.

Mr Partis retired as a Chief Superintendent in 1977. His first post was in Grays and Tilbury, which suffered heavy bombing during the war. The deafening result of this still affects him to this day.

In celebration of Mr Partis’ years of service, the Essex Police Museum has commissioned a display consisting of information about his career and police memorabilia from the Second World War era.

During the special ceremony, Mr Partis, Mr Kavanagh, PC Palmer and PC Burgess shared stories of their time serving as a police officer in Essex.

Mr Partis spoke fondly of his memories of policing during the war. He told one story about collecting a prisoner from the navy whilst serving in Maldon.

He attended the location requested by the navy and was unable to see a boat. He waited for a few moments before a submarine appeared from the depths of the River Blackwater containing a prisoner who he locked up in the cells with the assistance of navy servicemen.

At the ceremony, Mr Partis stated that he felt honoured to be invited to join Mr Kavanagh and was overwhelmed by the celebrations.

Stephen Kavanagh said: “It was an honour to welcome Mr Partis back to Essex Police Headquarters having served for both our country in the Second World War and our county until 1977.

“I felt humbled to have shared stories about serving for Essex with him and our two new budding recruits.

“Our display in the museum will celebrate Mr Partis’ career for many years to come.”