Istumbled upon the story of Olive Kemp quite by accident some years ago and was immediately captivated by what I was told about her, and it left me determined to find out more because Olive, as you will see, was a fearless trailblazer and by all accounts quite the character whose exploits covered many decades and made headlines in both local and national newspapers.
Olive was born on 30 September 1922 and was the only daughter of Edward and Susannah Kemp. The family lived at 6 The Wharf Cottage, Great Linford, Buckinghamshire. Her father worked for many years as a French polisher at the railway works in Wolverton and her brother Edward was a painter and sign writer. The England and Wales 1939 Register lists Olive’s occupation as ‘Domestic Duties’ which made me smile because in 1945, just six years later, Olive became the first regular female police constable in Buckinghamshire, and as such, her badge number was WPC1.
A completely different world
Olive’s commendation for bravery based in Slough, she then transferred to Bletchley police station and in later years was at Wolverton and Newport Pagnell.
It is only 77 years ago and within living memory, but it was a completely different world to the one in which
