Side Caps
BY JAMES TREVERSH
Our thanks to John Capp for sending the photograph of a Devon Constabulary side cap (see below). The cap badge is a generic Edward VII badge, which dates the hat between 1901 and 1910.
The first occasion we could find of their use was the Hertfordshire Constabulary's cycle corps formed in 1899. The cycle corps were nicknamed "The Scorchers", because part of their brief was to catch speeding motorists. We also believe that they were used by the Police Auxiliary Messenger Service and sometimes by cadets.