Colin Morrison

Just minutes before the end of their shift at 2:00pm, four officers responded to an emergency call to rescue a holidaymaker who had gone into the very rough sea off Gynn Square, North Shore, Blackpool, to rescue his dog.

WPC Angela Bradley and PC Gordon Alexander Connolly were the first to arrive and entered the sea to attempt the rescue, using a lifebelt from the promenade, but the sea was so rough that they were both swept away. 

Traffic Officer PC Colin Morrison stopped to assist after becoming aware of the incident but he, too, was overcome by the waves and drowned.

Another two officers responding to the call also entered the sea but the fierce waves repeatedly threw them against the sea wall. One was pulled ashore after being thrown a lifeline and was given life-saving CPR by a passing doctor before being taken to Victoria Hospital’s intensive care unit where he was listed as critically ill. The other officer was the only one who managed to clamber from the sea unaided. He, too, was taken to hospital where he had to be sedated. 

Colin’s body was washed ashore on Blackpool Sands that same evening while Angela’s was recovered from a sandbank at Preesall some days later and Gordon’s body was found at Fleetwood Docks on 27th January, three weeks after the incident. 

The holidaymaker and his dog were also drowned and their bodies were also found some days after the incident.

It was the deaths of these three officers that led to the creation of the UK’s official Police Roll of Honour.