Casket containing 'Freedom of the Borough of Neath', bestowed on Ernest Rollings, Inspector and Acting Chief Constable of Neath Borough Police Force until 1943

Description

'The Man who won the War' - Ernest Rollings joined the Glamorgan Constabulary in 1913. He left the Force to fight in World War One, during which he won the Military Cross for bravery twice, once whilst serving in a tank and then the second time in an armoured car. In 1918 Rollings rejoined the Glamorgan Constabulary, and transferred to Neath Borough in 1922. There he became Inspector and Acting Chief Constable until his retirement in 1943.

In the 1930s Rollings became known as "The Man who won the War". A fellow officer's private diary revealed how during the mission in which he won the Military Cross for the second time, he had gone behind enemy lines and captured plans of the famous German Hindenburg defences. These helped Allied Generals to plan the last great offensives of 1918 in which the Allied troops overran the German trenches and won the war. Neath Borough celebrated the event by bestowing upon Rollings the Freedom of the Borough contained within this silver casket.