Quote:
The correct term is AIR MINISTRY WARDERS, not wardens.
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Well, not really.
To begin with, in researching a relative who was one and who always referred to himself as a 'WARDEN', as it was printed on his ID card, every website I have come across detailing the history of the Air Ministry Wardens, Air Ministry Constabulary, Air Force Department Constabulary and MOD Police refer to them as 'WARDENS'. A few examples:
https://british-police-history.uk/f/air-ministry
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...a7787325.shtml
It is true that they have been noted in the press as 'WARDERS':
http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/mu...een%20Coventry
and in parliament as 'WARDERS':
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-h...nistry-warders
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Common...WrittenAnswers
although they have equally been referred to in Parliament as 'WARDENS'
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-h...t-goring-heath
Additionally, their armband was specifically noted as being for WARDENS:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30066926
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30062164
So for me, mentions in the press and parliament as WARDERS, and official ID cards and insignia being for WARDENS, I'll stick with WARDEN.
As for him being a 'Messenger', possibly. When the Air Ministry Wardens were raised under the 'Air Force (Application of Enactments) Order (No. 2) of 1918 initially they had only a cap with cap badge and black armlet with 'AMW' in red. By the start of the war they were wearing full police uniform, which continued after they became the Air Ministry Constabulary, the cap insignia changing from the Large white metal crown of the AMW to the white metal or chromed cap badge of the AMC, being a circle with the 'AMC' letters in the centre and surmounted by a crown.. The photo below is of a former Warden who remained with the Constabulary, the photo showing the uniform of the former on the ID card of the latter. However, many older men were retained as 'security' still being referred to as 'Wardens' even though there was officially no such organisation by then. Hence the reference in Hansards above in 1947 despite the fact the AMW became the AMC in 1942.
So he may be a messenger, but I suspect with the photo being taken at the Air Ministry Kingsway, from a 1943 film he is probably a Warden.