John Gibson, a pioneer of traffic policing in Scotland who rose to the rank of Superintendent in the Ayrshire Constabulary, has died suddenly after a short illness.
He was one of the generation of professional policemen whose early careers were interrupted by the Second World War, in which he served with distinction as a tank driver in the advance on Berlin.
During a lull in the fighting of the Battle of Caen in 1944, Gibson halted his Sherman tank to recharge the battery and take on water at a deserted farmhouse. The following morning, the crew were horrified to see a German Tiger tank had stopped there to do exactly the same.
Despite having the capability to destroy the Sherman, the Germans did not engage them and both tanks later withdrew to their lines, discretion having proved the better part of valour.
Gibson was born in Symington, Ayrshire, the third of three sons and two daughters. His father was a publican and hotelier, and the family later moved to Kirkoswald where he attended the village school followed by Carrick Academy. Years later, when Kirkoswald school was being demolished, workmen found the hated tawse which he had stuffed down a drain.
He joined Ayrshire Constabulary in 1939 and started his career at Largs, but within two years he had been called up for war service and enlisted as a trooper with the 23rd Hussars, part of the Royal Armoured Corps. He fought his way across North-west Europe, surviving many tank battles, before returning to the police in 1945 to resume his career.
Throughout the late 1940s he served at Irvine before being selected, in April 1951, to become one of the first members of Ayrshire Constabulary traffic department. Six gleaming black Wolseley 6/80 traffic cars, which became the envy of the force, were delivered to be shared between Irvine and Ayr, where the departmental headquarters were in the town's Charlotte Street.
Gibson was the first of five constables and a sergeant who formed the northern section of the new traffic department. His sergeant was Quintin Wilson, later to become chief constable of Ayrshire and Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary. In the early days road traffic was light, especially at night when any car was likely to be stopped. At Christmas the so-called Hen Patrol would arrest opportunist thieves on the hunt for turkeys, chickens, or valuables for the festive season.
Outwardly a reserved man with a dry sense of humour, his thorough professionalism as a policeman was demonstrated in the early 1960s when a Stevenston man was found dead by the roadside outside Dreghorn, the apparent victim of head injuries from a hit and run incident. Gibson immediately sensed foul play, further inquiries were made, and the following day a 17-year-old Merchant Navy cadet was arrested and later convicted for murder.
Gibson rose from sergeant to inspector as the department grew and by 1967 he was a Grade 1 Superintendent and officer in charge of traffic. After retiring in 1972, he was appointed training manager for the Ayrshire Road Transport Group Training Association, one of several similar regional bodies set up by the Government two years earlier.
He was instrumental in establishing a new headquarters in Prestwick for what is now the Ayrshire Transport Training Association, and finally retired at 65 in 119980, after the centre was opened by the then Scottish Secretary, George Younger. He also founded the Ayr and District Safe Drivers Association.
He took up golf at a late stage in life and spent his retirement either playing at St Cuthbert's in Prestwick or gardening at his home in the town.
Gibson was predeceased by his wife, Zena, and is survived by a daughter, Jean.