Gill Williams amazing life as the UK’s first female police underwater search unit Sergeant who went to Thailand after the Tsunami
Monday 1 March 2021
In John Casson’s life he has been fortunate to meet world leaders, celebrities and truly wonderful people who have had a positive and significant impact on others.
Gill Williams QPM (Queen’s Police Medal) is one of those truly remarkable people.
Gill joined the Thames Valley Police as a cadet in 1978 and went on to become a police officer at a time when the police was still very much a male-dominated world.
Six years into her police service she joined the force’s marine section on the river patrol unit, and, subsequently, after intensive training, she became a diver.
Gill was promoted to Sergeant in 1996 and became the first woman in the UK to be responsible for an underwater search unit.
Realising her unit was a great cost to the Thames Valley Police, and with cutbacks looming, Gill expanded the range of services it offered to increase its value to the force. The unit began to deal with recovery of bodies on land and received specialist training in major disaster body recovery – a skill that was soon to be called upon.
Despite her training in major disaster body recovery, nothing could have prepared Gill for what she was to experience when she deployed with other police officers to lead in the identification of thousands of bodies in Thailand after the 2004 tsunami.
In March 2007, Gill was rightly honoured for her work in Thailand. The High Sheriff of Berkshire presented her with the Thames Valley Police Shrievalty Merit Award at a special awards lunch in front of her Chief Constable and her very proud father. Gill was very close to her father and was devastated when he died suddenly a few days later.
In the Queen’s Birthday Honours List the following year, Gill was further recognised for her services to policing, including in Thailand, with a QPM awarded by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
During her deployment in Thailand, Gill met Rotjana, a lady who appeared, day after day, at the roadside, each time with another baby or child who had been orphaned by the tsunami.
Gill founded a charity called Hands Across the Water UK, which built and supported an orphanage in Thailand for these babies and children. She with her typical compassion raised money for the charity in the UK by giving sponsored talks about her experiences in Thailand and by running, walking and cycling great distances. Those children were able to enjoy a loving and secure upbringing. Some of them now work at the orphanage, which currently cares for over one hundred abandoned children.
Tragically, Rotjana, who became a very close friend of Gill, passed away following a long fight with cancer in 2017. She was only 51 years old.
In her autobiography, Gill describes her experiences and emotions very well. You can vividly imagine the scene she is describing, and her anecdotal stories help the reader to understand what she has been through.
John has pestered Gill for years – in a good way – to get her to write her autobiography. He is pleased she has. This is a remarkable story about a remarkable lady. It’s absorbing, interesting and at times funny, but have a box of tissues ready!
Proceeds from Gills book go to the charity she formed which is no known as Rotjana’s Hands.
Please support Gill and her charity by purchasing her book, either by purchasing it directly from Gill by emailing her on gillwilliams@hotmail.co.uk for £10 + p&p or from Amazon. Thank you!
