By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
The family of a police officer killed on duty when the driver of a stolen lorry hit his car has been honoured with the Elizabeth Emblem – almost 60 years after his death.
Joseph Stewart Drake was a constable with the Stirling and Clackmannan Constabulary and had been trying to intercept the lorry at Dennyloanhead near Falkirk when he was struck by the stolen vehicle.
He died on August 11, 1967, leaving behind his wife and four children.
In December, his family received the Elizabeth Emblem – which is the civilian equivalent of the Elizabeth Cross – at a ceremony in Stirling Castle.
The emblem, which was established in 2024, is a mark of recognition to the next of kin of public servants who have lost their lives as a result of their duty.
Joseph’s two eldest children, Catherine and Mary Ann, attended the ceremony and were presented with the emblem by Colonel Charles Wallace, Lord Lieutenant of Stirling and Falkirk.
Catherine was just 14 when her dad was killed, and very quickly had to adapt to taking on extra responsibilities to help her mum with her three younger siblings.
“My mum kept a lot of her grief private,” she told 1919. “We were evicted from the police house as it was a tied house with the job, and it was just a case of getting on with it.
“It must have been a really worrying time for my mum.
“I was 14. Young Stewart was four, Davina was eight and Mary Ann was 13.
“We just had to get on with our own lives. My mum was very stoic in public. She always had a wee cry at new year time.
“In our day we didn’t know anybody else who had lost their parents. In our circle there was no divorce either. I had responsibilities to let my mum go to work and I was my mum’s next of kin.
“You weren’t round other people that was happening to.”
It wasn’t until the charity Care of Police Survivors (COPS) was founded in 2003 that the family finally had people to turn to who knew exactly what they were going through.
The charity was co-founded by Christine Fulton, who also struggled with the lack of peer support after her husband Lewis was stabbed to death while on duty in 1994.
“Just over 20 years ago, Care of Police Survivors was established through Christine Fulton, and my mother got an invitation and asked me to go,” said Catherine, who is now 73.
“When we went down to Lichfield for the meeting, I overheard my mother talking to Sally Taylor, who was widowed with four children when her husband was killed in the breakout at Carstairs.
“My mum was 36 when my dad died and also had four children. They had similar experiences, and I’d never heard my mum talk about any of it before then because she had kept it all private.
“Through Care of Police Survivors, I’ve been around other people with similar experiences.”
Joseph is one of 350 officers whose names are engraved on the Scottish Police Memorial at Tulliallan.
“It’s nice that you can go to the Scottish Police Memorial and know that my dad’s name is on it,” said Catherine.
David Threadgold, trustee of the Police Remembrance Trust, and chair of the Scottish Police Federation, said: “It was humbling to meet the family and personalise the story that I had read about on the roll of honour.
“I heard first hand of the impact on the family at the time of the incident and in the subsequent weeks, months and years.
“Catherine was just 14 when she lost her dad, the same age as my youngest daughter, which really brought home the potential consequences of the job police officers carry out so proudly on behalf of the communities of Scotland.
“It reinforces the importance of the extended police family, as well as how critical it is to keep these memories alive.”
Catherine added: “The ceremony was very personal. It was very moving. We feel quite humbled.
“We’ve always been proud of dad.”