You couldnt question the courage of Glasgow Police Constable James Campbell. He had been in the force for 18 years and had received 11 commendations for individual acts of bravery while arresting criminals.
The night of JANUARY 18th, 1919, he might have made it 12. But things didnt turn out that way.
At around 11 oclock that night he entered a close off No. 637 Great Eastern Road, now Tollcross Road, to check rear windows, when he saw three or four men about to begin a break-in. PC Campbell closed in on the one nearest to him to make an arrest.
The man struggled violently, allowing the others to escape. The man then drew a revolver and fired at close range. One bullet pierced the officers side, the other his abdomen. He fell, and the gunman escaped over railings towards Westmuir Street.
Taken to hospital, PC Campbell described the gunman as from 19 to 21 years old, five feet six or seven inches tall, dressed in dark clothes, wearing a muffler and a cap. It could, of course, have been almost any young man.
Even so, detectives arrested a suspect. But PC Campbell, slowly sinking, could not identify him. A few hours later he was dead, and his killer was never found.