Philip Norton Banks

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Philip Norton Banks KPM, CSE (1889–2 April 1964) was the ninth British colonial Inspector-General of Police in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Born in Kensington, England, he studied at The New Beacon and Bradfield College, joined the Ceylon Police in 1909, and rose to Assistant Superintendent in 1912 and Superintendent in 1917. During World War I he returned to the UK, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps, and fought on the Western Front. After the war he went back to Ceylon, serving in the 5th (Reserve) Battalion of the KRRC, and was promoted to Superintendent of Police (Grade 1) in 1924 and to Deputy Inspector-General in the Criminal Investigation Department in March 1932. In 1937 he was appointed Inspector-General of Police and received the King’s Police Medal that year in a ceremony at Queen’s House, Colombo, presented by the Governor Sir Reginald Stubbs. That year he was involved in the Bracegirdle case, which led to a Commission of Inquiry. In 1942 the Foreign Office transferred him to Ethiopia to serve as Commissioner of Police, where he helped rebuild the Ethiopian police. In July 1949 he was awarded Officer of the Star of Ethiopia, and in July 1959 he was promoted to Commander of the Star of Ethiopia. He retired in September 1956 and was succeeded by Tsige Dibu. He died on 2 April 1964 in Colchester, England.