Not Waving But Drowning

The Troubled Life And Times Of A Frontline RUC Officer

Edmund Gregory

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Not Waving But Drowning tells the harrowing true story of one man's childhood struggle against poverty and his subsequent drive to become a policeman in the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Upon succeeding, he is faced with a number of traumatic incidents that lead him to the depths of despair. From his earliest days, Edmund Gregory possessed an incisiveness beyond his years. Through his parents' turbulent and doomed marriage he soaked up the horror of seeing his mother and father tearing each other apart. He spent his boyhood lonely and starved of affection, and experienced long periods of living in sordid welfare homes and dingy bedsits. However, Gregory later found solace in the true love of Agnes and they married as teenagers. In a concerted effort at dragging themselves out of poverty, he joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary to provide a secure future for his family. After five years serving in Belfast's riot squads, Gregory transferred into the somewhat elitist VIP protection branch of the RUC where, on a daily basis, he was involved in providing bodyguard protection to many high threat members of Northern Ireland's society.Within that unit he was involved also in teams providing protection to members of the Royal family and then US President, Bill Clinton. During his last four years, Gregory was in charge of providing protection for the Rev. Ian Paisley's deputy, Peter Robinson MP, an outspoken personality who was always under a serious threat of assassination. It was no wonder, then, that after 21 years of service Gregory was diagnosed as suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and was forced to retire from the force. Not Waving But Drowning is a sometimes tearful journey through Gregory's childhood and the dark underbelly of his later life as a policeman in Northern Ireland; a job that was, according to Interpol, the most dangerous policing role in the world.