William Herbert Coates
Sergeant

William Herbert Coates

Accident
End of Watch December 24, 1941
Age 52
The Vigil Panel 185 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Drowned when he fell into Regent's Dock while on patrol in the early hours.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-GB-GUC-74654059
Stewardship
Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw
April 8, 2026
Last updated
July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Sergeant Coates served with the Grand Union Canal Police.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Coates.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Location ENG
Platform Identity gucpd.wsm.eng.gb.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 24, 1941
Age 52
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident
Cause Detail Drowned

Sergeant William Herbert Coates is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In ENG, 1,349 of 2,827 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 47.7% of this state's fallen. That is 16.7 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.

Grand Union Canal Police
1
of 1 officers
100% Accident
ENG — Statewide
1,349
of 2,827 officers
47.7% Accident
Nationwide
10,088
of 32,508 officers
31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Herbert Coates's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
17,623 (54.2%)
Accident
10,088 (31%)
Illness
2,974 (9.1%)
Cardiac
1,306 (4%)
Undetermined
260 (0.8%)
Suicide
256 (0.8%)
vehicular
1 (0%)

How William Herbert Coates Compares

Age at End of Watch
52
This officer
Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

When Accident Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Herbert Coates is highlighted in Dec.

Jan
820
Feb
730
Mar
748
Apr
707
May
847
Jun
795
Jul
897
Aug
937
Sep
913
Oct
925
Nov
872
Dec
897