Victoria, BC – On this day in 1959, VicPD Constable Earle Michael Doyle succumbed to injuries received in a traffic collision on duty. The 28-year-old constable, who had only been with the department a year and a half, was serving in our Traffic division when he was killed on duty.
Cst. Doyle was riding his VicPD motorcycle northbound in the 3100-block of Douglas Street at approximately 9:00 pm on July 12th, 1959, when a driver turned in front of him. Despite wearing a motorcycle helmet, that had been issued two weeks earlier, he suffered life-threatening injuries. His new helmet appeared to have come unlatched during the collision.
Cst. Earle Doyle succumbed to his injuries in hospital the next day, July 13th, 1959. He was 28 years old. He left behind his wife Grace and young family of three children, Shannon, Kathleen and Kevin.
A week later, citizens lined the streets while uniformed Victoria Police Department and RCMP officers accompanied him on motorcycles and on foot to his final resting place. The photograph above is of that procession.
Today, we remember fallen Cst. Earle Michael Doyle.