Tommy Brown (GM)
Encyclopedia
Thomas William Brown GM
(1926 – 13 February 1945) English
recipient of the George Medal
, and is the youngest person to have ever received that award. In October 1942, as a NAAFI canteen assistant, he was involved in the action between Petard and U-559, being one of three men to board the sinking submarine in an effort to retrieve vital documents, and was the only one of the three to survive. These documents would later lead the Bletchley Park
codebreakers to crack the German Enigma
code. Following his heroics, it was revealed that he was underage to be at sea and returned home to North Shields
where in 1945 he died from injuries sustained while rescuing his sister from a house fire. His family were presented with his medal by King George VI in 1945, and later presented it to the NAAFI in 1985.
, a P class destroyer
, for service during World War II
. Unlike other services, the NAAFI only accepted men from the age of 17 onwards, meaning that Brown had to lie about his age to join.
On 30 October 1942, Petard was in the waters off the coast of Port Said
, Egypt
. They were being sent to relieve HMS Hero
and to investigate radar contact with a submarine along with HMS Pakenham, HMS Dulverton
and HMS Hurworth along with Vickers Wellesley
light bomber
s of No. 47 Squadron RAF
. After ten hours of depth charges attacks, U-559 came to the surface, it being identified by its distinctive white donkey emblem on its conning tower
. Petard fired her 4–inch guns at the submarine, causing such damage that the crew abandoned ship, and launched a boarding party in a seaboat.
Lieutenant Francis Anthony Blair Fasson
and Able Seaman Colin Grazier
dove into the sea and swam to the submarine, with Brown following them over. The two navy men made their way into the captain's cabin where Fasson found a set of keys, unlocking drawers, they found two code books, a short weather cipher and short signal book. The German crew had opened the boat's seacock
s before abandoning ship causing the vessel to rapidly take on water.
Brown took the role of transporting these documents up and down the iron ladder of the U-boat's conning tower to Petards whaler
, making the trips up with one hand while holding the documents in the other hand. Following his third trip down and up the ladder, he called for his colleagues to join him but the submarine sank before they could. Brown himself was dragged under with the submarine but managed to fight his way back to the surface where the crew of the whaler pulled him out of the water. He was promoted to Senior Canteen Assistant following the incident.
Due to the attention arising from his actions in the incident with U-559, his age became known to the authorities which cost him his posting aboard the Petard, but was not discharged from the NAAFI, and saw him return to North Shields. In 1945 while on shore leave, Brown died while attempting to rescue his youngest sister from a fire in the family home. He was buried with full military honours in Tynemouth Cemetery.
. Being a civilian due to his NAAFI employment, Brown was awarded the George Medal. His mother Margaret and brother Stanley travelled to London to receive his medal on his behalf after Brown's death in 1945. Prior to being told about the presentation ceremony, his mother hadn't been told that Brown had received a medal for his actions.
Unknown to Brown, the documents that he, Fasson and Grazier retrieved turned out to be essential to the British efforts at Bletchley Park
to break the German Enigma
code as they contained the key to the code itself. This in turn meant that allied convoys in the Atlantic could be directed away from known U-Boat locations during 1943. Winston Churchill
would describe the actions of the crew of Petard as being crucial to the outcome of the war. Brown would never find out the contents of those documents, with information relating to Enigma only being released some decades after his death.
In 1985, his brothers Stan and David presented the NAAFI with Brown's medals to be displayed at the Bletchley Park Museum in Buckinghamshire. In 1987, a stained glass window was dedicated to his memory in his home town at the Saville Exchange building. The museum has since closed, and Brown's medals are now on display at the NAAFI headquarters in Darlington
, moving there to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the NAAFI in April 2010, with a ceremony being held to celebrate the return of Brown's medal to the north east. In attendance were five of his siblings, Lillian, Sylvia, Norman, Nancy and Albert.
George Medal
The George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
(1926 – 13 February 1945) English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
recipient of the George Medal
George Medal
The George Medal is the second level civil decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.The GM was instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI. At this time, during the height of The Blitz, there was a strong desire to reward the many acts of civilian courage...
, and is the youngest person to have ever received that award. In October 1942, as a NAAFI canteen assistant, he was involved in the action between Petard and U-559, being one of three men to board the sinking submarine in an effort to retrieve vital documents, and was the only one of the three to survive. These documents would later lead the Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
codebreakers to crack the German Enigma
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
code. Following his heroics, it was revealed that he was underage to be at sea and returned home to North Shields
North Shields
North Shields is a town on the north bank of the River Tyne, in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in North East England...
where in 1945 he died from injuries sustained while rescuing his sister from a house fire. His family were presented with his medal by King George VI in 1945, and later presented it to the NAAFI in 1985.
NAAFI career
At the age of 15, Brown joined the NAAFI and was assigned as a Canteen Assistant onboard HMS PetardHMS Petard (G56)
HMS Petard was a "P"-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was one of the three "P" class ships, out of the original eight, to survive the war in a serviceable condition....
, a P class destroyer
O and P class destroyer
The O and P class was a class of destroyers of the British Royal Navy. Ordered in 1939, they were the first ships in the War Emergency Programme, also known as the 1st and 2nd Emergency Flotilla, respectively...
, for service during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Unlike other services, the NAAFI only accepted men from the age of 17 onwards, meaning that Brown had to lie about his age to join.
On 30 October 1942, Petard was in the waters off the coast of Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. They were being sent to relieve HMS Hero
HMS Hero (H99)
HMS Hero was an H-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 the ship enforced the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides as part of the Mediterranean Fleet...
and to investigate radar contact with a submarine along with HMS Pakenham, HMS Dulverton
HMS Dulverton (L63)
HMS Dulverton was a Type II Hunt class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1941, she saw service during the Second World War until being damaged by German aircraft in 1943 during the Battle of Leros, and was scuttled....
and HMS Hurworth along with Vickers Wellesley
Vickers Wellesley
The Vickers Wellesley was a British 1930s light bomber built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey, for the Royal Air Force...
light bomber
Light bomber
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast class of military bomber aircraft which were primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance....
s of No. 47 Squadron RAF
No. 47 Squadron RAF
No. 47 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Hercules from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.-First formation:No. 47 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed at Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire on 1 March 1916 as a home defence unit, protecting Hull and East Yorkshire against attack by German...
. After ten hours of depth charges attacks, U-559 came to the surface, it being identified by its distinctive white donkey emblem on its conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
. Petard fired her 4–inch guns at the submarine, causing such damage that the crew abandoned ship, and launched a boarding party in a seaboat.
Lieutenant Francis Anthony Blair Fasson
Francis Anthony Blair Fasson
Lieutenant Francis Anthony Blair Fasson RN was posthumously awarded the George Cross for the "for outstanding bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of danger" he displayed on the 30 October 1942 in action in the Mediterranean....
and Able Seaman Colin Grazier
Colin Grazier
Able Seaman Colin Grazier was posthumously awarded the George Cross for the "outstanding bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of danger" which he displayed on 30 October 1942 in action in the Mediterranean.-WW2 heroics:...
dove into the sea and swam to the submarine, with Brown following them over. The two navy men made their way into the captain's cabin where Fasson found a set of keys, unlocking drawers, they found two code books, a short weather cipher and short signal book. The German crew had opened the boat's seacock
Seacock
A seacock is a valve on the hull of a boat, permitting water to flow into the boat, such as for cooling an engine or for a salt water faucet; or out of the boat, such as for a sink drain or a toilet....
s before abandoning ship causing the vessel to rapidly take on water.
Brown took the role of transporting these documents up and down the iron ladder of the U-boat's conning tower to Petards whaler
Whaler
A whaler is a specialized ship, designed for whaling, the catching and/or processing of whales. The former included the whale catcher, a steam or diesel-driven vessel with a harpoon gun mounted at its bows. The latter included such vessels as the sail or steam-driven whaleship of the 16th to early...
, making the trips up with one hand while holding the documents in the other hand. Following his third trip down and up the ladder, he called for his colleagues to join him but the submarine sank before they could. Brown himself was dragged under with the submarine but managed to fight his way back to the surface where the crew of the whaler pulled him out of the water. He was promoted to Senior Canteen Assistant following the incident.
Due to the attention arising from his actions in the incident with U-559, his age became known to the authorities which cost him his posting aboard the Petard, but was not discharged from the NAAFI, and saw him return to North Shields. In 1945 while on shore leave, Brown died while attempting to rescue his youngest sister from a fire in the family home. He was buried with full military honours in Tynemouth Cemetery.
Legacy
For their actions, Fasson and Grazier were posthumously awarded the George CrossGeorge Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
. Being a civilian due to his NAAFI employment, Brown was awarded the George Medal. His mother Margaret and brother Stanley travelled to London to receive his medal on his behalf after Brown's death in 1945. Prior to being told about the presentation ceremony, his mother hadn't been told that Brown had received a medal for his actions.
Unknown to Brown, the documents that he, Fasson and Grazier retrieved turned out to be essential to the British efforts at Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
to break the German Enigma
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
code as they contained the key to the code itself. This in turn meant that allied convoys in the Atlantic could be directed away from known U-Boat locations during 1943. Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
would describe the actions of the crew of Petard as being crucial to the outcome of the war. Brown would never find out the contents of those documents, with information relating to Enigma only being released some decades after his death.
In 1985, his brothers Stan and David presented the NAAFI with Brown's medals to be displayed at the Bletchley Park Museum in Buckinghamshire. In 1987, a stained glass window was dedicated to his memory in his home town at the Saville Exchange building. The museum has since closed, and Brown's medals are now on display at the NAAFI headquarters in Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
, moving there to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the NAAFI in April 2010, with a ceremony being held to celebrate the return of Brown's medal to the north east. In attendance were five of his siblings, Lillian, Sylvia, Norman, Nancy and Albert.