Taken from the Evening Chronicle Special Service To Honour Sailor Who Rescued Codes The bravery of a North East war hero will be remembered tomorrow after his medals were brought home to the North East. Tommy Brown from North Shields was just 16 when he fearlessly dived into a sinking German U-boat to get his hands on secret codes that went on to crack the enigma codes and helped to bring WW2 to an end. The two other men on the HMS Petard mission Able Seaman Colin Grazier and First Lieutenant Tony Fasson lost their lives, but NAAFI canteen assisitant Tommy was able to escape with the vital documents. Tragically, he died just three years later in a house fire at his family home in North Shields. After his death he was awarded the George Medal for his bravery and he remains the youngest recipient of the honour. But it was not until more than half a century after the war that the full extent of his bravery came to light. Staffordshire journalist Phil Shanahan picked up on the tale of the three forgotten heroes and began a campaign to get them the recognition they deserve. Tomorrow, as part of the 90th anniversary celebrations a commemorative service is being held to welcome the return of the medal to the North East, where it will be placed on display. Tommy’s brother, David Brown, 80, of Shotton Colliery, Durham said; “Were all delighted the medals have been returned to the North East and are proud and honoured to have been asked by the NAAFI to be part of the commemoration and the 90th anniversary. “Tommy would be delighted to see that the NAAFI is still around today and that they continue to do a great job serving the services.” Reg Curtis, NAAFI Chief Executive Officer said” The service is about recognising Tommy’s bravery and commemorating both him and the 550 NAAFI staff that have died in service since our formation in 1920. The event will take place in the Saville Exchange Complex in North Shields, which is also home to a memorial stained glass window dedicated to Tommy in 1987. The event will be attended by Tommy’s surviving relatives, including siblings David, Lilian, Sylvia, Norman and Nancy. Following the service, Tommy’s medals will go on public display at the Central Library, Northumberland Square, North Shields until 7pm
Cheers Peter, I did some research into this when I was doing the GC thread. The newspapers account isn't very accurate though as they have spelt the name wrong of one of the men awarded a GC. The two men who died were Lieutenant Francis Anthony Blair Fasson and Able Seaman Colin Grazier. Here's a relatively accurate account of what actually happened by yours truly: On 30th October 1942 U-559 was spotted by a British Sunderland Aircraft off Haifa and its location was reported to the Royal Navy’s Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla which initiated a search of the area. HMS Petard, sailing towards Haifa, was ordered to the boat's suspected position. Three other destroyers, Pakenham, Dulverton and Hurworth joined in the search. Asdic contact was made shortly after midday, Petard attacked first, dropping five depth charges at 12:57. Dulverton then joined in the attack, this continued for several hours. Although oil was sighted and escaping air heard there was no sign of the sub. Eventually contact was lost. It was suspected the U-boat was silent below 500 feet, beyond the fuze range of the depth charges. Permission was sought to block up the depth fuzes with soap to increase their working range, Petard fired off ten soaped up charges at 6:42. This caused the sub to move, contact was regained and the attack continued. At 10:42 the sub finally surfaced in the darkness and was soon under the destroyers searchlights. By that time a total of 288 depth charges had been fired at the sub. Gunfire soon fell on the U-boat but is was clear she was being abandoned and a cease fire order was given. Lt. Fasson started lowering the starboard boat. Petard's commander (Lt. Cmd. Mark Thornton DSC) ordered Sub. Lt. G. Gordon Connell to make his way to the U-boat. He was joined by Able Seaman Colin Grazier who had stripped off to enter the water. Lt. Fasson then apeared and ordered Connell to stay in the whaler and take it towards the U-boat. The other two swam towards the sub, by then joined by 15 year old Tommy Brown, a canteen assistant. When the men reached the boat, they found lights still on and two bodies inside. Water was pouring into the conning tower from shell holes in the plates. Fasson and Grazier climbed into the control room and made towards the captain's quarters. Breaking into cabinets, they retrieved some papers and a wooden case fixed to a wall. These were passed along to Brown who was inside the tower. He made his way up the ladder and handed the material to the whaler which was now alongside. Brown went down again to bring up more documents. On the third trip the men were ordered out, Brown shouted to them to come up. They had just started out when the submarine swiftly sank. Fasson and Grazier had not been able to overcome the inrush of water. On 1st February 1942, the German Navy had added a fourth rotor to the Enigma machine. Bletchley Park codebreakers were unable to read the new U-boat ciphers. From January to December, 239 Allied ships in convoys had been sunk by U-boat and a further 840 independently sailed sinkings. Although the wiring of the fourth rotor had been recovered by Bletchley the previous year when it had been used in error, they were unable to break into the new codes, there were just too many variables. The material captured from the U-boat included the short weather code book 'Wetterkurzschluessel' and 'Kurzsignalheft', a short signal codebook. These two books contained codes for reporting weather, ship sightings and position reports, before being enciphered with the Enigma machine. These short signals were used to minimise direction finding bearings being taken on long radio transmissions from U-boats. These documents arrived at Bletchley Park on 24 November. On Sunday 13 December, the cryptanalysts in Hut 8 broke back into the naval codes. A telephone call to the Submarine Tracking room reported the position of over 12 U-boats. Convoys could be re-routed past these. Ship sinkings halved in January and February 1943. This U-boat key (Shark) continued to be read until the end of the war in Europe. Fasson and Grazier, a native of Tamworth, Staffordshire, both received posthumously The George Cross and Brown received The George Medal for their actions that day. When it was discovered he was underage, Brown was sent home. He died two years later while attempting to rescue his younger sister from their burning home. See posts 84 and 85 of the following thread: All the George Crosses of WW2 Cheers Andy
