On a recent visit to Portland i went through the Royal Navy cemetery and spotted this gravestone and thought it was slightly out of place and so far from his home, anybody got any ideas why he is there in Dorset?
There is obviously one inaccuracy in this HMS Isis casualty list in that Brand is listed as missing presumed killed, as are all but one of the other casualties. It also seems odd that he has a NZ headstone despite being listed as RN.
Looking at the memorial i noticed that there are about another eight men from New Zealand, and Ordinary Seaman Thomas E Brand is mentioned on the left hand door. Is it possible that his body was washed up or found in the Lyme Bay area and there for buried on land?
It's possible, though I'd assumed that his body was recovered by another ship and dropped off as they went about their business.
The sobering aspect is reading the two survivors accounts. Shaking for an entire three weeks and still going back.... I hope they still make 'em like that!
That second account sounds like Merchant Navy rather than Royal. Perhaps there was also an SS Isis? Can't lay my hands on British Ship Losses at the moment so will have a look tonight.
Hi all, Can't add much to this interesting thread other than some more information about the casualty at this link http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/19120.detail?Ordinal=1&c_surname_search=brand&c_firstname_search=t.e.&c_warconflict_search=%22world+war+ii,+1939-1945%22
Andy well done thank you FULL NAME Thomas Eric Brand RANK LAST HELD Ordinary Seaman FORENAME(S) Thomas Eric SURNAME Brand WAR World War II, 1939-1945 SERIAL NO. NZ 8612 GENDER Male PLACE OF BIRTH Clive, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand RELIGION Church of England FIRST KNOWN RANK Ordinary Seaman MARITAL STATUS Single ENLISTMENT DATE 1943 AGE ON ENLISTMENT 18 MILITARY DISTRICT Clive BODY ON EMBARKATION Royal New Zealand Navy EMBARKATION UNIT HMS Patroller EMBARKATION DATE February 1944 PLACE OF EMBARKATION Wellington, New Zealand VESSEL HMS Patroller DESTINATION Durban, South Africa MILITARY TRAINING HMNZS Tamaki CAMPAIGNS Normandy LAST UNIT SERVED Royal Navy, HMS Isis PLACE OF DEATH English Channel DATE OF DEATH 20 July 1944 AGE AT DEATH 19 YEAR OF DEATH 1944 CAUSE OF DEATH Killed in action CEMETERY NAME Portland Royal Naval Cemetery, Dorset, England GRAVE REFERENCE Church of England portion, Grave 758 MEMORIAL NAME Portsmouth Cathedral OBITUARY Thomas Brand was reported as having lost his life as a result of enemy action in the New Zealand Herald dated 16 August 1944. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES He was the son of Thomas Dempster Brand and Maud Amelia Brand, of Clive, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Enlisted October/November 1943 On embarkation Ordinary Seaman Brand's occupation was that of a 4.7 gun crew T.E. Brand died when his ship HMS Isis sank off the coast of Normandy. DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE Portrait, Weekly News ADDITIONAL INFORMATION HMS Isis was part of the naval operations around Crete in April and May 1941 aimed at preventing a seaborne landing on Crete by the Germans. Isis was specifically engaged in the reinforcement and supply of Allied troops. The role the ship played in the events off Crete was recognised when battle honours were awarded after the war and she was listed as third of all warships and first of all the many small ships in the Admiralty Fleet Order concerned (see J.H. Spencer's Battle for Crete, p.212). The Destroyer Isis was sunk by a mine (or possibly a Neger) off the beaches of Normandy on 20 July 1944. Ten New Zealanders were lost when she sank. They are commemorated in the cathedral in Portsmouth, England and also in Arromanches, France where a wreath is laid each year. SOURCES USED McKenzie, R. (1970). And quiet now their rest. Wellington, Govt. Printer. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. URL: http://www.cwgc.org http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/19120.detail?Ordinal=1&c_surname_search=brand&c_firstname_search=t.e.&c_warconflict_search=%22world+war+ii,+1939-1945%22
One of the links mentioned only 20 or so survivors - I assumed the remainder went down with the ship. The destroyer casualty roll listed one 'died of wounds' and it looks like he was buried 'at home' - not really an option for a Kiwi like Brand at that time.
There was of course a big naval hospital at Portland and if he died of wounds, that would account for the grave being there - but 20th July was the date the ship was sunk, so either he was wounded and died on the way home - Portland being the operational base that the recovering ship returned to - or his body was picked up by a Portland based ship?
