Thomas William Brown (1925 - 1945)

Born 9 Dec 1925 in North Shields, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Died 13 Feb 1945 at age 19 in North Shields, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Tommy Brown is Notable.

Tommy Brown served for the in World War II
Service started:
Unit(s):
Service ended:

16-year-old military hero Tommy Brown recovered documents from a sinking German submarine that facilitated cracking the German code that helped the Allies to victory in World War II

Thomas William Brown is better known as Tommy Brown. His birth was registered in the Jan-Feb-Mar quarter of 1926 in the Tynemouth district.^[1]

At the age of 15, he joined the Navy, Army, and Air Force Institutes. (NAAFI) ^[2]He provided an incorrect age to join since he needed to be age 17 to serve. In October 1942, as a NAAFI canteen assistant on an English destroyer, he was one of three men to board a sinking submarine in an effort to retrieve vital documents and was the only one of the three to survive. Obtaining these documents was significant to the Allies winning World War II. ^[3] The Bletchley Park codebreakers cracked the German Enigma code with the documents he recovered. Renowned British cryptologist and historian Ralph Erskine summarized the importance of the heroic effort to recover the documents in a report published in 1988:

"All the work that went into Bletchley Park trying to crack Triton would have been totally useless if it weren't for the men on the front lines. Were it not for the brave act of Lieutenant Antony Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier, and 16-year-old Tommy Brown, who recovered the weather short key and short signal booklet on U-559, we would have had no special intelligence during the crucial first half of 1943 for the rest of the Battle of the Atlantic Received information from Triton. There are few acts of personal bravery that have ever had such far-reaching consequences. Without the special insights from Triton, the submarines would have been defeated in the long run, but the total loss of life in this global conflict would have been far worse" ^[4]

In 1945, he died from injuries sustained while rescuing his sister Maureen from a house fire in North Shields Ridges Estate when he was on leave. ^[5] He is mentioned on a memorial in Preston Cemetery and Tynemouth Crematorium, North Shields, Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England with a death date of 13 February 1945.^[6] He was awarded the George Medal for his services.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth Registration: "England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2007"
   General Register Office; United Kingdom; Reference: Volume 10b, Page 388; Volume Number: 10b; Page number: 388
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8782 #37534315 (accessed 31 October 2022)
   Thomas W Brown's birth was registered Jan-Feb-Mar 1926 in Tynemouth, mother's maiden name Whitfield.
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navy,_Army_and_Air_Force_Institutes
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Petard_(G56)
4. ↑ Stephen Harper: Battle for Enigma - The Hunt for U-559 , p. 135.
5. ↑ Death: "UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960"
   The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Admiralty and predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and predecessors: Service Registers and Registers of Deaths and Injuries. REGISTERS OF REPORTS OF DEATHS: NAVAL RATINGS.; Class: ADM 104; Piece: Piece 128; Piece Description: Piece 128 (1939 Sept - 1948 June)
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 60931 #50177 (accessed 31 October 2022)
   Thomas William Brown died 13 Feb 1945 (born 9 Dec 1925).
6. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #59984787 (accessed 31 October 2022)
   Memorial page for Leading Seaman Thomas William “Tommy” Brown (9 Dec 1925-13 Feb 1945), citing Preston Cemetery and Tynemouth Crematorium, North Shields, Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England (plot: Sec. K. Grave 14231.); Maintained by Woose (contributor 48275987).

See also:

• Wikipedia: Tommy Brown
• Wikidata: Item Q7819259, en:Wikipedia