Enigma hero saluted by MPs in Parliament
A WORLD War Two hero from Earl Shilton was remembered in Parliament.
Tommy Brown and his two comrades were commemorated in an Early Day Motion at Parliament, presented on the 75th anniversary of their perilous mission to retreive Enigma machine documents from a U-boat.
Tommy, originally from the North East, worked in Earl Shilton before volunteering for the Navy.
Julian Lewis MP, chairman of the Commons Defence Select Committee, proposed the motion, which was signed by 59 MPs.
The motion proposed “that this House salutes the extraordinary courage of the three crew members of HMS Petard who boarded the sinking German submarine U-559 in circumstances of extreme peril.”
It also recognised that “the Enigma material they retrieved proved vital in saving countless Allied ships and lives”.
The House was asked to recog- nise the sacrifice two of the men made, drowning in the attempt to recover the Enigma codes, and that Tommy did not live to see the end of the war, dying in a house fire as he battled to save members of his family.
It concluded with the motion the House: “believes that the example and self-sacrifice of Lieutenant Anthony Fasson GC, Able Seaman Colin Grazier GC and Canteen Assistant Tommy Brown GM must never be forgotten.”
Since being proposed, 65 MPs have signed the motion and is now in the top 20 most supported Early Day Motions since the General Election.
Sir Nicholas Soames MP (Cons, Mid Sussex), grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, is among the signatories.
Early Day Motions (EDMs) are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons, which draw attention to an event or cause, and which MPs signal their support for by signing individually.
Tommy’s two partners in the mission, Lieutenant Anthony Fasson GC and Able Seaman Colin Grazier, both drowned, but he was able to return to the Petard with the vital codebooks.
The Bletchley Park codebreakers were then able to crack the German’s four-rotor Enigma naval cipher with the information, helping the Allies win the battle for the Atlantic and turn the tide of the war.
Fasson and Grazier both received a posthumous George Cross, while Tommy was given a George Medal, but was sent home after it was revealed he was underage.
He returned to the Petard in 1944 as a senior canteen assistant, but died the following year while trying to save his family from a house fire, aged just 19.
Tommy was recently voted by the public to receive a green memorial plaque outside his old house on Station Road in Earl Shilton, in a competition run by Leicestershire County Council.
Journalist and author Phil Shanahan, who led the campaign to bring the men to public attention, has brought out an ebook and an updated print version of ‘The Real Enigma Heroes.’
The book has a special anniversary cover and charts the heroics of Brown, Fasson and Grazier.
Phil said: “Earl Shilton can take great pride in what Tommy Brown and his comrades achieved and it’s marvellous to see them being recognised by Parliament on such a special landmark in this remarkable story.”