Plaque to be unveiled for war hero
A Second World War hero from Earl Shilton is to be honoured with a green plaque this week.
Tommy Brown was just 16 years old and serving as a catering assistant aboard the HMS Petard when he helped to salvage vital codebooks from a sinking German U-boat in 1942.
The documents he rescued were used by codebreakers at Bletchley Park to break into the German Enigma cipher, helping to shorten the war and as a result saving many lives.
On Thursday July 5, a green plaque will be installed at Tommy’s former home on Station Road, in Earl Shilton, where he lived with his aunt, uncle and cousin before joining HMS Petard.
John Reed, from Hinckley, who nominated Tommy for the accolade, described him as a fearless young man whose bravery “changed the course of the Second World War”.
Of the three men who swam back and forth from the submarine, Tommy was the only one to survive. He tragically died just three years later trying to save his youngest sister from a fire at their home, and was posthumously awarded the George Medal in 1945.
Councillor Louise Richardson, Leicestershire County Council’s cabinet member for green plaques, said: “Tommy Brown was an enormously popular choice among the people of Leicestershire to receive a green plaque.
“It is fitting that we acknowledge Tommy’s tremendous bravery by creating a lasting reminder for the people of Earl Shilton of the hero who once lived in their community.”