Tom’s pint-sized forebear made waves in Navy
TOM HARDY Actor
HOLLYWOOD heavyweight Tom Hardy plays a pilot in Dunkirk but his great-great-grandad fought at sea.
Edward Egmore Hardy joined the Royal Navy on August 31, 1898, at 15.
And according to war records held by family history website Find My Past, 5ft 1in Edward quickly climbed up the ranks to be an able seaman.
The documents show “his character was very good and he made up for his short stature by being very bright”.
After leaving the Navy in 1905, he worked for the London Fire Brigade before re-joining the Armed Services when war was declared in 1914.
He sailed with the Atlantic fleet
and was demobilised in 1917, serving for seven months on HMS Europa off Finisterre, believed to be part of the blockade of Germany. He also had a role in research at the Torpedo School, HMS Vernon.
And Tom’s great-great-great uncle Arthur John Egmore joined the Army in 1878 and served through to 1881 – before allegedly being discharged with syphilis.
Find My Past researchers revealed Arthur had a promising career before it was unceremoniously cut short – he had been promoted to Sergeant after a only couple of years’ service and was posted to Cork in Ireland. But after the syphilis he was “invalided out” and sent back to his native Norwich.
It has also been reported that Tom’s grandfather was in the SAS during the Second World War, although records are still not public.