Born: 17 July 1913, Lanton, Roxburghshire, Scotland
Died: 30 October 1942, Mediterranean Sea
Colin Grazier, Able Seaman Colin, Royal Navy; HMS Petard
Born: 2 December 1912, West Bromich, Birmingham, England
Died: 30 October 1942, Mediterranean Sea
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the posthumous award of the GEORGE CROSS to:—
Lieutenant Anthony Blair Fasson, Royal Navy.
Able Seaman Colin Grazier, P/SSX.25550.
for outstanding bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of danger.
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the George Medal to:—
Junior Canteen Assistant Thomas William Brown, N.A.A.F.I.,
for great bravery and devotion to duty in the face of danger.
On 30 Oct 1942 HMS Petard was one of five destroyers searching for a German U-boat -- U-559 -- which was known to be in the area. Petard made contact and attacked with depth charges, eventually forcing the U-boat to the surface, where her crew opened the sea-cocks and abandoned ship. Fasson, the destroyer's first lieutenant, and Grazier volunteered to swim to the sinking submarine to search for documents and other classified material. When Fasson and Grazier boarded the submarine, 16-year-old Brown, one of the personnel aboard a whaleboat which had followed them, joined them. The two men located several documents and passed them to Brown, who handed them up to the men aboard the whaler. When U-559 suddenly sank Brown managed to swim free, but the other two were trapped below decks and drowned. The documents recovered turned out to include a pair of codebooks, which turned out to be a tremendous help in breaking the German navy's Enigma codes.Brown died 13 Feb 1945 of injuries received whilst attempting to rescue his sister from a house fire.
[London Gazette issue 36169 dated 14 Sep 1943, published 10 Sep 1943.]
