- Contributed by听
- eldoel
- People in story:听
- Tom Williams, Grace Doe
- Location of story:听
- London/North Atlantic
- Background to story:听
- Royal Navy
- Article ID:听
- A5717333
- Contributed on:听
- 13 September 2005
Tom Williams with son, Tom, and Alice Brown (my sister 'Cis') with daughter, Sylvia. The picture was taken, I believe, in Sunbury.
TOM WILLIAMS GOES TO WAR
My name is Grace Doe. I was born in 1916 in Southwark, South London. I want to contribute my recollections of a fine and brave man, - my bother-in-law, Tom Williams.
I was a lift attendant in High Holborn. Tom, my sister Rose鈥檚 husband, was a policeman. He got me that job after I left the Eel and Pie shop I worked at. They were twisters there. They kept putting the pennies aside. I knew they were doing it. I'm not silly. Then, I got the blame.
They said they were going to call the police, but my brother-in-law, Tom, came round and told them plain, 'Grace isn't like that!'' He warned them off. That made them think twice. They knew where the pennies were going right enough.
Tom was a London bobby of the old kind. He believed in doing what was right and not what was expedient. When he saw Hitler and his brutes of Nazis sinking all our shipping, he knew what he had to do. Tom got so angry he said: 鈥淚鈥檒l get the bastards!鈥
He classed them as no different to common criminals. Worse. At least common criminals know they鈥檙e doing wrong. He went in the Navy. Just one week later, the ship he was serving on went down with all hands, sunk by a German submarine. They鈥檇 got him. We were all heartbroken.
Tom was just one loss amongst so many, no more. But he鈥檚 an example of all those brave lads who stood up to be counted when the time came.
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