Francis Brooke-Smith

After the war he was a senior officer in passenger lines between New York and Bermuda. He also participated in training divers for Suez Canal clearance. He was killed in a road accident near his home in Woodbridge on 3 December 1952, aged just 34. He is buried at the Hasketon Churchyard.

For his bravery he was awarded the George Cross, which was announced in the London Gazette on 27 June 1941. He also dealt with a mine in allotments 50 yards from Short & Masons aircraft factory in Macdonald Rd, London.

He was subsequently assigned to Atlantic convoy escort duties. Early in the morning of 17 October 1941, HMS Broadwater, the ship he was serving on, attacked a U-boat, and 24 hours later, herself fell victim to U-101 while escorting Convoy SC 48. She sank later that day. When another ship came to rescue the survivors there were some thirty men on board, although the exact number could not be determined at the time. Sub-Lieutenant Brooke-Smith, in charge of the torpedoed ship, signalled that twelve men and himself would remain on board until daylight, all the injured having been taken off.

His early service included mine disposal. In December 1940, having previously defused 16 mines, a mine fell on the fire-float Firefly in the Manchester Ship Canal, landing inside the deck locker alongside the engine-room. It failed to explode.

Brooke-Smith was born in Hasketon, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. He was a cadet on HMS Conway on the Mersey between 1934 and 1936. A sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve, he volunteered for Royal Naval service at the outbreak of the Second World War.

Frances Haffey Brooke-Smith, GC (21 September 1918 – 3 December 1952) was Royal Navy Reserve bomb disposal officer awarded the George Cross for "great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty" while defusing German bombs during the Blitz in 1940.