30 October 1942
Dawn, thirtieth of October 1942, a periscope and the outline of a submarine are spotted
by a Royal Air Force patrol aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean.
This citing will be a vital turning point at Bletchley Park.
For ten devastating months, the code-breakers have been working
under complete blackout of U-boat communications.
The German Navy have introduced a new layer of encryption to the Enigma machine a fourth rotor.
HMS Petard and three other warships are on the scene by 10 a.m.
and spend the next ten hours hunting and depth charging the U-boat.
Fighters follow them and the submarine is finally forced to surface after sustaining serious damage.
Chaotic scenes unfold as the enemy crew start to abandon ship.
Knowing that U-boat could contain vital intelligence which could be utilized by the allies,
Tony Fasson, the first lieutenant on petard,and Able Seaman Colin Grazier
immediately leap into the sea and swim through a mass of fleeing U-boat men towards the U 559.
they are followed by NAAFI canteen assistant Tommy.
Cold and wet Fasson and Grazier board the submarine,
climbing down the conning tower into the blackness below.
Time is running out for the men
who are frantically collecting the priceless books and documents on the U-boat.
Plus, the U-boat is gradually filling with water. The two men hand various enigma treasures to Brown,
who after exploring the engine and control room has positioned himself on the U-boats conning tower.
"Abandon ship!", Brown screams,
and plunges into the dark waters to be rescued by the boat crew.
At that moment the ill-fated U-boat suddenly takes in an enormous amount of water,
and rapidly sinks taking Tony Fasson and Colin Grazier with it.
The bodies of Fasson and Grazier were never recovered.
Almost certainly they drowned trapped in the sinking submarine.
The demand for intelligence was never more closely linked to individual sacrifice
but the two men did not die in vain.
Just three weeks later the documents taken from the U 559 including the u-boat short signal
and weather signal code books arrived at Bletchley Park.
This pinch provided Bletchley Park code-breakers with a priceless tool to help break the four rotor Enigma.
Within an hour of breaking shot the U-boat code fifteen U-boat positions were identified.
And Blechley park was able to read neighbor traffic to crack Enigma code coach for the remainder of the world.
This enabled the opportunity to reroute the vital convoys to and from the USA,
saving thousands of tons of shipping and countless lives.
Lieutenant Francis Anthony Blair Fasson 1913-1942 posthumously awarded the George Cross for "outstanding bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of danger."
Able Seaman Colin Grazier 1920 -1942 posthumously awarded the George Cross for "outstanding bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of danger."
Thomas Willian Brown 1926-1945 The youngest person to have ever been awarded the George Medal. Presented to his family in 1945 following his death in a house fire.