The feature page
of


Captain Tommy Broe MM MBE


Captain Tommy Broe MM MBE


Tommy Broe was born in Mossley 5th July 1896, and went to school in Pendleton, where he attended Wellington Street Board School.

This is a pic of his class taken in 1902.

I have been unable to identify which one of these boys he is.

Little is known of him until he enlisted as 281253 Pte T Broe into the 7th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers during the early years of WW1.

Click here to go to 7th Bn page here)

He was involved in all the Bn major conflicts and quickly rose through the ranks unto he was the Sergeant Major of his Company..

On the 25th of March 1918 he was cited as follows:-

"With great courage and coolness ,in front of Gommicourt, this Warrant Officer showed splendid example to his men under heavy fire, in rallying and reorganising them after a withdrawal had been ordered due to both flanks being turned."

He was awarded the Military Medal.

In October 1918, Tommy displayed great bravery yet again, when, on the 23rd October 1918 he was Mentioned in a Despatch by Major General A Solly, the Divisional Commander.

After WW1, Tommy enlisted as number 191698 ,a regular soldier in the 2nd Bn The XX The Lancashire Fusiliers and we next find him on board the SS City of Poona docked in Aden.

On the 11 day of the 11 month 1919 this is a message the 2nd Bn Adjt received on board ship:-

This sea voyage was to take the 2nd Bn on their famous "long" overseas posting to India, a posting which was to last for over 16 years without returning home.

Tommy must have returned home at some point as he is next seen attending the drill course at Pirbright in 1933.
He has now attained the rank and appointment of RSM.

The 2nd Bn finally came home in 1936 and moved to Colchester, Tommy Broe was by then WO1 (RSM) Broe and this is a pic of him at Wellington Barracks Bury ,taken in October 1937.

Tommy Broe is 3rd from the left on the front row with the large row of medals.
Interesting for readers is that Captain J N Laverick DCM is seated 2nd from the right on the front row, he is of course Dennis Laverick's grandfather.

At the outbreak of WW2, Tommy was commissioned and as Lt Tommy Broe became the Quartermaster of the 11th Bn .
11th Bn Lancashire Fusilier Page
Jack Eastham's Feature Page

We next hear of him with his Bn at Camarata Barracks on the island of Malta

This is a link to the Malta page on the LF web site

The heroic stand of the Bn and of the people of the island is well documented, and of course Malta was given the George Cross and became known forever as "Malta GC"


At some time, Tommy must have been injured on active service ( I cannot find details of this ) as he was awarded a small pension by the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The award is dated as being from 14th March 1941, so I am presuming the injury occurred during the fighting on Malta

)


After the relief of Malta ,Tommy served with the 11th Bn in Italy, Egypt and Germany before the end of WW2.

Following retirement from the Army, Tommy remained an active retired member of the Regiment and attended most reunions etc.

The documents and artefacts used in this research were placed into the care of the XX Lancashire and Royal regiment of Fusiliers Museum Bury by Captain Joe Eastwood BEM CQSW Christmas 2010.

These are the original items seen being worn by Tommy on the pics.

Completed 26th November 2010.
Captain Joe Eastwood BEM CQSW



Born Mossley 1896 Married May Sorsby 1935
home Address in 1919 8 Cecil street Mossley
Served in WWI as 28153 7th Lancashire Fusiliers awarded Military Medal on 25th March 1918 for "great Courage" at Gommiecourt
Served WW2 as 191698 in 2nd Bn Lancashire Fusiliers and on 13th December 1945 was awarded thr MBE fir services to Italy

Medals: 1915 Star, British War Victory Medal, MM, 1939-45 Star, General Service Medal and the MBE


Taken from the Bury Times

89 year old Arthur Hardman Finally paid respect to his father he never meet

12442 Pte J Hardman.
This brave LF was in 11 platoon of C Company of the 2nd Salford Pals(16th Bn The XX The Lancashire Fusiliers when he enlisted and went to train at Conway on the 11th Feb 1915.
His OC was Captain R B Knott and his CSM was WO2 F A Ford.
His Platoon Officer was 2nd Lt R W Sharratt and his Platoon Sgt was Sgt Bulmer.
His Section Comdr was Cpl J J Hayes and his Section 2i/c was L/Cpl Tommy Broe later MM
He enlisted with C McKale and they were given consecutive numbers.