Captain Tommy Broe MM MBE
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. 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. At the outbreak of WW2, Tommy was commissioned and
as Lt Tommy Broe became the Quartermaster of the 11th Bn . 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"
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. |
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