Obituary for Sergeant T Mansell
Editor’s note: Sgt Tom Mansell’s obituary is reproduced by kind permission of the Editor of The Wasp Magazine where it was originally published. Col Tony Winton points out that Tom managed to serve in 4 of our forbear regiments before becoming a 3rd East Anglian – Royal Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire and Northamptons. He was believed to be the last Army D Day Veteran living in Bedford.
It is with deep sadness that we report the passing on of one of our old comrades, Tom Mansell, on 17 March.
Tom was born on 30 August 1923 in Edmonton, North London. After he left school he became an apprentice shoe maker and, when war broke out, was determined to do his bit. He managed to wait until September 1940 when, lying about his age, he successfully enlisted as a Regular soldier at the age of 17. Tom served his basic training with the Royal Norfolk Regiment and transferred to the Suffolk Regiment in February 1943. He was a member of the assault force that attacked Hillman and Morris German coastal artillery gun emplacements on D-Day. They landed on Sword Beach on 6 June 1944. Surviving the treacherous landing, he witnessed the shooting of his Platoon Commander, after which his Captain, in the absence of any other NCO, placed him in charge of looking out for comrades in the assault group. Once assembled, the group tagged on to the back of Lord Lovat’s group who were on their way to Honnefleur. Tom recalled that day very vividly, stating: ‘I thought I was going to get a bullet up my backside as there was a bloody fool playing the bagpipes’. Later, however, Tom and his men were captured by the Germans. He was injured by a phosphorous grenade and received a rifle butt in the spine protecting his men. They were taken prisoner and spent the remaining months of the war at a camp in Poland.
1949 saw Tom with the Suffolks hunting Communist Terrorists in the Malayan conflict. Further tours of duty included Singapore and a stint with the British Army of the Rhine in Wuppertal (August 1954-1956). He became a member of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment in January 1956. Tom, who was by now Sgt Mansell, served on the permanent staff at the Keep in Kempston as a drill and small arms instructor before transferring to the Northamptonshire Regiment in July 1958; here he trained troops ready for duty in Aden and spent 12 months on the Arabian Peninsula before returning to Watchett in December 1959. Tom was due to have completed 25 years’ service, yet fell foul of the Macmillan Government’s cuts and was made redundant from the Army in June 1960.
The family took up residence in Bedford and Tom worked as a fitter with WH Allens where he remained until his early retirement in 1983. Tom was an active member of the community and served as a Borough Councillor from 1974-1986. He was chairman of the local Muscular Dystrophy Group, tirelessly fundraising, for which he enlisted the help of his family. Tom did not forsake his beloved Army and became an active and popular member of both the Beds and Herts OCA and Suffolks OCA. Right up to the end Tom berated members of Parliament and Government Ministers with his scathing attacks by letter, fighting for causes he believed in.
Tom’s funeral at Bedford Crematorium was attended not only by family and friends, but also a packed chapel, included a gratifyingly large number of ex-servicemen from all branches in Bedford; and their numbers were greatly swelled by former colleagues from around the region who served with him, or knew him, including the Mayor of Bedford.
The family owe a huge debt of gratitude to Barry Sutcliffe, for not only arranging the military funeral in line with Tom’s last wish, but also for the magnificent manner in which he preceded the cortege with the Union Flag. Tom’s widow, John, Angela, Deborah, Carol and Hazel and their families wish to thank the OCA for their support at what has been a very difficult time.
TAW