Who Were Fasson and Grazier?
On October 30, 1942, a history-changing pinch of documents and code books took place as a German U-boat, U-559, was sinking in the Mediterranean. These documents and code books ultimately were transported to Bletchley Park, where they aided in decrypting the messages encrypted by the German naval Enigma machine.
Ten months earlier, the Germans had added a fourth rotor to that machine which allowed for another layer of encryption of the messages. This resulted in a ten-month blackout of intelligence on the whereabouts of German U-boats. The U-boats sank British merchant ships in such numbers that that the English were in danger of being starved to death.
The code books and the documents retrieved from U-559 led to identifying the the location of fifteen U-boats, and set events in motion for their destruction.
Who retrieved the documents and code books that caused a significant turning point in the war in favor of the Allies and prevented the starvation of millions of people? Colin Grazier and Tony Fasson, who were assisted by Tommy Brown. Brown passed the documents and code books from the U-boat to one of the destroyer’s rowing boats. As the U-boat began to sink, Brown shouted, “Abandon ship!” He survived. Tragically, Fasson and Grazier perished beneath the sea. Their bodies were never recovered.
The Guardian published an article in 2017. Here’s a link to it:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/20/enigma-code-u-boat-u559-hms-petard-sebag-montefiori
The Bletchley Park podcast, episode E68, “Turning Points” includes a feature about the pinch.
When we think of people who made a difference in the outcome of the Second World War, we tend to think of Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Zhukov, Eisenhower, Patton, and Montgomery. These generals and statesmen led mostly from a place of safety. They slept in a bed and had plenty of clean socks and relatively new footwear, along with clothing appropriate for the season.
Fasson and Grazier, like millions of others, didn’t sleep in a bed, probably only had one extra pair of socks, if that, and had footwear that was on it’s way out. It’s not the fault of the aforementioned generals and statesmen that their job required them to lead from a place of relative safety. They had to be kept alive.
Fasson and Grazier dove into a cold sea and worked as fast as they could to get documents and code books off a sinking U-boat. The U-boat sank so suddenly and so fast, that they couldn’t get out. Can we try to remember them when we think of those who made a difference in the outcome of the war?
Columba Pigeon Messages From Behind Enemy Lines
(c) Crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, Kew, UK
Catalog numbers: WO208/3560 #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23
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