Colin Grazier

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Colin Grazier (born May 7, 1920 in Tamworth , † October 30, 1942 in the Mediterranean ) was a British seaman during World War II . Through heroic Capture top secret Enigma - key documents , in which he met his death, he influenced the course of the war.

Life

Similar to this identification group booklet captured by U 505 , the weather key and short signal booklet were printed with water-soluble red ink on pink blotting paper so that they could be destroyed quickly in the event of danger.

As a sailor of the British destroyer HMS Petard , he succeeded on October 30, 1942, in the middle of the World War, in the eastern Mediterranean, about 140 km north of Port Said ( Lage ), together with Lieutenant Tony Fasson (1913-1942) and his comrade accompanying him Tommy Brown (1926–1945) to capture secret code books such as short signal booklet and weather short key from the German submarine U 559 . The secret material was taken to Bletchley Park , the British central cryptanalysis center located about 70 km north of London , and helped the Codebreakers there to break into the Enigma-M4 rotor key machine used by the Kriegsmarine .

Grazier, who held the rank of Able Seamans , and Lieutenant Fasson drowned in this operation when the submarine sank while they were still on board.

Posthumous honors

The Colin Grazier Memorial in St Editha's Square in Tamworth
Plaque with his portrait at the foot of the monument

Posthumously Colin Grazier received the Georgs-Kreuz ( English George Cross ) "for outstanding bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of danger" ( German  "for outstanding bravery and unshakable fulfillment of duty in the face of danger" ).

In his hometown of Tamworth, a street and a building complex and a hotel were named after him, The Colin Grazier Hotel . In October 2002, on the 60th anniversary of the heroic deed, a sculpture (picture) created by the Polish sculptor Walenty Pytel , which depicts three anchors, was unveiled for him and his two companions on Sankt-Edith- Platz  . At the foot of this monument there is a plaque  (picture) with the portrait of Colin Grazer and the following inscription:

“Colin Grazier (1920-1942). This memorial is dedicated to Able Seaman Colin Grazier of Two Gates, Tamworth, who gave his life recovering vital Enigma codes from a sinking German U-boat. His extraordinary bravery, together with that of Lt Tony Fasson and Tommy Brown (all of HMS Petard) changed the course of WWII, saving countless lives worldwide. While undoubtedly one of the world's greatest war heroes, Grazier was also one of the least known. Details of his actions remained secret for decades, depriving him of the true recognition he so richly deserved. This tribute was erected in the year 2002 following a campaign in the Tamworth Herald which attracted worldwide interest. It was made possible with the support of local ex-service and civic organizations. Erected in memory of all Tamworth people who died for their country. ”

“Colin Grazier (1920-1942). This memorial is dedicated to Able Seaman Colin Grazier of Two Gates, Tamworth, who gave his life recovering essential Enigma codes from a sinking German submarine. His extraordinary bravery, along with that of Lieutenant Tony Fasson and Tommy Brown (all from HMS Petard) changed the course of World War II and saved countless lives around the world. While he is undoubtedly one of the greatest war heroes in the world, Grazier was also one of the least known. Details of his deeds remained secret for decades, which denied him the rightly well-deserved recognition. This memorial was erected in 2002 as a result of a campaign published in the Tamworth Herald that attracted worldwide attention. It was made possible through the support of local veterans and community organizations. Erected in memory of all Tamworth citizens who died for their country. "

- Inscription on the plaque at the foot of the monument

Cinematic reception

In the British feature film Enigma - The Secret , which is based on the novel Enigma , and which deals with the deciphering work of the British code breakers in Bletchley Park, the names Fasson and Grazier are mentioned in connection with the captured short signal booklet and weather short key .

War-historical significance

Since February 1, 1942, when in the German submarine key network "Triton" , called by the British Shark ( German  "Hai" ), the previously used Enigma-M3 (with three rollers) through the M4 (with four rollers) had been replaced, the British secret service could no longer decipher the encrypted German radio messages . This painful interruption ( black-out ) lasted ten months and was a phase in which the German submarine weapon was again able to record great successes. The submariners called them their "second happy time" . With the help of the secret material captured by U 559, the British cryptanalysts succeeded in “reading” the German submarine radio messages again from December 12, 1942 . In this way, the convoys of war importance for the United Kingdom could be diverted around the German submarine packs and the British population and the war economy could be supplied with food and production goods.

Renowned British cryptologist and historian Ralph Erskine summed it up as follows in a report published in 1988:

“All the work that was done at Bletchley Park to crack Triton would have been completely inconclusive had it not been for the men at the front. Without the brave deed of Lieutenant Antony Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier and 16-year-old Tommy Brown, who recovered the weather key and the short signal booklet on U-559, we would not have had any special intelligence services during the first half of 1943, which was decisive for the further course of the battle in the Atlantic Get information from Triton. There are few acts of personal bravery that have ever had such far-reaching consequences. Without the special knowledge from Triton, the submarines would have been defeated in the long run, but the loss of human life in this global conflict would have been far worse than it already was. "

- Ralph Erskine

literature

  • Stephen Harper: The Battle for Enigma - The Hunt for U-559 . Mittler, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0737-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephen Harper: The Battle for Enigma - The Hunt for U-559 . Mittler, Hamburg 2001, p. 50 ff. ISBN 3-8132-0737-4 .
  2. ↑ Stephen Harper: The Battle for Enigma - The Hunt for U-559 . Mittler, Hamburg 2001, p. 66 ff. ISBN 3-8132-0737-4 .
  3. ^ The London Gazette, September 14, 1943, PDF; 340 kB (English) accessed on December 12, 2017
  4. ^ Fasson, Francis Anthony Blair from TracesOfWar, accessed December 8, 2017
  5. ↑ Badge  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at the monument (in higher resolution) accessed on December 18, 2017@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.alanwiseman.co.uk  
  6. ↑ Robert Harris: Enigma . Novel. Weltbild, Augsburg 2005. ISBN 3-89897-119-8 .
  7. ^ Hugh Sebag-Montefiore: Enigma - The battle for the code . Cassell Military Paperbacks, London 2004, p. 225. ISBN 0-304-36662-5 .
  8. ↑ Michael Smith: Enigma decrypted - The "Codebreakers" from Bletchley Park . Heyne, 2000, p. 181. ISBN 3-453-17285-X .
  9. ^ Rudolf Kippenhahn: Encrypted messages, secret writing, Enigma and chip card . Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, p. 247. ISBN 3-499-60807-3 .
  10. ↑ Stephen Harper: The Battle for Enigma - The Hunt for U-559 . Mittler, Hamburg 2001, p. 135, ISBN 3-8132-0737-4
personal data
SURNAME Grazier, Colin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British sailor
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Tamworth
DATE OF DEATH October 30, 1942
Place of death Mediterranean Sea