3320154. Corporal. Thomas Henry Hill. ‘C’ Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion.

Thomas ‘Tom’ Hill was born on 3rd November 1919 in Thornley, Co. Durham. He enlisted into The Argyl and Sutherland Highlanders on the 15th February 1940. [1]
Tom volunteered for Airborne Forces, along with his friend Thomas Laughland, in 1941, after seeing a leaflet calling for volunteers. Having completed the selection process at Hardwick Hall, and being made a member of ‘C’ Company, he attended No 1 Parachute Course, RAF Ringway, 3rd – 15th November 1941. [2] Tom also did No 2 Parachute Course, RAF Ringway, 18th – 30th November 1941, but this time as an additional Army Instructor. The RAF Report for this Course stated: ‘A very good leader. All jumps executed well and taken calmly.’ [2]
He also attended No 1 Advanced Parachute Course, RAF Ringway, 4th – 11th January 1942, [2] where he carried out the following:
(a). Advanced training in synthetic and aircraft drill and practice in packing and unpacking containers.
(b). Section descents with arms containers under Section Leaders.
(c). Platoon descents with arms containers under Army Commanders from aircraft flying in formation.
(d). Tactical ground exercises after landing.
(e). Night descents from the balloon.

For Operation ‘Biting’, the Bruneval Raid, he was a member of the Nelson Party, and jumped from Whitley 9322. The task of his group was to seize Bruneval beach for the embarkation and withdrawal. However, during the night of 27–28 February 1942, he landed on the opposite side of the valley, south of the Bruneval valley, along with his commander, 2nd Lieutenant Charteris. Guided by other aircraft and the Antifer lighthouse, Charteris and his men made their way towards their objective. Upon reaching the Bruneval Calvary, the Section came under machine-gun fire from the village and became separated. Only Hill and three others, including Lieutenant Charteris, managed to cross the road and climb to the top of the cliffs of La Poterie Cap d’Antifer. There, they met Major Frost, who ordered them to secure the beach for the extraction and return to England.

After a rapid march across the uneven terrain, Charteris’ small group was exhausted. Hill, burdened by four Bren gun magazines, was particularly fatigued. Charteris took Hill’s Lee-Enfield rifle and handed him his revolver so that Hill could continue down towards the beach. Near the Villa Stella Maris, Hill supplied a Bren gun that had run out of ammunition with his spare magazines. Once the beach was secured, the withdrawal to England could proceed successfully.

This is a short personal account of his:

‘I arrived in Hardwick in August 1941 to a rather muddy half-finished camp and being in a Scottish Regiment I was directed to ‘C’ Company, which at that stage had about twelve members. Numbers built up very quickly and we were soon in full training.At Bruneval I was in the stick dropped sane three or four miles from the dropping zone, in bright moonlight and with a covering of snow. So because of the existence of German patrols we kept to hedges where possible but still made good time. At one stage we were joined by a German soldier who sane how had lost his own patrol. As soon as he spoke there was instant reaction from the whole Section and he was shot before he could do any damage. Shortly afterwards we rejoined the Company and set about the task allocated, namely to clear the beach and cliff defences and hold them until the remainder of the force had withdrawn to the boats. The crossing to Portsmouth was very slow indeed, since the Motor Gun Boats taking us back were also towing the assault barges which had taken us from the beaches.

‘The air crews who had dropped us were waiting on the Prince Albert - the converted packet ship which carried the assault barges - to greet us, although the greeting from our Pilot was an informal “I never expected to see you lot again”.
The next day our journey back to camp was enlivened by ‘Chick' Bramwhite who had smuggled a demi-john of rum onto the truck. He tried to drink most of it himself and was still unconscious when we all went on leave three days later.
Shortly afterwards I moved to HQ Coy, with Lt. Charteris, to set up an Intelligence Section before the drop at Oudna.’ [3]

Some years later he elaborated on the night of the Bruneval Raid:

‘In the past I have read several accounts of the Bruneval Raid and none of them is quite clear in one particular detail. All have said a German had tagged on to the tail of one of our sections and was killed quietly, with a knife.

‘I was in the Section which dropped some distance from the DZ. It was a bright moonlit night with snow on the ground and in our dark camouflage jackets we were visible for some distance. As soon as we had collected our arms from the container we headed for the nearest hedge and started back to the beach. ‘Lt. Charteris led the section, Sgt Gibbins and I were the two at the tail. We walked by hedges as much as possible and while walking by one heard a German voice behind us, I suspect he was trying to catch up, thinking we were his own patrol. ‘Gibby’ and I turned about, he was carrying a Sten, and much quicker than I, with a rifle, to react, he fired immediately and the German was killed outright.'

'We reached the beach quite quickly and carried out our allotted task of taking the beach defences and holding them until the remainder of the party had withdrawn. There was another Section dropped about half a mile from the DZ and it is quite possible they bumped into another German. ‘We were told later there had been some Germans out on patrol that night.’ [4]

When he was posted to HQ-Company, to join. Lt. Charteris in setting up the Intelligence Section, he was promoted to Sergeant.

Tom does not appear on the ‘C’ Company photo taken in September 1942, as he explains: ‘Lt. Charteris and I were both transferred to H.Q. Coy before the photograph was taken.’ [5] What he does not mention is that he was on the HQ-Company photo, taken at the same time!

He then took part in Operation ‘Torch’ in North Africa, and on the 29th November 1942, he jumped at Depienne in Tunisia, but the parachute opened badly, and he hurt his leg and groin upon landing. This injury ended his parachute service.

Tom then continues as a Clerk in Battalion HQ: ‘I was injured in Africa and completed my service in an administrative job at Stoke Rochford.’ [6]

In October 1944, Sergeant ‘Tom’ Hill married Enid, with whom he had two children. He was released to the Class Z (T) Reserves on the 15th July 1946. [1]

After leaving the Army, he resumed his university studies and became a teacher of mathematics and statistics at a secondary school, later joining the Sheffield College of Technology. He retired in 1983. Tom joined the ‘Parachute 2 Club’ in January 1988, and then became a Committee member in September 1995, but with the death of the Secretary, Tom Chapman, he agreed to step in as Acting Temporary Secretary from the 12th October 1995. He was officially voted in as Honorary Secretary at the AGM the following year.

In the March 1992 Parachute 2 Club Newsletter, he wrote:

WEE WILLIE FLEMING.
I read, with great interest, Richard Scott's article on Jerry Strachan at Bruneval since I was in the platoon guarding the cliff tops whilst the remainder withdrew to the beach. However, I did not join in the activity until later since I was in the group dropped about 3 miles inland. I can confirm that ‘Wee Willie’ was indeed called Fleming - later Sgt. Fleming MM after the campaign in Africa. He was wounded quite seriously when a grenade he was carrying was hit by a bullet, but did recover after a spell in hospital.
Tom Hill.

He returned to Bruneval for the commemorations in 1992, 1997, and 2002, and was also active in fundraising for cancer research.

In 2006 – 2007 the new Parachute 2 Club made Tom a Life Vice President.
‘Tom’ Hill died on the 10th March 2014.

NOTES:
[1] The Parachute Regiment, Transfer and Enlistment Book 03, page 24.
[2] Parachute Course Reports. RAF Ringway. November 1941 and January 1942.
[3] Parachute 2 Club Newsletter. March 1996.
[4] Parachute 2 Club Newsletter. December 1999.
[5] Letter from Tom Hill to Bob Hilton. 4 August 1998.
[6] Letter from Tom Hill to Bob Hilton. 22 April 1998.

Written and researched by Robert Hilton.