Tom Schaffer

Tom Schaffer (13th Parachute Bn) - Died in Hospital on 16 March 2024 following a stroke 12 days earlier. He was 97 years old.

Pre-war, Tom was a butcher’s boy before enlisting and doing his initial training.  Tom then volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and was accepted and joined the 13th (Lancashire) Battalion. His first military action was in the Ardennes as part of 6th Airborne, where he said it was snowy and cold. His first jump was Operation Varsity in March 1945.

Tom said "We were doing road marches and assault courses every day. They kept you busy. The Para was the best thing I ever volunteered for. Marvellous!"

He later met Russian soldiers in the Baltic and there was plenty of vodka, but every night Tom and his colleagues would round up all the women, put them in a barn and guard them overnight, for their own safety.

After VE day, Tom got one month’s leave in England and then went straight out to the far east for training. He started infiltrating Java, and headed to Semarang, where people were dying in the streets. Tom helped organise water and food, and they were missed when they left.

After it all ended, Tom went back to the Butchers shop, which was a family business in Winchmore Hill, in north London.

He was later a National Standard Bearer, for the Parachute Regiment Association, for 11 years. On 5 December 2019, Tom was presented with the Dutch Liberation Medal by Lieutenant Colonel Rob Arts who was the Dutch Military Attaché to the United Kingdom.

Paul Raison, Veterans Officer, The Parachute Regimental Association, said: "Tom Schaffer was the epitome of a veteran of the Parachute Regiment from his era. Always cheerful and larger than life, he was a pleasure to be around. He will be sadly missed by everyone that knew him or had the good fortune to have met him.”