Lance Corporal Thomas Bryan, V.C.
Northumberland Fusiliers, 25th Service Battalion, Service no. 22040
Background
Thomas Bryan was born in Lye, near Stourbridge, Worcestershire on the 21st of January 1882. As an infant, he moved with his family to Castleford after his father started working at Whitwood Colliery for Henry Briggs & Company. Thomas was educated at the Potteries Council School, started working at the pit with his father, and married Sarah Smart on the 26th of December 1903 in Castleford. They had five children, two boys and three girls, but sadly one of the girls died at the age of 23 months. Thomas was also well-known as a Rugby player for Castleford Northern Rugby Union.
Army Days
Thomas enlisted into the Army in April 1915, in Castleford. Eight months later he was drafted into service in France. In the summer of 1916, Thomas fractured his ankle and had to be sent home to recover. He returned to France in December 1916, where he was drafted into another service battalion. In March 1917 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, and it was his actions during the events of the following month which would lead to him being awarded the VC.
The Battle of Arras
The Battle of Arras was a British offensive during the First World War, lasting from the 9th of April to the 16th of May 1917. A strategic success, it involved troops from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Newfoundland. Casualties numbered 158,000 on the allied side, while German casualties totalled 120,000 to 130,000.
Above Left: Battle of Arras, April 1917 Above Right: Battle of Arras, May 1917
An Act of Heroism
On the 9th of April 1917, Thomas’s actions lead to his award of the Victoria Cross. The Citation of Deed reads: “For most conspicuous bravery during an attack. Although wounded, this Non-commissioned Officer went forward alone, with a view to silencing a machine gun which was inflicting much damage. He worked up most skilfully along a communication trench, approached the gun from behind, disabled it and killed two of the team as they were abandoning the gun. As this machine gun had been a serious obstacle in the advance of the second objective, the results obtained by Lance-corporal Bryan’s gallant action were very far-reaching.”
Recovering in hospital, Thomas recounted: “On that glorious day, our lads were held up by a machine gun, which was so well hidden we couldn’t check its deadly work. I therefore made up my mind to put a stop to its activities, so creeping over the top, I went from shell hole to shell hole in “No Man’s Land”. I crept into a communications trench, which was held by the enemy, where I came across three Germans. This was at six o’clock in the morning. These men were so surprised that they surrendered without showing any fight, and two of them presented me with their watches. I thereupon sent them down to the base with some of my men. I then went forward again, along with Sergeant Major Foster, of the Fifth, and ran across a German officer, who was also delighted. Not many minutes afterwards I surprised another Hun, who gave up his arms as meekly as a lamb. An hour later I was still prowling round, trying to fix the German machine-gun team, but was unable to spot it. Whilst working my way along, I was spotted by one of the enemy, who, letting drive, caught me in the right arm. Following this bit of hard luck, I decided to try rapid fire on the place where I thought the machine-gun was placed, and on this being carried out, we found to our glee that the gun which had been spitting forth its fire of death, barked no more. Two of the gun team tried to get away under our rapid fire, but I shot both of them. I stayed with my comrades until half past one mid-day, after which I left to have my wound dressed. With the machine-gun and its gunners destroyed, it was now an easy matter for our boys to advance.”
VC Presentation
In front of a crowd of more than 40,000, His Majesty King George V presented Thomas Bryan with the Victoria Cross on the 17th June 1917, at St James’s Park, Newcastle.
His citation at the event was read out by Major General Montgomery. Later in June 1917, Thomas was admitted to Alnwick Hospital for treatment on his wounded arm, and he moved to 29 Hunt Street, Castleford. On 27th July 1917 he was given a civic reception by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, at the Empire Theatre, and was awarded war loans, a clock, and a wallet of treasury notes. On 29th July 1918, Thomas was recuperating at the Norfolk War Hospital, and was on an evening stroll, when he witnessed three year-old Phyllis Richardson fall unnoticed by her parents into the river at Thorpe, Norwich, whilst playing. Despite his injuries, Thomas entered the river, and with great difficulty found Phyllis, who was unconscious, brought her back to the river bank, and performed first aid to resuscitate her. Phyllis survived and lived until 1995, passing away aged 80.
Life after the Army
Thomas Bryan was discharged from the Army on the 16th Sept 1918, due to his injuries. In 1920 he attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace, for recipients of the VC, and also attended the dedication ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, and the burial of the Unknown Soldier at Westminster Abbey on 11th November.
Thomas Bryan returned to the mines of Castleford after the war, and in 1934 moved to Doncaster where he worked at Askern Colliery. Coal Mining though was not the best occupation for Thomas, as he suffered ill health due to his war wounds and the effects of being gassed in the trenches, and after spending six weeks recovering in a sanatorium, he left mining, and ran a greengrocer’s shop in Bentley. He died at his home at 44 Askern Road, Bentley on the 13th of October 1945. He was buried at Arksey Cemetery on the 17th of October with full military honours.
Memorials
The grave of Thomas Bryan can be found in section J of Arksey Cemetery, number 237. The grave has a Commonwealth Graves Commission headstone, engraved with a Victoria Cross. There are also three memorials to Thomas Bryan in Castleford which include a memorial plaque at Castleford Civic Centre, a street named Bryan Close, and on a memorial erected to 150 Castleford men honoured for their actions in the Great War.
Thomas Bryan’s Victoria Cross and other medals were sold on 25th July 1989 at Christies for £9,800. They were auctioned again privately on the 26th June 2000 for £60,000. They are now on show in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery of the Imperial War Museum, London.
Kippax Roll of Honour 