A former D-Day veteran, 93-year-old Tom Ellis of Conway Road, Falmouth has quietly slipped his anchor and sailed on the morning tide after a brief illness.

Born in the small village of Aston near Sheffield, Tom joined the navy in 1941. He was drafted to HMS Kingston Turquoise; an armed steam trawler attached to the Royal Naval Patrol Service known as Harry Tate’s Navy. This name was given by the Royal Navy to poke fun at the trawlers and drifters of the unit in WWII.

On D-Day June 6th 1944 Tom saw in action off the Normandy beaches aboard  minesweeper BYMS 2041, part of the 165th BYMS Flotilla which was assigned to Minesweeping Force S.  This fleet carried out minesweeping duties and support to SWORD beach during the D-Day campaign.

In April 1945 Tom was mentioned in dispatches for his great gallantry and endurance for the role he played when Royal Navy minesweepers cleared the Scheldt estuary of of mines during the period of October to November 1944.

Tom and his family moved to Falmouth after the war.  Whilst working on the construction of the Queen Elizabeth dry-dock in 1959 Tom managed to get a job as an ordinary seaman with the MFV’s operating out of the submarine pier with the Torpedo Trails Unit, which eventually became the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment.

In 1977 Tom eventually became mate in charge of the fleet tenders Heaver, Headcorn and Clovelly based at Falmouth Wharves.

Tom leaves his wife Betty of 68 years and four children Roger, Norman, Elizabeth and Sally.