256366 Gnr. Thomas William Murray British Army 27th LAA Regiment Royal Artillery from:Islington, London Tom Murray was called for War Service in October 1939 and served in various artillery units from Oct 1939 to 1943. He was then recalled from Military service to civilian occupation as a specialized wood machinist (he had worked at Andersons) and built gliders for the invasion of Europe.
He was recalled again to military service in early 1944 he took part in the D Day landings as a driver in the 27th LAA Regiment, Royal Artillery.
They were equipped with self propelled bofors anti aircraft guns mounted on Dodge trucks and were used in a dual role as Anti Aircraft and Anti tank defence.
In the Anti tank role they were at the spear head of 30 Corps, leading to him being among the first 400 British troops to enter Brussels, liberating the Belgium Capital from the German forces for which he received a special medallion from the Belgian Government.
Later he was sent as a scout on scout patrol in the anti tank to investigate a report of a German Army camp. This turned out to be the concentration camp known as Belsen. Belsen was one of the worst of the extermination camps during the Nazi regime. Tom and the rest of his crew and support crew were the first to liberate the Belsen Camp.
Tom (my Grandad)finally returned to the UK and demobbed in 1946 returning to work at Andersons in Islington until his retirement in 1978.
He passed away in June, 1995 two years after his wife Elsie. Tom and Elsie only had one son who also went on to join the Royal Artillery.
All of Thomas' medals and army photos are proudly displayed in my home.
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