A Sad Anniversary - Death of a Hero

Today, my thoughts are with Sue Williams, daughter of Lieutenant Commander John Bridge, GC GM and Bar, RNVR. Bridge was the inspiration for my two WW2 novels and my current work in progress. He died on 14 December 2006 and during WW2 was the Allies’ most decorated serviceman, adding the King’s Commendation for Bravery to his medal tally to pip the Australian Hugh Syme, GC GM and Bar, RANVR for the honour.

Bridge was a school master teaching physics in Sheffield at the outbreak of WW2. Despite being a pacifist, he answered the call for volunteers to join the Royal Navy's new Rendering Mines Safe (RMS) units, established to deal with magnetic mines being dropped by parachute on cities to create terror and destruction. He was one of eight physics masters called on account of their scientific knowledge since the design of the German electronic fuzes in their mines was still a mystery to the Admiralty.

Having already won the George Medal twice, in August 1943, he was sent to Sicily to clear the harbour of Messina of some ingenious and deadly mines and depth charges. Such was the intricacy of the booby traps, all members of the previous disposal team had been killed or wounded. Even so, the pressure was on to clear the harbour for the Allied landings on the Italian mainland. In anticipation of such a requirement, Bridge had taught himself to dive and personally led his team on 28 dives to discover the new type of booby trap and clear over 200 charges in time for the main assault on Italy. One of his dives lasted 20 hours. For his valour, he was awarded the George Cross. Given that the Germans were still firing shells across the Strait of Messina during this operation, he might well have received the Victoria Cross. Such actions inspired me to write the first two books in my Death to Touch trilogy.

Nonetheless, this was not the end to Bridge's distinguished war service and heroism, and he might have won many more awards for his gallantry. In September 1944, whilst clearing unexploded mines and bombs in the port of Antwerp, he was flown urgently to Nijmegen to deal with two mines resting against the major bridge crossing the river Waal. The charges had been laid by German frogmen to delay the Operation Market Garden convoys. Another had already brought down the railway bridge. Some people considered at the time that Bridge should have been awarded the Victoria Cross here, too, for successfully rendering safe the mines since the advancing forces were under fire, or at least a bar to his George Cross, but according to Bridge, his commanding officer informed him, “I thought of recommending you for another gong, but you have had your quota.” Spoiler alert – I describe this action in the final book of my trilogy He Who Would Valiant Be, a work still in progress, and I am grateful to Sue Williams for all her assistance in providing me first-hand accounts of Bridge’s war record.