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Thomas, Hilary Michael Peter, son of Herbert Samuel Thomas OBE, artist, of Pinner, Middx, and Elizabeth, d. of William LeFroy Bowen of Swansea; b. 26 Jan. 1917; adm. Sept. 1930 (B); left July 1934; a designer and illustrator; enlisted RE Sept. 1939, commissioned The Buffs (Lieut.); killed in a Commando raid (Med.) 29 Jan. 1943.

Hilary Michael Peter Thomas was born in North London on the 26th of January 1917 the son of Herbert Samuel Thomas OBE, an artist, and Elizabeth Florette Gwynne (nee Bowen) Thomas of 9, St Stephens Crescent in London W.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from September 1930 to July 1934. He was a member of the 3rd Rowing VIII in 1932. On leaving school he became a designer and illustrator. He enlisted in the Royal Engineers in 1939 and attended an Officer Cadet Training Unit before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) on the 14th of September 1940.
While stationed at Malta with the 4th Battalion of his Regiment he volunteered to take part in a Commando raid on Tunis and was killed during the operation.
He is commemorated on the Medjez-el-Bab Memorial Face 14.

Teed, Denis Theodore, brother of Geoffrey Wilmot Teed (qv); b. 12 May 1907; adm. Jan. 1921 (A); left July 1923; an incorporated accountant; Cpl RAF, killed on active service 24 Feb. 1941 in a workshop accident in Singapore.

Denis Theodore Teed was born at Camberwell, Surrey on the 12th of May 1907 the second son of Harry Williamson Teed, a gas examiner for the London County Council, and Ethel Sinclair (nee Rees) Teed of 158, Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, later of 34, Brodrick Road, Balham in London.
He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from January 1921 to July 1923. On leaving school he became an incorporated accountant.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force where he rose to the rank of Corporal and was posted to Singapore. He was serving at RAF Seletar when he was killed by an electric shock in an accident at a workshop.
He is buried at Kranji War Cemetery Plot 37, Row D, Grave 3.

Taylor, Ian Birdwood van Someren, son of Richard van Someren Taylor, sales man. Schweppes Ltd, and Olivia Winn Bruce, d. of John Bruce Murray LLD DL, of Glasgow; b. 12 Jan. 1920; adm. Sept. 1933 (R); left Apr. 1936; Roy. Tank Regt 1940-1 (Lieut.); killed in action at Sidi Rezegh, Libya, 23 Nov. 1941.

Ian Birdwood van Someren Taylor was born on the 12th of January 1920 the only son of Birdwood van Someren Taylor, a sales manager for Schweppes Ltd, and Olivia Winn Bruce (nee Murray) Taylor of 87, Cromwell Road, South Kensington in London. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1933 to April 1936.
He enlisted as a Trooper in the Westminster Dragoons, Royal Armoured Corps and attended the 102nd Officer Cadet Training Unit at Sandhurst before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Armoured Corps on the 4th of May 1940. He was posted to the 8th Royal Tank Regiment.
At 8.30pm on the night of the 22nd of November 1941, the 8th Royal Tank Regiment received orders to advance to relieve the 7th Armoured Brigade support group at Sidi Rezegh. They moved off towards the west at 3.30am on the 23rd of November and opened into desert formation at 5.30am. They discovered a short time later that they were advancing in the wrong direction and found themselves in the midst of the Afrika Corps Headquarters where they came under fire from enemy armoured cars and infantry. Two Troops of tanks were ordered forward and after a short engagement they had knocked out one enemy armoured car and eight staff cars as well as capturing several German and Italian prisoners.
The advance continued on the correct line, with C Squadron protecting the left flank. At 11.30am, C Squadron received orders to go to the aid of an infantry Battalion which had been held up by enemy fire and they set off half an hour later. They attacked in two waves and by 12.30pm the infantry had taken their objective. The tanks were due to retire to the rallying point ten minutes later but were still under fire by that time and had difficulty disengaging. By 3.30pm only four of the tanks had reached the rallying point with others returning during the afternoon, some of which were badly damaged and with wounded on board.
During the night, Ian Taylor’s crew walked back into the rallying point to report that their tank had been hit in the right idler wheel during the fighting and had stopped. They continued to fire on the enemy until their guns jammed, by which time they had been hit several more times and Ian Taylor had ordered them to abandon the tank. The crew took cover in a nearby trench for a long period of time before Ian Taylor left to make contact with the infantry and was not seen again.
Casualties suffered by the 8th Royal Tank Regiment during this action were one man killed with five wounded and twenty men missing, of which four were officers.
He is buried at Knightsbridge Cemetery Plot 2, Row H, Grave 18.

Tanner, Ralph Eyre, elder son of Ralph Tanner, senior asst. master at the school, by Lucy Lawrence Le Grice, daughter of George Lewis Phipps Eyre, of Regents Park, and sister of Charles Lewis Eyre (q.v.); b. July 16, 1885; adm. Sept. 22, 1898 (G); left Dec. 1903; R.M.C. Sandhurst 1904; 2nd Lieut. the King's (Liverpool) Regt. Aug. 16, 1905; Lieut. Sept. 25, 1908; Capt. Sept. 16, 1912; went out to the western front Aug. 1914; m. June 11, 1913, Edith Vere Marjorie, youngest daughter of John Henry Brogie, of Westerham, Kent; d. in hospital at Versailles Sept. 23, 1914, of wounds received in action at the battle of the Aisne Sept. 14.

Tanner, Harold Herbert, only son of Herbert Tanner, of Paddington, surgeon, by Emily, daughter of Christopher W. Hickman, of Ambrosden, co. Oxon.; b. May 18, 1887; adm. Sept. 26, 1901 (H); left July 1903; London Univ., matric. 1903; M.B. and B.S. 1910; St. Mary's Hospital; joined the staff of the Inoculation Dept. 1912; Capt. R.A.M.C.; in charge of a ward attached to Sir Almroth Wright's research laboratory at Boulogne from Aug. 1915; m. Oct. 1915 Minnie Bennett, daughter of the Rev. George Bowden, of Kingston Hill, Surrey; drowned while bathing at Boulogne Aug. 16, 1916.

Talfourd-Jones, Paul, son of William Henry Talfourd-Jones MRCS, of Harlesden, Middx; b. 13 Mar. 1914; adm. May. 1928 (G); left July 1932; Emmanuel Coll. Camb., matric. 1933; South Wales Borderers (TA) 1938-45 (Capt.); killed on active service (Far East) 10 Oct. 1945.

Paul Talfourd-Jones was born in London on the 13th of March 1914 the only son of Dr William Henry Talfourd-Jones MRCS and Dora (nee Perkins) Talfourd-Jones of “West Point”, Craven Park, Willesden in Middlesex, later of Castle Grounds, Devizes in Wiltshire. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from May 1928 to July 1932. He was a member of the 1st Cricket XI in 1932. He matriculated for Emmanuel College, Cambridge to read Medicine in 1933, but left in 1936 and did not graduate. He boxed for Cambridge University and was awarded a Blue in 1935.
In 1938 he became an assistant sales manager for Thomas Edison Ltd of Victoria House, Southampton Row, London before joining Phoenix Ltd of Kentish Town as their sales manager in 1939. He was married at Willesden, Middlesex in 1939 to Rhoda Alice (nee Mannell) of Ebford in Devon; they had two daughters, Wendy Helen, born on the 3rd of October 1941, and Sara Hilary, born on the 23rd of October 1943.
He enlisted as a Private in the 9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (60th Searchlight Regiment) in the Territorial Army on the 20th of April 1937 and was promoted to Corporal on the 3rd of September 1939. He attended the 166th Officer Cadet Training Unit based at Douglas from the 26th of March 1940 before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the South Wales Borderers on the 17th of August 1940. He was posted to the 2nd Battalion of his Regiment on the 23rd of August 1940 and served with them until the 22nd of August 1941 when he was posted to supervise at a prisoner of war camp at Cambridge until the 16th of January 1942. On the 17th of January 1942 he was posted to the 30th Battalion of his Regiment and served with them until the 16th of February 1943. He was promoted to Lieutenant in February 1942.
On the 17th of February 1943 he applied to join the Special Operations Executive as an instructor and underwent a period of instruction until April 1943. He was then posted to Beaulieu where he was an instructor on an industrial sabotage course. He was serving at No.17 Special Training School when he was posted to No. 44 Special Training School in January 1944. He was promoted to Acting Captain on the 1st of November 1943 and to temporary Captain on the 1st of February 1944, a rank he relinquished on the 24th of July 1945. On the 1st of May 1944 he was appointed as an explosives instructor and on the 9th of June 1944 he was posted to Force 136 in Ceylon where he worked as a paramilitary and as an air supply instructor. He returned to England on the 10th of June 1945 and, on the 14th of July, he was ordered to report to the Adjutant of the Westminster Garrison at noon on the 18th of July 1945. He attended a court martial on the 26th of July 1945 where he was charged on five counts of borrowing money from subordinates and of passing post dated cheques. He was cleared of four of the charges but was convicted of the fifth. Following his trial he was sent on leave to await further orders. He was later posted to the No. 21 Holding Battalion based at Newton Camp in Powys and was dismissed from the Special Operations Executive on the 6th of October 1945.
He was killed in a civilian motor accident at Newton.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
He is buried at Devizes Cemetery Section X.S., Grave 34.

Swann, Graham Templer, son of the Rev. Arthur Henry Swann, Vicar of Christ Church, Fulham, Middlesex, by Agnes Jane, daughter of the Rev. Thomas William Graham, Vicar of St. Matthew's, Southborough, Kent; b. June 29, 1902; adm. Sept. 21, 1916 (G); left July 1921; Emman. Coll. Camb., matric. Michaelmas 1921; B.A. 1924; asst. master R.N. Coll. Dart­mouth Sept. 1924, and subsequently at Harrow; Pilot Officer (General Duties) R.A.F.V.R. July 19, 1938; transferred to A. and S.D.; Flying Officer Jan. 19, 1940; temp. Flight-Lieut.; killed on active service July 1941.

Graham Templer “Swanny” Swann was born at Southborough, Kent on the 29th of June 1902 the son of the Reverend Arthur Henry Swann, Vicar of Christ Church, Hampstead, and Agnes Jane (nee Graham) Swann of 45, High Street, Harrow-on-the-Hill in Middlesex. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Grant’s from the 21st of September 1916 to July 1921. He was appointed as a Monitor in 1920. He was a member of the 1st Cricket XI in 1921 when the Elizabethan wrote the following on his season: - “Not a polished batsman: should have confined himself to hitting simply and solely. Could bowl at a pinch; chiefly distinguished himself by energetic and, at times, brilliant out fielding.” He was awarded his School Cricket Colours in 1921. He was a member of the 2nd Football XI in 1919 and of the 1st Football XI from 1919 to 1921 where he played at inside right. The Elizabethan wrote the following on his 1920/21 season: - “Looks a good player, but never seems to do the right thing, largely due to over anxiousness. Must be more calm and collected, and must use his intelligence more for spotting openings. Has a fine burst of speed, a most useful asset.” He was awarded School Colours for Football in 1921. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1920.
He matriculated for Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1921 and was awarded a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages in 1924. He was the first civilian member of Toc H. On leaving university he was appointed as an assistant modern languages master at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and later at Harrow School. While at Harrow he accompanied boys from the Air Training Section of the Officer Training Corps to a RAF Camp.
He was awarded a Royal Aero Club Certificate (No. 10655) at Haldon Aerodrome on the 23rd of July 1932 while flying a Gypsy Moth aircraft.
He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on probation in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 19th of July 1938 and was moblisied on the outbreak of war. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 19th of January 1940 and by June 1941 he was billeted at “Sand Green”, Crossfield Avenue, Porthcawl in Glamorganshire.
Graham Swann took off from RAF Stormy Down in Battle Mk I L5001, with his pilot, Pilot Officer Eric Geoffrey Kitching, for a co-operation exercise with a local Home Guard unit which was to take place at Margam Castle, Port Talbot. At the time, he had accumulated 840 hours of total solo flying time of which 698 were on Battle aircraft. As the aircraft was making a low level turn the pilot misjudged his height and the aircraft struck a 45 foot tree and crashed 200 yards further on in a field at Eglwysnunydd Farm on the Margam estate at 10.25am where it burst into flames on impact, killing both men. The wreckage was in three large pieces which were spread over an area of 60 yards. The bodies of the two men were taken to the mortuary at RAF Stormy Down.
His brother-in-law, the Reverend G.V. Hart, received the following telegram dated the 23rd of June 1941: -“Deeply regret to inform you that your brother in law Flight Lieutenant Graham Templar Swann is reported to have lost his life as the result of an aircraft accident on June 22nd 1941. The Air Council express their profound sympathy. His mother had been informed.”
His funeral took place on the 27th of June 1941.
The Harrow School magazine, the Harrovian wrote: - “Of the many hundreds of boys who have passed through Harrow while Swanny was on the staff, there must be very few who cannot claim to have been his friends. To be in his French or German Division was often but the prelude to such a friendship and a good prelude it was. His intimate resource in keeping the subjects alive was the envy of all his Modern Languages colleagues. In many spheres of activity outside the form room he played a prominent part. He was a tireless Rugger coach – self-taught – be it added. It is typical of his enterprise, for he came from a soccer school and played his first Rugger games as a Dartmouth master. If he was missed on the cricket field, it was because he was indispensible for the Sailng Club. He shared willingly his exceptionally wide and varied interests. One would find groups of boys in his study at all hours of the day, listening to Bach or Beethoven on his gramophone, enjoying his inexhaustible fund of photographs or his War Museum. This last, by the way, was but one of his many hobbies, and one had to see him at work to realise what hobbies could mean. He took greatest pride of all in the creation of the model railway club, which, even since he left Harrow to join up, has had perhaps the largest following of any school club. If the above record fails to picture him as more than an attractive Mr. Chips, a glance at his other activities will soon dispel the illusion. A great traveller, he visited during his holidays every corner of the earth. Titles of lectures to the school and on the wireless, “£17 to India”, “With £10 across America” etc., bear witness to his venturesome spirit, which was indeed one of his most attractive facets. “The harder of two alternatives” was his guiding principle, and he had the courage to carry it through. With his colleagues he was universally popular. It was not everyone who agreed with his opinions, for his conclusions, inflexible as they were, he formed after long and deliberate thinking. But no one could fail to enjoy his quick wit and genial humour, and he was the kindest of friends. It was the spirit of adventure that led him to take up flying. After much useful work with the Air Training Section of the School O.T.C., he joined the R.A.F.V.R. shortly before the outbreak of war, and was called up when hostilities began. But he spent much of his leave at Harrow and kept many of his friendships alive; and those boys who were privileged to be his guests during A.T.C. camps at the R.A.F. station to which he was attached, will long treasure the memory of that fearless pilot who worked unstintingly on their behalf, sparing no pains to make their visit a happy one. Seldom has the war been brought more vividly to Harrow as a whole than by the news of Swanny’s death.”
The Elizabethan wrote: - “His deep sympathy and insight into the character of his pupils, his sense of humour and the high standards he set himself and others evoked the respect and affection of all among whom he worked. He was fond of adventure and a great traveller, and is said to have completed a tour of 11,000 miles in one summer holiday.”
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and on the memorial to Harrow School Masters at Harrow School.
He is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium Block D.4, Grave 343.