Thomas “Tom” Briggs (1908-2000) M.C. [4617601, Second-Lieutenant, 2/7th Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment]

[Dave Pattern]

• born 27 July 1908 at Bolton (Q3 1908 Bolton, Lancashire née Greenhalgh)
• son of John Harold Briggs & Clara (née Greenhalgh)
• married Mabel Winifred Annie Taylor (sister of Lt.-Col. George Taylor)  in 1945 (Q2 1945 Upper Agbrigg)
  • David Briggs (b 1946)
  • James R. Briggs (b 1948)
• died in the Huddersfield area

Records:

• 1921 Census (FindMyPast) – 45 Albert Road, Bolton, Lancashire (father: “managing director cotton mill”)
• 1939 Register (FindMyPast) – 52 Woodhouse Hill, Huddersfield (“solicitor”)

Notes:

• awarded Military Cross in October 1945

Articles:

• Huddersfield Examiner (07/Sep/1940) – Local Soldiers Now Reported Prisoners
• Huddersfield Examiner (13/Oct/1945) -Army Awards to Local Men
• Huddersfield Examiner (20/Oct/1945) – Army Awards to Local Men
• Huddersfield Examiner (04/Mar/1950) – Huddersfield Solicitor Tells Dramatic Story of German Intrigue

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Huddersfield Daily Examiner (16/Nov/1950):

Ex-P.O.W. Tells of Peace Plot

A dramatic story of how, while a prisoner of war in Germany, he was involved in a plot to negotiate a peace treaty between Germany and Britain during the recent war was told by Mr. Tom Briggs, a Huddersfield solicitor, at a meeting of the Huddersfield Conservative Association men’s central branch at Sergeantson Street last night.

After being a P.O.W. for four years he was taken on a secret trip to a large house in the suburbs of Berlin, where he was told by a German officer that a number of German officials were in sympathy with improving rela- tions between the Germans and the British.

He was told of a plan by which certain Germans aimed to over- throw the Nazi regime and negotiate a peace treaty with Britain. Mr. Briggs told how his part in the plot was to drop by parachute into Switzerland with an important German official. He was to be the con- tact with the British authorities. However, the Allied invasion of Germany put an end to the plot.

Mr. R. C. Hirst (chairman of the men’s central branch) presided.

Huddersfield Examiner (19/May/1951) -Town and District News:

“Frustrated Journey” was the title which Mr. Tom Briggs, Huddersfield solicitor and ex-prisoner- of-war, gave to the talk of his unusual experiences in camps in Germany, when he spoke members of the Huddersfield Inner Wheel.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (03/Mar/1954):

He Worked With The Anti-Nazis

A former Duke of Wellington’s officer, Mr. Tom Briggs, of Huddersfield, gave members of Huddersfield Business and Professional Women’s Club last night an interesting and at times a thrilling account of his adventures while a prisoner of war in German hands during the last war.

Mr. Briggs – Lt. Briggs during the war – was taken prisoner in the retreat of the B.E.F. at St. Valery. He was in fifteen different prisoner-of-war camps before he was liberated by Gen. Patton’s forces at Moosburg, Austria.

He told his audience of how, because he undertook correspondence for a fellow-prisoner with relatives in the Diplomatic Service, the Germans came to believe that he was a British Intelligence Officer, and how, later, he became closely associated with some of the conspirators in the plot on Hitler’s life.

Before the Munich plot failed Lt. Briggs was asked if he would agree to be parachuted back into England, accompanied by an important German, in the hope of procuring an armistice.

The downfall of the plot, however, upset the plans, and several anti-Nazi German officers with whom Lt. Briggs had had secret meetings – one of them in a Berlin air-raid shelter during an R.A.F. 1,000-bomber raid – were involved in the subsequent purge.

Mr. Briggs said that he had no fears of German rearmament. “I can say from first-hand experience during the war that here are some very good Germans, and they would make very good allies.”

Miss H. Lodge (president) presided and Mrs. H. M. Aitken thanked the speaker.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner (18/Nov/1954) – Ex-Officer Talks to Bookmen:

Ex-Officer Talks To Bookmen

“There were good Germans throughout the whole war. If there is any question of arming the Germans and making them our allies, I for one will be strongly in favour of it.”

So said Mr. Tom Briggs, who, in the Public Library last night, gave a lecture to the Huddersfield branch of the Association of Yorkshire Bookmen entitled “A Frustrated Journey.”

Mr. Briggs, a Huddersfield solicitor, who, as an officer of the 2/7 Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, was taken prisoner early in the war, had an amazing story to tell of his prison camp and parole experiences and how he found himself involved in what turned out to be a German anti-Nazi plot.

PLOT AGAINST HITLER

Mr. Briggs said that eventually he realised that this plot was intermingled with the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.

The “frustrated journey” was a journey planned to Gen. Patton at the time of his march across Southern Germany.

The lecturer told of the days of liberation and of the scenes which ended the war in Germany.

His address was characterised by a great deal of humour and some facile descriptions of characters he met, whether British, German, or of other nationalities.

Col. J. T. C. Broadbent (president) was in the chair.

The Iron Duke (issue 242 spring 2000 PDF):

Obituaries

Captain Tom Briggs, MC, DL, LLB

Tom Briggs who died in January this year, at the age of 91, was a pre-war Territorial in the 2/7th Battalion of the Regiment. He was commissioned in the Field from Sergeant in 1940 (necessitating a judicious exchange of badges of rank behind a haystack as the Germans closed in!) before he was captured at St Valery when the 51st Highland Division under General Victor Fortune was forced to surrender. Tom was one of the 97 PoW from the 2/7th, along with Colonel George Taylor, the CO, later to be his brother-in-law, who were marched away to spend five years in captivity. Much later, in 1943, Tom was awarded the MC in recognition of his bravery during the severe and desperate fighting which preceded the surrender at St Valery.

Tom never spoke much about his time as a PoW but in 1950 he did give an illuminating talk to the Huddersfield Rotary Club in which he revealed, for the first time, the dramatic story of how, while a PoW, he was involved in a plot to negotiate a peace treaty between Germany and Britain, which was coupled with an attempt on Hitler’s life. At the instigation of a high-ranking German officer Tom was taken on secret trips (once to Berlin) when plans were discussed to transport Tom, either by parachute drop or through Switzerland, to Britain to engage in talks, so the Germans hoped, with Winston Churchill. In the event, the failed attempt on Hitler’s life and the end of the war put paid to these plans. Tom wrote an outline, albeit incomplete, draft of a book about these and other experiences of his five years in captivity and a copy is now held in the Regimental Archives.

After the war Tom gave great service to the Regiment as Honorary Solicitor to both the Regiment and the 2/7th Battalion and he was also a Regimental Trustee, where his wise advice on the Stock Market and his subsequent guidance ensured that the regimental funds were re-invested most successfully to produce both the necessary income and growth. In fact, the Trustees of the fifties, through to the eighties, were reinforced by Colonels George Taylor and Gilbert Howcroft who, along with Tom, were influential West Riding businessmen. For sure, the Regiment’s Colonels and its Trustees were well served by these three Territorial officers during some financially critical years.

Born in Bolton in 1908, Tom became the youngest member of the Manchester Cotton Exchange at the age of 16 and at 20 he was made a director of the family textile business. But, at 25, the Depression brought the family business to its end leaving the family with virtually nothing. Tom had to start again – this time as an office junior – working as an articled clerk in a solicitor’s office in Huddersfield and also working at night school to obtain an Honours Degree in Law from Leeds University. On his return in 1945 he took up his practice as a solicitor but also, again with George Taylor, a derelict mill was bought which is now Whitley Willows. From here a thriving business in textiles and, later, carpets was built up, while at the same time Tom’s solicitor’s practice grew, as he clearly had a most comprehensive grasp of the business of manufacturing and the appropriate company law.

Before the war he had become engaged to Winnifred Taylor and on his return after the war they were married. For two years during the war Winnifred was not to know whether Tom was alive or dead. She pre-deceased him and they leave two sons, David and Richard.

Tom was a great believer in the importance of youth and he devoted much time to the Central Lads’ Brunswick Club in Huddersfield while also being a committee member of both the National and Yorkshire Associations of Boys’ Clubs. He was very proud to be appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the West Riding.

This then, all too briefly, was Tom Briggs, a man of great faith and one of the most distinguished and bravest servants of the Regiment. Above all, we remember a sincere man of immense courtesy, dedication and friendliness; a man who always gave generously of his time for everyone.

His funeral took place at Kirkheaton Parish Church on 14 January, 2000 and was attended by General Sir Charles Huxtable, representing the Colonel, and by many other members of the Regiment.

– D.E.I.

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