Able Seaman Thomas Henry Neighbour was born on Christmas Day 1922. He had four brothers, including Joseph (Joe’s great grandfather) and a sister called Catherine. Thomas attended school in Islington, North London. He enjoyed football and dancing, although his sister Catherine suspected that he only went to the dancing to look after her.
Thomas never spoke about being assigned to HMS Dasher and in his last home leave his sister asked him not to go back.
On 31st March 1943 Thomas’s mother, Catherine, received a telegram which told her that Thomas had been reported missing on 27th March 1943.
27th March 1943 was the day that HMS Dasher, the Avenger-class escort carrier suffered a massive internal explosion and sank in the Firth of Clyde, between Arran and Ardrossan. The ship sank within 8 minutes and 379 of the 528 crew members lost their lives. It is one of the worst naval disasters in the history of the Royal Navy.
Almost a month from the disaster, on 23rd April 1943, Catherine received the telegram that she had been dreading. Thomas had now been presumed dead. He was only 20 years old. He is remembered at Chatham Naval Memorial in Kent which commemorates 8,514 sailors of the First World War and 10,098 from the Second World War.
There are memorials to HMS Dasher in Ardrossan and at Brodick on Arran. On the anniversary of the sinking, the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry passes over the site and lays a wreath in the sea in memory of those who were lost.
When Thomas perished he left behind a grieving family and a loving sweetheart. Thomas’s mother never looked forward to Christmas Day and celebrated on Boxing Day instead.