113341 Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 8th Battalion Infantry
Harold (known more commonly as Lennie) was born on 1st July 1911 at 16 Southern Road, Ward End, Birmingham to parents Leonard James and Hilda Gertrude Maud Thomas (née Smith) the eldest of four sons and a daughter, his brothers being Victor, Hubert and Stanley and his sister Betty.
In the early 1920s Lennie attended King Edward’s High School for Boys, the ancient, elite secondary school in New Street, Birmingham. Following his schooling he enrolled at Birmingham University on a degree course in Modern Languages where he specialised in Spanish. He was also a member of the university’s Officer Training Corps (OTC). At some point between 1929 and 1932 Lennie studied at university in Madrid – possibly ‘La Complutense’. After he graduated, Lennie joined the Diplomatic Service and was posted to the British embassy in Santiago, Chile. His parents James and Hilda living at 204 Bradford Road, Castle Bromwich proudly rename their house ‘Santiago’ in honour of their son’s achievements.
Records show Lennie did officer training with the 165th OCTU commencing on 15th September 1939 in Dunbar, Scotland and received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on 13th January 1940. On 14th April 1940, he joined up with the 8th Battalion, B Division undertaking traffic control duties, probably due to his linguistic skills, with the 2nd Royal Warwickshire’s in the Calonne region, near Tournai, South West Belgium.
The timing of Lennie’s death between 19th and 21st May is uncertain. He was seen alive, but wounded, on 19th May. Hubert, one of Lennie’s brothers, served with Royal Army Ordnance Corps visited Calonne in 1944 and interviewed the locals. He obtained Lennie’s personal possessions but no identity tag. He was told that Lennie died in a ‘massacre of British troops on a hill’. This is consistent with him being part of a counter attack against the Germans on 21st May.
Lieutenant Colonel Baker, decided to lead a daring but risky counter-attack against the German forces which had been relentlessly shelling their base. He assembled around 50 men from HQ. The force set off for the ridge that lay between Calonne and HQ at Warnaffles Farm. Even before they reached this point, they came under heavy artillery fire and suffered many causalities. The survivors continued firing until their ammunition ran out. It was only when night fell many hours later, that these few remaining survivors were able to crawl back to HQ.
A few weeks later Lenny was reported missing, presumed dead of wounds on Casualty List No 288, missing 21st May 1940, killed at or shortly after 19th May 1940.
A letter from Sergeant Lloyd dated 10th October 1942 to Lenny’s father reads:
I am directed to inform you that a report has been received from a prisoner of war, the International Red Cross Committee at Geneva, to the effect that your son was last seen wounded near Tournai, and in the absence of any evidence since he was reported missing which would indicate that he survived, the Department has, with deep regret, reached the conclusion that he lost his life. It is consequently being recorded that 2nd Lieutenant H.L. J. Thomas, is presumed to have died of his wounds on or shortly after 19th May.
War is messy and confusing and it is frequently impossible to know exactly how somebody met their death. Original notes by Colonel Bauters support the theory that Lennie died as part of the Colonel Baker attack with his body having been found close to ten others which appeared to have been buried in initial graves where they fell:
- Harold Thomas, 2 Lt, died 19th May
- George Venables, Pte, died 20th May
- George E Rayner, Pte, died 21st May
- Arthur Wensley, 2 Lt, died 21st May
- R War – died 21st May
- Aston Elwins, L Cpl, died 21st May
- Reginald Baker, Lt Col, died 21st May
- William Bond, Pte, died 21st May
- Gerald M Batten, 2 Lt, died 21st May
- Leslie Payne, Pte, died 21st May
It is known that Lennie’s family struggled with his death, his mother never really recovering and his brother Hubert convinced that Lennie had been murdered on Monkhe’s orders. Regardless, nothing distracts from the feeling that Lennie was something more than an ordinary soldier and that he carried out intelligence operations on behalf of Colonel Baker.
Lennie’s final resting place is at Calonne Communal Cemetery, Antoing, Arrondissement de Tourne, Hainaut, Belgium, the inscription reads:
O for the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of a voice that is still!
He is also commemorated at the war memorial at The Green, Castle Bromwich as L Thomas.
References and Sources
This article is based on research by Alan Fewtrell and Terrie Knibb with information provided by Leonard Thomas’ nephew Allan Thomas.
