Career
On the night of an enemy submarine was reported 70 miles (110 km) north of Portuguese Said. The Her Majesty Destroyers Pakenham, Petard, Dulverton, Hero, and Hurworth were ordered to proceed from Alexandria to relieve the HMS Echo who had been searching for the submarine (which was German U-boat U-559). HMS Petard, assisted by Wellesley aircraft of the Number.
47 Squadron, located the u-boat and attacked the submarine with depth charges for nearly ten hours and finally forced the stricken boat to the surface at around 1040pm.
The U-boat was caught in Petard "s search-lights,and the German crew, with Captain Hans Heidtmann, were taken on board under guard, but not before they had opened seavalves and petcocks in order to scuttle the submarine before abandoning lieutenant HMS Petard"s now sought volunteers to swim over and search the damaged submarine.
Lieutenant Francis Fasson Registered Nurse said that he would go aboard. He stripped off his clothes and jumped into the cold sea.
Colin Grazier also volunteered and followed him across.
The two men were then joined by 16-year-old NAAFI canteen assistant Tommy Brown, and they began the task of searching the rapidly sinking u-boat for any vital documents, code books or machinery. The two senior men, Fasson and Grazier, entered the submarine and passed all the information they could get their hands on to Brown who was waiting on the conning tower. Suddenly the submarine lurched and slipped beneath the waves, taking Grazier and Fasson with lieutenant
Their daring mission though remained a secret for over 30 years due to the Official Secrets Acting.
The awards were published in the London Gazette on 14 September 1943. Able Seaman Colin Grazier, P/SSX.25550 - for outstanding bravery and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of danger.
In Grazier"s home town of Tamworth there is a Hotel named after him, which contains a gallery of photographs, and an Avenue, and an office block named after Colin Grazier. In October 2002, a commemorative sculpture was unveiled in Tamworth to honour Grazier and his two colleagues involved in the capture of documents from U-559.
The sculpture, the work of Polish sculptor Walenty Pytel, takes the form of three anchors, and the date of the unveiling was chosen to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the action against U-559.