Third Engineer Officer Thomas Sear

Third Engineer Officer Thomas James Sear, Merchant Navy. He was lost at sea aboard the M.V. “Diala ” on 15th January 1942, aged 25. He was the son of Thomas and Emma Sear of Racecourse House, Kelso and is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London. The ” Diala ” was a tanker of 8,106 tons built in Germany in 1938. She was torpedoed on 15th January 1942 by U-553. The bow was blown off and the vessel abandoned but remained afloat. 48 crew and 9 Gunners were lost with 9 survivors rescued. The other lifeboats were never found.  Later attempts to tow the ship were unsuccessful and she was later sunk by U-557 in March. Both U-Boats were later sunk with all hands.

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