Tommy Shields: ‘Hollywood producer could not have invented’ Larne man’s story - now the subject of a book

Tommy Shields, who later served in Korea and Suez, kept a diary of his Second World War experience and it forms the basis of the new publication by author and historian John Henderson.

'Shipwrecks, sausages and survival: the wartime journey of Able Seaman Tommy Shields’ is a story of courage and endurance lightened with humour and a hint of romance.

John, a retired librarian, explained the book about Tommy, who died in 2005, has been a number of years in the planning.

“My interest was aroused when around 1990 Tommy Shields's daughter, an old friend, told me that her father had been a prisoner of war in Germany in the 1940s and had kept a diary. I advised she allow me to make copies of the diary and lend a copy if necessary,” he said.

"I made two copies and kept one myself. This copy went into my office and was only re-discovered when I moved back to Northern Ireland from England in 2020. With restrictions on movement and social activities I decided to pass the time transcribing the diary and an accompanying notebook.

"I was enthralled by the tale that emerged. It had everything: ships sinking while guns blazed, near death experiences, boat chases in Crete, Luftwaffe bombardments, survivors afloat in a dinghy for days before landfall, hiding out in mountains with Greek shepherds, wounding before capture, then daring escape attempts, comical escape disasters, prisoner deprivations and perks, escape in stolen vehicle, hitchhike across Europe while the war went on around him.

"It even had a romantic tale that survived the war itself! Further research revealed post-war echoes of these events, the past haunting Tommy's later life and him finally embracing it. A Hollywood producer could not have invented this story.”

A Royal Navy reservist and merchant seaman, elements of Tommy’s story have been told before in the Larne Times: when he was shipwrecked on HMS Gurkha in the North Sea in 1940 and when he captured by the Germans in the Battle of Crete in 1941. Years later when Tommy returned to live in Larne, he was interviewed by the Larne Times on two different occasions.

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With degrees in history and creative writing and a career that included working for the British Museum, John brings a wealth of knowledge to bear on this account of Tommy’s life. The book is further enhanced by the author’s attention to detail as employed in previous publications including 'Tortington in the Great War', which is a study of the impact of conflict on a Sussex village.

Asked had his research thrown up anything surprising, the Co Down-based author responded: “All of the feats for me stand out as he had a knack of being in the thick of it at every turn and not even his tendency to understatement could render his war uneventful.

“The biggest surprise to me - apart from a POW having a German girlfriend outside the camp - was that he survived, physically and mentally, the Second World War!”

Published by Cockleshell Press, 'Shipwrecks, sausages and survival: the wartime journey of Able Seaman Tommy Shields' by John Henderson is available on Amazon.