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| Thomas Peirson Frank. (Elliott & Fry, Public domain) |
During World War II, especially during The Blitz, London was heavily bombed.
Bombers flew along the River Thames, dropping bombs on the dockyards and industrial sites, before moving towards the City itself, using Tower Bridge as a point of reference.
Because London is a low-lying city the River Thames embankments were targeted, too, in the hopes of flooding some of the area.
However, they didn't know about Thomas Peirson Frank.
Thomas Peirson Frank was born into a farming family in Yorkshire, in 1881. He was educated at Pickering Grammar School and Huddersfield Technical College, before gaining three years of practical experience training under Huddersfield borough engineer, K.P. Campbell.
Over the next few years he gained further experience in general construction, the laying of sewers and water mains, maintenance of roads and tramways and much more.
In 1908, he became the city engineer for Ripon. During the four years that he worked here he was responsible for extending the sewage disposal works and also the construction of two river dams.
He then spent between three or four years in various roles in Cardiff, Liverpool, Plymouth and Stockton-on-Tees. In Cardiff he acted as a surveyor and performed a similar role in Liverpool. While in Plymouth he was responsible for construction work, which included roads and sewers for a housing scheme. In Stockton-on-Tees he was the borough engineer. During his time in Liverpool he also lectured at Liverpool University.
In 1915, Thomas joined the Royal Engineers, being commissioned in 1916 and posted to France to join the 237th Field Company.
In April 1917, he was given command of the 198th Land Drainage Company. Unfortunately, in August of 1917, he was wounded. On leaving hospital he lectured at the School of Instruction.
In 1918, with the rank of Captain, he was released from service.
In 1930, Sir Thomas was selected for the post of city engineer and county surveyor at the London County Council. Over the next nine years he oversaw the building of a new bridge in Wandsworth, the demolition of the old Waterloo Bridge and the construction of a new one, the widening of Putney Bridge and oversaw improvements in drainage and sewage installations.
From 1939-1945 he was the co-ordinating officer for Road Repairs and Public Utility Services for the London area. He drew up plans, for London County Council, called 'Thames Flood Prevention and Emergency Repair Plans'. He organised and put into action 'rapid response' teams who repaired 122 breaches in the Thames wall, during World War II, thus preventing large areas of London from being flooded. His work, and that of those who worked with him, was kept secret from the public to protect "the public's morale", until after the war.
In 1942, he was knighted for his direction of the repair services that enabled London to carry on, in spite of the severest air raids.
In 1946, Sir Thomas retired from the London County Council and joined the Westminster consulting engineers firm of Coode, Vaughan-Lee and Gwyther as a partner.
Sir Thomas Peirson Frank died on November 12, 1951, in London.
In 2014, a commemorative plaque, funded by the Institution of Civil Engineers, was unveiled. It is located on a section of the River Thames embankment wall, in Victoria Tower Gardens, close to where he organised repairs to bomb damage.
