When we enter 2026 and the holidays are behind us, I am continuing to make the assumption that both Some Mother’s Son’s and Tommy Jones’ stories will begin to reach a wider audience. My assumption is based on Locate International’s involvement in the past two months, and their plans to try and help identify Some Mother’s Son, and to try and help locate Tommy’s remains.
Put simply, we are trying to identify Some Mother’s Son, the gentleman found at Trethill Ciff, Tregantle on 22nd January 1982 and who was buried in Horson Cemetery on 24th October 1983. He is thought to have been British, in the merchant navy, and between shipping jobs around the Plymouth, UK area. The gentleman was thought to have been between 25 and 30 years old at the time of his death and that he died around 1978. It is thought he died of natural causes. He was found buried in undergrowth in a farmer’s field. In both early and late 1978 there were some very cold spells in the Southwest of England. Speculation might suggest that this cold could have resulted in his death.
And as for Tommy Jones’ story as we know it so far. Tommy’s name was put forward because of trying to identify Some Mother’s Son. Differences in circumstances led us to quickly find out that these were two different people, and that Tommy was actually Thomas P Jones who was born in Yeovil, Somerset on the 8th September 1956. Tommy was a chef in the merchant navy and went overboard the SS Northern Star on 14th June 1975, aged 18 years old at the time.
Tommy had completed a number of cruises in his short career, four to South Africa and back, a cruise to New York on the QE2, and what was to be his last cruise on the Northern Star before he was to leave the merchant navy, and set up a restaurant of his own back in the UK.
This last cruise, which set out from Southampton on the 4th June, went South towards the Gibraltar area and returned to Southampton on the 15th June. Tommy reportedly had a very difficult time on this cruise. The work was particularly hard for him, and his emotions and mental state took a heavy toll. More details will come out as Tommy’s story is shared and I think it is a good idea to tell the story as I see it at the moment. Tommy sent a letter to his parents on the 11th June from a stopover in Portugal. The letter stated, “Dear Parents, SOS, meet me at Southampton 15.06.75. Love Tom”.
Tommy visited the ships doctor on the 13th June when he complained of being depressed and unable to cope. Tommy also said that he was drinking too much. The doctor advised him to seek psychiatric help from his GP on reaching Southampton and prescribed him some antidepressants in the meantime. The doctor noted that during his examination Tommy was not showing any expressions of suicidal thoughts or actions.
On the 14th June, according to a witness’ statement, Tommy was seen by a member of the crew, running fast towards the stern of the Northern Star. This same crew member then reported hearing a loud splash, and on looking over the stern of the boat, saw Tommy in the water. In this crew member’s statement, he did not say he saw Tommy jumping into the water.
In the ships log it is reported that this same crew member personally saw Tommy jumping into the water. (There is a discrepancy here).
The Northern Star and several other ships searched for four hours, until dark, to try and find Tommy, then continued to dock at Southampton just hours later on the 15th June. Tommy's parents received his SOS letter on 16th June.
The findings of the enquiry, (27.06.1975) state: nature of occurrence from which death arose-Lost at sea believed killed or drowned.
(If the enquiry believed Tommy had voluntarily jumped over the side of the ship, why, in the findings, is there mention of possible killing?)
I have no desire to speculate about how or why Tommy ended up in the water, but further investigations could help enormously in allowing Tommy’s family to try and better understand what happened in the last ten days of Tommy’s life, and that if he did voluntarily jump overboard, then why did he do so when so close to home.
Making sure Tommy is officially recorded as missing is of primary concern at the moment, then actions can be made to see how possible it may be to find Tommy’s remains. And alongside these actions, investigations can be made to try and ascertain how and why Tommy ended up in the water, just hours before the ship was due to dock in Southampton. In my opinion Tommy’s family deserves our attention.
The Plymouth/Roscoff Brittany ferry goes within about 16 miles of the spot where Tommy entered the water. I emailed Brittany Ferries to see if they would be willing to make a slight detour, perhaps in the spring, so that Tommy’s family could visit the exact spot he entered the water. I got a reply, and the e mail has been passed on to their planning department. Similarly, I have e mailed Leonardo Helicopters of Yeovil to see if they would consider helping organise a helicopter trip to the same spot. I await a reply from them.
Having read the Ouest France newspaper article that came out last week about Tommy, the French charity Avane contacted me, on Christmas Day. They are presently displaying the details of 485 French cold cases on their website and they have asked for Tommy’s details to see if they can help him too.
2026 is just around the corner.