The Search: The true story of a D-Day survivor, an unlikely friendship, and a lost shipwreck off Normandy

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Online Seminars: The Rural Museums Network – Museum Development North West on Subscriptions – Join RMN! A strong chain hung from the top, and a noose of hemp was threaded through a hole in the upright. The attorney and the great doctors arrived first, and seated themselves in state nearby. The prisoner was brought in and a final appeal was made that he should recant. John Henry Phillips grew up in Suffolk where he developed passion for digging up the past. (Image: Courtesy John Henry Phillips)

John Henry Phillips learnt to dive to make his documentary about finding the sunken landing craft. (Image: Go Button Media)

Then, early in the month of October 1536, William Tyndale was led out of the castle toward the southern gate of the town. The sun had barely risen above the horizon when he arrived at the open space, and looked out over the crowd of onlookers eagerly jostling for a good view. A circle of stakes enclosed the place of execution, and in the center was a large pillar of wood in the form of a cross and as tall as a man. However, Phillips had another side to his character that now came to deter him. Entrusted with a large sum of money by his father to pay to someone in London, Henry reached the big city and gambled away his trust.

The outcome was beyond expectation. My first breakthrough came with a response from the boxing sensation, Amir Khan. That first engagement was the cornerstone of a lasting friendship and professional relationship, exemplifying the power of the right connection. Amir wasn’t just a client; he became a friend and a window to the world of combat sports celebrity styling. Fast forward to 2023, and The Handbook remains an integral part of my entrepreneurial toolkit, this time for my talent management venture, THE SOCIAL CHAMP LTD. It’s been a decade-long partnership that has seen my brand and business flourish through invaluable celebrity collaborations. In the autumn of 2021, the Rural Museums Network went online once more with a new Seminar Series – tailoring contemporary thinking and practice to those who work with rural life collections, providing practical suggestions and support. The Search is part of National Maritime Museum Cornwall’s Lecture Series. Other lectures in the series include: Second, he maintained that to believe in the forgiveness of sins, and to embrace the mercy offered in the gospel, was enough for salvation.Letters of indignant complaint poured into the court at Brussels. Letters also began to arrive at the court of King Henry. And behind all this action was the never-tiring hand of faithful Thomas Poyntz. But it was a forlorn hope. Emperor Charles V was making up for lost time by turning upon the Lutherans with a vengeance, and Henry VIII, having toppled the pope over the cliffs of England, was anxious to prove he was still a loyal Roman Catholic and certainly no heretic. Just to demonstrate his point, 14 Dutch Anabaptists were sent to the stake in England within a few days of Tyndale’s arrest. What his movements were immediately after that we cannot be sure, but three years later, in the winter of 1536–37, he wrote from the Continent a series of long, penitent letters home, expressing his terrible poverty and the fact that his dire straits would soon end his life in abject misery unless his parents held out a hand of forgiveness and assistance. He was by then being branded as a traitor and rebel, and had found himself pursued by government agents and without a friend in the world.

Within a few days Henry Phillips had gone. He had learned enough from his new friends to know that it would be useless to work through the merchants or officers of Antwerp; a warning would almost certainly reach Tyndale before he could be seized. Here, in his solitary darkness, Tyndale waited for the end. The merchants, with all their power at Antwerp, were powerless here, and few would risk their livelihood to try to save him. His work that remained undone could never be completed. Tyndale knew he had “finished the course.” We may never know the identity of the powerful dignitary who so successfully used Phillips as his front man in the arrest of Tyndale, but the prime suspicion rests upon John Stokesley. His hatred of the reformers was venomous, and he boasted of the number of heretics he had killed. Beside Stokesley, even Thomas More appeared gentle. He was right in this. Antwerp was full of eyes, ears and mouths. As early as April of that year the Imperial attorney in Brussels had issued a warrant for the arrest of the three leaders of English reform: Tyndale, Joye and Dr. Barnes. This warrant was passed to the leaders at the Bergen in case one of the wanted men should visit the great trade fair held in that town in April. A helpful note forewarned the Antwerp merchants of all these official communications.The letter is typical of Tyndale; there is no cringing flattery, no frantic plea for mercy, no long and tedious defense or protests of loyalty, faithful service, humble obedience and so on, all of which is so familiar in letters from 16th-century condemned cells. Tyndale asks for his needs, determines to go on with his study, longs only for the salvation of his captors, and is ready for whatever God’s sovereign purpose may be. Whether his request was granted cannot yet be told. Piles of brushwood and logs were heaped around him. The executioner came up behind the stake and with all his force snapped down upon the noose. Within seconds Tyndale was strangled. I found many years ago, the book, “In Harms Way” about the sinking and story of the USS Indianapolis. It gave such detail to what actually happened and I passed my copy around to others. This is a part of WWII that I’m not as familiar with. I had read “Omaha Beach” maybe 10 years ago about where the US landed during D-Day but nothing on Britains specific roles at Normandy. For the opening session, the Rural Museums Network brought together a panel of experts who were passionate about the representation of Gypsy, Roma and Travelling communities in our rural histories. Jeremy Harte, John Henry Phillips, and Georgina Stevens discussed how and why GRT histories have a place in our museums, as well as who we should be working with to make these stories accessible to all.

Third, he averred that human traditions cannot bind the conscience, except where their neglect might occasion scandal. I enjoy reading history, continually learning more and more from days gone by. I saw this book about the search for a boat sunk off the beaches of Normandy in 1944. I normally plow through a book but this one had me reading it over a couple weeks. The author, this young man, has tremendous feelings and cries throughout with the last couple of chapters being full of his mental struggles, trying to move on after this undertaking. At times, I felt it could have ended a bit earlier or perhaps edited down a bit. Henry Phillips arrived in Antwerp during the early summer of 1535. He came from a wealthy and therefore notable English family, and his father, Richard, had been three times a member of parliament and twice high sheriff. In addition, Richard Phillips held the lucrative post of Comptroller of the Customs in Poole Harbor.Unsuspecting, the reformer felt attracted to the easy manner and eloquent speech of the young student lawyer, and before long he invited him to the Poyntzes’ home. There he dined, admired Tyndale’s small library, warmly commended his labors, and talked easily of the affairs in England and the need for reform. He even stayed overnight. He knew his trial would be little more than a formality; but during that event he might have opportunity for speaking of his Savior, and thus he must prepare his defense well. In addition, he continued with the work so close to his heart, his writing and translation. The book is an easy read and moves along but is full of emotion and tears. It tells of a relationship between a young man and the last surviving member of a specific British ship and their hope to find the ship and memorialize it in some way, to tell its story. Phillips threw himself into the company of the English merchants, and by his silver tongue and golden hand won the confidence of all except Thomas Poyntz, the man who gave Tyndale safe lodging in Antwerp. It was not long before Tyndale, who was frequently invited to dine with the merchants, found himself in the same company, and Henry Phillips had come face to face with his prey.