Obituary: V/O Tom Bloore, MVS & RNXS, Ret’d.

The death on the 18th May of Tom Bloore marks the passing of a founder member of the MVS.

Born in September 1946, Thomas Heath Bloore had come to live in Bexhill-on-Sea with his wife Elizabeth.
A skilled mechanic, Tom in due course developed his own vehicle repair business in Polegate, near Eastbourne, which he ran until retirement.

Serving for many years as a Coastguard at Bexhill, Tom received a Long Service Medal.
His duties often involved cliff rescue tasks at the notorious Beachy Head.
Joining the RNXS, Tom rose to be Charge Engineer, serving on Ham class inshore minesweepers, fleet tenders and P20 patrol craft.

Unsurprisingly, this led to his joining the MVS upon its formation when the RNXS was disbanded.
Here, Tom served as REO Cinque Ports, HoU Bexhill and AEO East.
He had pivotal roles in the commissioning and operation of Londinum 1, Appleby and East Sussex 1.

Upon retirement, Tom moved with his family to Parracoombe in Devon.
However, the call of the sea remained, and he soon became part of the crew of MV Oldenburg, the Lundy packet.
It was there that his feeling of being unwell one day lead to the diagnosis of a brain tumour.

Discussing the outcome of his operation with the surgeon and being told this could be anything from one to ten years, Tom, typically, said he would go for the ten.
Sadly, he only had the one.

Tom leaves his widow Lizzie and children Mark, Ross, Sarah, Andrew and Jemma.
The funeral was at Barnstaple on June 8th.
He will be much missed as a good Shipmate and sound friend.

Eddie Oades.

Picture: MVS Royal Patron HRH Prince Michael of Kent with Tom Bloore on the bridge of East Sussex 1.