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

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The book interweaves the present-day archaeological search with the events leading up to and beyond D-Day. Both men, Philips and Thomas, are young in these accounts. The sailor becomes one of the crew of the landing craft, forging the sorts of bonds that men at war make. The archaeologist faces the burden of Thomas’s hopes, and the final settling of the guilt burdens that men of his generation carried silently after the war. And running as a thread between these stories is the archaeology: the difficult, painstaking and downright dangerous task of marine archaeology. 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.

As Tyndale toiled and the autumn of 1535 faded, his chest and head labored with heavy catarrh; he shivered through the day, and shivered all night as well. As he penned his little treatise, Faith Alone Justifies Before God, winter drew on and the light began to fail; a few hours a day was all he could use for writing. The remainder of the time he sat in darkness. But he must finish his work, for this was to be his summary of the evangelical gospel; since he was going to die anyway, there must be no doubt as to why he died. Online Seminars: The Rural Museums Network – Museum Development North West on Subscriptions – Join RMN! The castle of Vilvoorde had been erected in 1374 by one of the dukes of Brabant, and since it was modeled upon the infamous Bastille, built in Paris at about the same time, its moat, seven towers, three drawbridges and massive walls made it an impregnable prison. The castle was used as the state prison for the Low Countries, and Tyndale was thrown into one of the foul-smelling, damp dungeons with nothing for company but the lapping moat, the squabbling moorhens outside, and the dripping walls and scurrying rats inside. Henry Phillips was the third and last son in the family, and in 1533 he registered at Oxford for a degree in civil law. And being a man of some ability, he was apparently well-set to gain a good position and follow a respectable life.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. 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.” 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. Second, he maintained that to believe in the forgiveness of sins, and to embrace the mercy offered in the gospel, was enough for salvation.

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.

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. 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. Third, he averred that human traditions cannot bind the conscience, except where their neglect might occasion scandal. 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. 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.

John Henry Phillips learnt to dive to make his documentary about finding the sunken landing craft. (Image: Go Button Media) 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. John Henry Phillips left school at 16 and spent four years touring Europe in a band before returning to education to pursue an archaeology degree, something he'd been interested in for much of his life. He worked at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village as a volunteer and, growing up near RAF Bury St Edmunds, at Rougham, he relished the crumbling wartime buildings from the more recent past. “There are so many World War II airfields and pillboxes around here,” he says. “Archaeology is absolutely everywhere in Suffolk.” 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.

It caught our eye so TT caught up with Romany archaeologist John Henry Phillips to talk about the inspirations behind his work, the documentary ' No Roses on a Sailer's Grave', and his ambitions for the future. Please note this is a free Business to Business service only and we regret we cannot deal with charity or media enquiries, which should be directed to the representative of the Celebrity concerned which you will find listed in The Handbook. 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. 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. He arrived at the Poyntz home about May 21, 1535, and, in his courteous and charming manner, invited himself to lunch. He then returned into the town, presumably to set the officers in their appropriate place for ambush. Phillips’ scheme was working according to plan, only requiring that Tyndale, who had already been invited out to lunch that day, cancel the arrangement made with Mrs. Poyntz and invite Phillips to join him in the town. In this he was not disappointed.