Never Forgotten: The Freddie Tomlins Story

"Smart lad, to slip betimes away / From fields where glory does not stay / And early though the laurel grows / It withers quicker than the rose." - Excerpt from "To An Athlete Dying Young", A.E. Housman, 1896

"Wherever he performed, his exhibitions of dauntless skill and courage captivated the crowds. His ingenuity was such that he could do almost anything on skates. How sad that he should have lost his life at this point of his career, fighting for his country's cause for freedom." - Henry Graham Sharp, "The Skater" magazine, 1949

Frederick 'Freddie' William Edwin Tomlins was born August 5, 1919, to Ernest and Grace Halcyon (Pye) Tomlins in Lambeth, England. When Freddie was only seven months old, the family relocated to Canada as his father was serving in the Canadian Army. Freddie's father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all leather dressers by trade.

While in Canada, Freddie's younger sister Margaret (Peggy) was born. The Tomlins family returned to England in June of 1923, taking up residence on Upper Grange Road, Bermondsey, South London.

Freddie was an athletic child who excelled at swimming, diving, boxing, tennis, running, football and cricket. Ernest, equally sports-minded, was a former boxing instructor, tennis champion, hockey player... and ice skater. When Streatham Ice Rink opened, he brought little Freddie and Peggy along and began showing them the ropes. Soon, both Tomlins children began taking lessons from Ernest Batson, and then Phil Taylor, the father of World Champion Megan Taylor.

Joy Ricketts and Freddie Tomlins

By the age of thirteen, Freddie passed his N.S.A. bronze test and began competing and skating exhibitions as a pairs skater with Joy Ricketts, taking from Eugen Mikeler and Nate Walley. He also found success as a speed skater, setting records of 1 min, 24 1/2 seconds for the half-mile and 2 mins, 51 and 1/5 seconds for the mile, both unpaced. In no time, Joy and Freddie won the Count de la Feld Challenge Trophy for junior pairs skating.

Though undeniably a talented pairs and speed skater, what really caught people's attention about Freddie was his fearless free skating. He was actually so popular with other skaters that they would often travel from other rinks just to watch him practice. He began training seriously as a singles skater at Westminster Ice Rink under the tutelage of Howard Nicholson. In 1933, he became the first skater in Great Britain to earn the N.S.A.'s Silver Medal in both figure and speed skating.

In November 1935, Freddie entered the British Ice Skating Championships at the Westminster Ice Club, which served as the trial event for British skaters hoping to compete at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Olympics. The five-foot-five-tall, one hundred and fifty-six-pound youngster with dark brown hair and green eyes made an incredible first impression with his high-flying jumps and well-centred spins. His program included a double Salchow, several variations of the Axel (inside, outside and one-foot) and Lutzes in both directions. "The Times" described his  performance in the autumn of 1935 as "the best exhibition by a man ever seen in Great Britain." He finished second to Henry Graham Sharp and made the Olympic team at the ripe old age of fifteen.

Prior to the Olympics, Freddie made his international debut at the 1936 European Championships in Berlin, placing a respectable eighth in a field of fifteen. In his 1959 book "Ice-Skating: A History", Brown aptly described Freddie as "the first artistic skater to use speed on ice, courageously and unhesitatingly to get the most out of a jump" and that's precisely why, despite his placement in Berlin,
he was already getting invitations to skate in Paris, Brussels, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Berlin and even Japan in his first season competing abroad. However, at the Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen that followed, the talk centered around what the teenage Briton was doing off the ice rather than one. Howard Bass recalled that "Freddie told Graham that he intended to get 'old Schickelgruber's autograph' and proceeded by devious means to bore his way right through Hitler's S.S. bodyguard, reputed to be impassible, and went straight up to the surprised dictator and handed him a pencil! He got the autograph, but what the S.S. guards got afterwards was, I gather, less rewarding." His Olympic teammate and friend Belita Jepson-Turner later recalled, "I don't know what he said to one of the soldiers, but they threw him out in his skates and his tights and his little badge and number and everything - threw him right out into the snow - and left him out there for about two hours, locking the door of the arena."

Freddie returned to international competition at the 1937 European Championships in Prague. In her 1947 biography "Freddie Tomlins: His Life on Skates", his sister Peggy wrote, "He put up a spectacular performance against his older and much more experienced opponents... Freddie showed his grit and determination by ignoring the formidable array of famous names and revealed a type of skating not hitherto displayed by a youngster. He astonished the stolid Czechoslovakian skating enthusiasts... and soon became a popular favourite." The British and French judges had him third but he ended off just off the podium in fourth behind Felix Kaspar, Graham Sharp and Elemér Terták. At the World Championships that followed in Vienna, he finished second in free skating but sixth overall. Though he certainly worked with some big name coaches, his inexperience often kept him just behind the top echelon of skaters in the school figures, practically having to dominate the free skating events every time to make a real impact. A prime example? At the British Championships held at Harringay Arena on March 15, 1937, Freddie defeated Graham in the free skating but a distant second place in figures still kept him in the number two slot. Returning to Europe, he gave an exhibition at the Berlin Sportpalast... and that's when he ended up with a Nazi watch! With his cursed jewelry on his wrist, he returned to skating life in England, both the drudgery of eight-hour training days and the excitement of constant invitations to perform as a guest in shows. In fact, that spring alone, he gave exhibitions at Streatham and Purley Ice Rinks, the S.S. Brighton, the Richmond Ice Rink, Empire Pool at Wembley, Empress Hall at Earl's Court and Queen's Ice Club. As a keen collector of skating club badges, Freddie loved going to as many rinks as possible.

Freddie Tomlins, Graham Sharp and Tony Austin. Photo courtesy BIS Archive, Gerschwiler Family Collection.

On December 13, 1937, Freddie again finished second to Graham at the British Championships, but this time, "The Times" wrote that he "performed at an amazing speed, in good style and rhythm; it was, with its prodigious jumps and beautifully controlled spins, one of the finest exhibitions of free-skating ever given by a man in this country." Despite the media's best effort to make rivals out of Freddie and Graham - and they tried - the two competitors were great friends. With that 'scoop' foiled, the media latched onto a rumour about Freddie's intention to turn professional. He ended up publishing an official denial and leaving later that month to give exhibitions in Berlin before heading to Switzerland to train on the outdoor ice in St. Moritz before that year's European Championships. Despite improved figures and another exciting free skate, his marks were far from generous. The German judge had the Briton seventh, the British judge third. He finished sixth, although many thought he outskated the winner, Felix Kaspar.

Incredibly, in the short time between the European and World Championships, he gave exhibitions in seven European cities: Basel, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Dortmund, and Hamburg. After the World Championships, Freddie, Ernest and Graham Sharp went to The Hague, narrowly missing Hitler's Anschluss (annexing) of Austria on March 12, 1938.

Despite his popularity with German audiences, Freddie immediately flatly refused to ever accept an invitation to perform there again after the Anschluss. Ernest defended him, telling those who sent invitations, "I believe in individualism and Freddie is an individualist." He instead headed down to Australia with Dunbar Poole to give a show and train for the following year's European and World Championships. Down Under, he took up speed skating again and defeated the reigning New South Wales champion at a quarter-mile race at the Sydney Glaciarium... by twenty yards. Australian Speed Skating Champion Tom Gibson was dismissive of Freddie's fast feet in an interview in the July 28, 1938 issue of "Referee". He proclaimed, "The way he scrapes with his back skate as he goes round the bends i bad. It's just brute strength that does it with Tomlins. Look at the muscles on his legs. He should be a wrestler with legs like those." He actually intended to compete in the August 1938 Australian Speed Skating Championships but was told by the secretary of the Victorian Ice Hockey Association he wasn't allowed as "the admission of contestants from overseas would be unfair to Australian skaters." It turned out to be a major hullabaloo. Freddie shrugged it all off saying, "The suggestion that I might take the trophies out of Australia is laughable. If I won a race, I would return the trophy." The ban was eventually lifted, and he knocked seven seconds off the Australian half-mile record.

Returning to the family home in Stockwell Green, London that autumn, Freddie finished second behind Graham yet again at the British Championships. The friendly rivals placed one/two at that year's European and World Championships as well, but Freddie actually won the free skate at that year's World Championships in Budapest with first-place ordinals from four of the five judges. It was so close, reportedly, that Graham announced, "You've won it, Freddie!'"

Photo courtesy The Skating Club of Boston, "Skating" magazine

Unphased by a season of silver, Freddie returned to England and gave exhibitions at Bristol Ice Rink and Wembley, then accepted an invitation by the USFSA to take part in the Skating Club of New York's annual carnival. Off he sailed to The Big Apple on the S.S. Europa at the age of eighteen with fourteen-year-old Daphne Walker and her mother, Maude. The American press lauded him as 'The English Skating Ace' and 'The 1940 Olympic Champion'; the American audience called him back for three encores. From New York, Daphne and Freddie headed to Massachusetts to perform in the Skating Club of Boston's carnival before leaving on the Queen Mary.

The late Benjamin T. Wright, former chairman of ISU Technical Committee and ISU Referee and ISU and USFSA historian, once told me, "The Skating Club of Boston invited Tomlins to come to our carnival in 1939, just before the war. He was an extraordinary jumper, and we measured. He did a double Salchow that was twenty-five feet long. He was a short guy, and his feet were above the boards. Coincidentally, the year before, Felix Kaspar came, and he was a little guy too. He was the kind of guy that'd get up in the air and do a flying Axel thirty feet long and four feet high! With that skill [and different skates], it was obvious they could have done quads."

Freddie Tomlins, Benny Lee and Megan Taylor at Streatham Ice Rink. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

Back in England, Freddie appeared in Purley Ice Rink Fancy Dress Masquerade with Phil Taylor, Daphne Walker and Violet and Leslie Cliff and the Streatham Ice Rink's Annual Ice Ball and Gymkhana. On May 17, 1939, Freddie and Cecilia Colledge were honoured in a special show at the Nottingham Ice Rink. The next month, the Empire Pool held a gala in honour of the International Olympic Committee, with all proceeds going to the 1940 Olympic Team. The "Skating Times" reported that "Tomlins' dazzling exhibition drew deafening applause from the packed arena."

Freddie Tomlins and Daphne Walker

Freddie then performed at the Murrayfield Ice Rink and in August, was invited to the opening of the ice rink at the Belgian Exhibition in Liege. The trip to Tintin territory was ultimately cancelled amidst rumours of war. Instead, he gave exhibitions at Empress Hall in carnivals in aid of the News Chronicle Tobacco Fund for the Fighting Forces and the British Sailors' Society in December 1939 and March 1940. 

Freddie won the Baker Cup for speed skating on outdoor ice in January of 1940, setting a long-standing record of 18.2 seconds. At his final figure skating performance at Wembley, Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden were in the audience. Afterwards, Freddie was presented to Churchill, who expressed his admiration of his "musculosity".

Raising funds for British war charities was not enough for Freddie. He began driving trucks to 'do his bit' and then, inspired by Churchill, he joined the Royal Air Force. After taking a preliminary course at an I.T.W., he set sail for Canada to begin his training as a pilot. He arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the S.S. Strathenden in August 1941.

Although Freddie's main reason for being in North America was obviously training to be a pilot, he performed at charity-minded skating carnivals organized by the Rotary Club of Vancouver and the Alumni Association of the Calgary General Hospital. 

Freddie was also a popular guest at skating carnivals in Toronto, Ottawa, Oakland, St. Paul, North Bay and Trenton. The March 5, 1942 issue of "The Ottawa Citizen" praised him thusly: "His speed on the blades is terrific. His jumps are almost unbelievable in their height and daring. In his spins, he whirls as if he would never stop. He also is a real comedian and his wonderful personality makes him a favourite wherever he goes."

Britta Lundequist, Norah McCarthy, Irene Dare, Tasie McCarthy, Ann Taylor, Donald Gilchrist, Tommy LeVonne, Freddie Tomlins, Bobby Specht and Gene Theslof performing in "Ice Vanities Of 1942", a carnival held behind blackout curtains at the Oakland Figure Skating Club. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Freddie Tomlins as The Blonde Bombshell

In one show at the Collingwood Arena, Freddie even donned his best drag as The Blonde Bombshell. The papers read, “Dressed in a fetching costume complete with blonde tresses that hung to her shoulders, the Bombshell cavorted through an intricate routine that left the crowd howling for more.” Freddie had an love of camp and a great sense of humour. Around this time, he formed a close friendship with U.S. Figure Skating Champion Bobby Specht - a magnetic performer celebrated for his flair and artistry - who for a time lived with Freddie's former Olympic teammate Belita Jepson-Turner. The two shared a camaraderie and often travelled together.

Left: Group photo from the Oakland Figure Skating Club's 1941 carnival. Back (left to right): Freddie Tomlins, Bobby Specht and Gene Theslof. Front (left to right): Irene Dare, Taisie McCarthy and Anne Taylor. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine. Right: Photographs from a Skating Club of New York carnival program.

After obtaining his Pilot Officer's certificate - and legions of new fans - at the Royal Canadian Air Force base in Trenton, Ontario, he returned to London in May 1943. After giving a series of skating exhibitions to raise money for British war charities, he was posted to a Coastal Command station at St. Eval in Cornwall.

Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine

In 1943, twenty-three-year-old Freddie was tragically killed during an operational flight over the English Channel. The aircraft he was serving as an Air Gunner on had six men aboard - five from Great Britain and one from Canada. It was presumed to be shot down by a Nazi submarine. Liz Deery of the Ministry of Defence explained, "P/O Tomlins was the Air Gunner on board Whitley LA814 aircraft which went missing whilst on Atlantic patrol on June 20, 1943. P/O Tomlins was with a No 10 Operational Training Unit (OTU) detachment at the time of his loss. During 1942 No 10 OTU became responsible for a large anti-submarine flight manned by crews from all the Whitley OTUs, detached to St. Eval (No 19 Group) for anti-submarine patrols over the Western Approaches and the Bay of Biscay; 33 Whitleys were lost before the OTUs were withdrawn on July 23, 1943. P/O Tomlins and his crew members went missing after take-off and as nothing was heard six months later it was presumed they lost their lives at sea; death was presumed to have occurred on June 20, 1943. It was normal practice during the Second World War that death was presumed to have occurred if nothing was heard for six months regarding missing personnel." Freddie's name is commemorated at the Runnymede Memorial at Surrey, alongside over twenty thousand other airmen who were lost during operations in the second World War.

Belita Jepson-Turner described Freddie as "very small and a wonderful jumper" and "one of England's great champions". Graham Sharp, in the Spring 1946 edition of "Ice Hockey World and Skating Review" recalled his friendly foe thusly: "All his actions in his life were free and easy. He was irresistable. He had tremendous energy, replete with joie de vivre. A jolly comrade. He would no doubt have reached the very pinnacle in the skating world if the war had not procluded this... Freddie was a real sportsman, and the best loser I ever knew.... He was the first to congratulate me at the finish. He was never inclined to take anything - even a World Championship - too seriously." Cecilia Colledge recalled, "Freddie Tomlins and I grew up on the ice together. Year by year, before and after the Championships, we skated in the same exhibitions, galas and charity performances, everywhere. We were true pals in a comradeship of skill, youth and happiness. I admired Freddie's unequalled ability and am convinced that he was without rival in his marvellous feats. The news that he had been killed on air operations came as a great shock to me, and his untimely death deprived skating of its most spectacular star... His humour was infectious, bubbling over like the sparkling effervescence of a priceless vintage."

In the closing paragraph of her biography of her brother, Freddie's (now also deceased) sister Peggy recalled, "He was my chum, my partner in ice-skating, and I watched his dazzling career with the jealous interest that a mother might bestow on a favourite child... He was the Gay Cavalier of the Ice, dauntless, daring and withal taking his phenomenal success in his stride, as if it were a natural sequence to his strenuous efforts. I am convinced that, if a cruel fate had not intervented, my brother would have attained high rank in the Air Force... Yet I console myself that from his Valhalla, his soul, wafted thither by the Valkyries, looks down upon the scene of his triumph - the Ice Rink - and participates in the achievements of his successors."

Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine

Twenty-three years after his son's death, Albert Tomlins donated the Freddie Tomlins Trophy to the National Skating Association as a prize for a one-mile scratch race in speed skating. The winner, John Tipper, went on to represent Great Britain at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble. 

Had fate allowed, Freddie Tomlins may well have been the UK's first Olympic Gold Medallist in men's figure skating. Instead, he lost his life in the skies, his dreams buried with him. Despite his talent, sacrifice, and legacy, his name remains missing from the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame - an omission that speaks less to his merit than to how easily history forgets its heroes.

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