Trevor Brazel – Royal Navy, H.M.S. Colombo

Stoker 1st Class Trevor Brazel – Royal Navy, H.M.S. Colombo

Early Life

Jeremiah Brazel and Keziah Lizzie Evans marriage certificate St Paul’s Mission Church, Swansea

Trevor Brazel was born in 1904 in Swansea, the son of Jeremiah Brazel and Keziah Lizzie Evans, who married in 1902 at St Paul’s Mission Church, Swansea. He grew up in Landore within a tinplate‑working family whose employment reflected the industrial character of early‑20th‑century Swansea.

1911 Census

1911 Census

By 1911, the Brazel family were living at 3 Byng Street, Landore. Jeremiah, aged 30, was employed as a Wheeler (Tinplater), while his wife Keziah Lizzie, aged 28, managed the home. Their children present were Trevor (7) and Emlyn (6)—both attending school—and Sidney (2).

1921 Census

1921 Census

By the time of the 1921 Census, the Brazel family were still residing at 3 Byng Street, Landore, where Jeremiah Brazel, aged 40, was recorded as a Pickling Machines Steel & Tinplate Works employee with Richard Thomas & Co. Ltd, though noted as out of work at the time. His wife Keziah Lizzie, aged 39, undertook the household duties, while their children—Trevor (17), employed as an Oiler at the Steelworks Tinplate Works but also out of work; Emlyn (16), a Machine Boy at the Steel & Tinplate Works, likewise out of work; and the younger children Sidney (13) and Bronwen K. (8), both attending school—completed the household.

Marriage

In 1924, Trevor married Violet M. Roberts at Swansea, establishing his own household before entering naval service.

Royal Navy Service

Trevor served as a Stoker 1st Class with the Royal Navy, a demanding role involving the operation and maintenance of ship boilers and engine‑room machinery. His final posting was aboard H.M.S. Colombo, a C‑class light cruiser built in 1918 and commissioned in 1919. Originally armed with 6‑inch guns and torpedo tubes, Colombo served across the East Indies, Mediterranean, and West Indies Stations before the Second World War. During the war she operated from Gibraltar, escorted convoys in the Atlantic, and later supported operations in Sicily, the Aegean, South France, and the Adriatic. Between 1942 and 1943 she was converted into an anti‑aircraft cruiser, reflecting the increasing need for air defence in convoy protection. After nearly three decades of service, Colombo was sold for scrap in 1948.

Death and Burial

British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Trevor Brazel
Morriston Cemetery
credit - findagrave

According to the British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, Trevor died from illness on 6 June 1946 at Cardiff Infirmary. His body was brought home to Swansea and laid to rest at Morriston Cemetery, where his grave forms part of the early post‑war naval burials.