A £1m hotel is to be named after Tamworth’s greatest war hero following a campaign by the Herald.

The Old Police Station, one of the Tamworth’s most important buildings, is to be turned into the Colin Grazier Hotel.

War hero Colin died trying to retrieve Enigma codes from a German submarine during the Second World War.

The hotel project is the latest milestone in the campaign run by the Tamworth Herald and its deputy editor, Phil Shanahan, chairman of the Colin Grazier Memorial Committee, to increase awareness of the incident which is now acknowledged as a major turning point of the Second World War.

The project will be themed to fit in with the Enigma story, with the raised lounge area named after Tony Fasson, who died alongside Grazier, and the lower bar area named after Tommy Brown who survived the incident only to die two years later in a house fire.

Other key characters in the Enigma story may also be commemorated in some way including Mark Thornton, Captain of Grazier’s ship HMS Petard, and code-cracking hero Alan Turing.

The hotel connection follows talks between Herald Deputy Editor Phil Shanahan and Christian Stafford, Operations Director of Middlesex-based development company 10 Joy.

Mr Shananhan said: “Christian was looking for a strong local theme for the new hotel, and the opportunity to approach him was just too good to be missed.

“I am absolutely delighted that Grazier is to be honoured in this way. It is fitting too that the other heroes of the Enigma saga will also be commemorated.”

The hotel plans to be a living museum to the story with the walls being lined with framed pictures and Herald articles charting the Enigma incident and the campaign’s progress.

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