Thomas Hancock (born 14 January, 1911 in Liverpool, England), also known as Inferno or the Sapper started working as a fire-fighter in the Fire Department in his hometown of Liverpool in 1933. In 1934 he joined the high-risk Explosives Department. In 1939 he enlisted in the army and the following year he volunteered for the Commandos. During the assault on St. Nazaire, he was responsible for the explosions that caused a great number of casualties in the German garrison and which rendered the installations useless to the Third Reich . He was captured during this operation and after 4 escape attempts in two months, he managed to escape his captors and return to England.