A sweet factory worker who gave the Nazis plenty to chew over has been immortalised on a tin of mints.
The late Tommy Bennett’s name and photo are on the containers of treats being sold by his old firm for the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
He was a sugar boiler at the Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls factory for around 50 years, with his only gap being from 1942 to 1945 to fight Hitler in the Second World War.
The former RAF flight engineer told colleagues: “One week I was boiling toffee and the next I was bombing the enemy.”
Now he can be seen in uniform on the special edition Tommy Tin.
The name also honours British troops who were nicknamed Tommies.
He started at the factory in 1938 aged 14. When he was called up at 18 in 1942, he was the only sugar boiler left at the firm.
Company founder William Santus told the Government: “Although Bennett is so young he is at the present time the most vital person I have.”
The mints – much loved by British troops – were so popular that Tommy was granted a six-month leave of absence from the RAF to train a replacement.
After the war, Tommy returned to the factory, retiring in 1989.
He also helped expats reunite with long-lost relatives. He died in 2002 aged 78.
John Winnard, from the firm in Wigan, Greater Manchester, said: “Tommy was Uncle Joe’s through and through. Even after he retired he would visit every Friday just to make sure they were doing things right.”
Some of the sales of the VE Day Mint Balls will go to armed forces charities.
