As is often the case people’s secret lives do not surface until after they pass. To the surprise of many this appears to be the case with our recently departed good friend Pete Brown.
Pete, the mild mannered janitor also appears to have led a Hong Kong Fooey, double life, a realife Clark Kent if you will, although he swapped the glasses disguise for a pair of old overalls. He fooled pretty much everyone
Pete first got his taste for blood as he trained to be a butcher, what better way of disposing of a body, learn the knife skills required for dismemberment and dispose of the evidence in pork pies and sausages. He became a member of the SAS, an elite band of brothers, who, Slept All Sunday.
The name’s Brown, Peter Brown.
To hide in plain sight is a skill few acquire, but Pete it seems was seen by many in the corridors of power to be a master. Only a very few people, at the top of the clandestine tree of secrecy were allowed access to the file we have now come to know as “Broadsword” a name chosen by Pete himself as a homage to one of his favourite films, Where Eagles Dare. Pete was an Eagle, but gave the impression of being more of pigeon.
A wearer of camouflage clothing it often took him some time to get dressed in the morning, even with his years of training and trade craft he still struggled to find his pants, well they were camouflage after all, Andy McFlab, perhaps.
How did this all happen and why is it now that the true story is only just coming to light a few short weeks after his passing. Read on.
Amongst the belongings he left behind was a box, it is the contents of this box that have led to one of the most intriguing mysteries in modern time.
Who was Peter Brown really, and where the fuk did he get a grenade? Will the truth ever be uncovered, time will tell.
Back to the box, in amongst the secret papers that have yet to be fully understood was a simple grenade. Thought be the few who knew to be a dud, as much of as an imposter as Pete now appears to be. In the twist of circumstance created by Pete’s untimely passing we come a little closer to the truth, or a perceived truth.
In the closing days of June 2025 the new owner of the box, obviously not party to the inner sanctums Pete prowled, did what any sane person who do when place in this situation, he called to Police, who attended sharpish. They called in the bomb squad and in a few short hours the grenade had been confirmed as being live and was swiftly dispatched in the hallowed ground of Ryther. Blown up.
A witness and resident of Ryther, Eleanor Howarth, heard the explosion, asking no one in particular, “what the fuck was that?” Quickly composing herself she checked the wall clock in the kitchen, noting the time in case a statement was asked for by the authorities, who were bound to come knocking, to date she has yet to be contacted.
From the research conducted so far it appears Pete came by this grenade on one of his many trips across the channel. We did know that Pete was something of a Magpie, gathering what some would perceive as useless bits of tat, but to him, items to be valued. Who knows what plans he had in store for the grenade, could it have been destined to be used close to home, why else keep it?
We believe it may have been found on a trip to the landing beaches of France with friends, Pete using the subterfuge of a holiday break to cover his tracks, hiding his true mission in the footsteps of those around him. I mean which ‘spy’ fictional or otherwise would be found on a C90, yes, it was a sleeper, it had 125 engine in it, he fooled everyone. Whilst the onscreen spy Bond famously drove a variety of Astons, Pete chose the humble Honda.
When questioned, Joe O’Connor, one of those on the trip with him stated “I didn’t know he’d found it, the little fucker kept that to himself.”
We will continue our research and perhaps add more flesh to the bones of this story, hopefully with the success that Pete removed flesh from bones over the years with the butchery skills honed in his younger years, but practiced over many.
Of course, this is all subject to conjecture and questioning and some of this story may or not be true, will we ever establish the truth
As Jack Nicholson said, “You can’t handle the truth.”
A Few Good Men, Pete was one of those perhaps the one thing, along with the fact he left us with a live grenade; we can be certain of in this tale.
