Thomas Hopcroft was born in Potterspury in Northamptonshire on 15 April 1914, the son of Thomas Phillip Hopcroft (a coach body maker working for the London and North Western Railway Company) and Emily Hopcroft (née Raffe) who were married in St George’s Church in Wolverton on 30 November 1913.  He had two sisters, Leah Grace born 1915 and Ivy Emily born 1917.   The family was based in Wolverton, Northamptonshire then Buckinghamshire.

After leaving school Thomas Hopcroft joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman close to the date of his fifteenth birthday.  He subsequently joined submarines and was drafted to HMS REGULUS.

Thomas George Hopcroft died when REGULUS was sunk in the Adriatic.  He is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial on Panel 35 Column 3.