Letters

William Palmer survived the sinking of HMS Voltaire to spend the rest of the war in a POW camp in Germany

Hello there,

I understand you have a copy of "Sailors in Cages" written about the crew of  HMS Voltaire during and after its sinking in 1941. I wondered if the book has any mention of my grandfather William Palmer who survived the sinking to spend the rest of the war in a POW camp in Germany. After the war he returned home and spent the the rest of his life in Portsmouth, England until his death in 1976.

I have very fond memories of him.

Kind regards,

John Mills.


John,

Here is the only page in SAILORS IN CAGES that your Grandfather appears.

Regards, 
Mac. Gregory


Hello Mac,
 
Thankyou for sending me the page on which my grandfathers name appears. The only confusion lies in that the author of the book says "Palmer" like him came from Somerset. This is strange because my grandfather came from the north-east of England and would have spoke with a "geordie" accent definetely not a Somerset one? Never mind there must have been a lot of confusion at the time.
My mother has told me of my grandfather mentioning sharks in the water and also swallowing oil which left him with permanent stomach damage from which he never truly recovered.
 
Many thanks for your interest and information about HMS Voltaire.
 
Kind regards.
 
John Mills.


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