Frederick William Palmer

Before the outbreak of the First World War, Frederick William Palmer worked in the metropolitan London book publishing trade, serving as an assistant and business manager for literary periodicals after completing his education in Hammersmith. He enlisted as a private soldier on 22 September 1914, joining the 22nd (Service) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)—famously styled the Kensington Battalion—under Army service number 731. Landing in France on 16 November 1915, his unit entered line-holding duties near Béthune before enduring the grueling attrition of the Somme offensive the following summer. During the final phase of that offensive, on Redan Ridge between 13 and 15 November 1916, Corporal Palmer displayed conspicuous resolution under heavy enemy barrage, earning the Military Medal for his conduct under fire.

By February 1917, during the British advance north of Courcelette toward Miraumont amidst frozen terrain and heavy shelling on Hill 130, Palmer was serving as a lance-sergeant. When concentrated German defensive fire disabled every commissioned officer in his assault company, he took charge of the surviving riflemen. His gallantry during this engagement was published in The London Gazette on 3 April 1917 (Issue 30008, page 3207):

"For most conspicuous bravery, control and determination. During the progress of certain operations, all the Officers of his Company having been shot down, Sjt. Palmer assumed command, and, having cut his way under point blank machine gun fire, through the wire entanglements, he rushed the enemy’s trench with six of his men, dislodged the hostile machine gun which had been hampering our advance, and established a block. He then collected men detached from other regiments, and held the barricade for nearly three hours against seven determined counter-attacks, under an incessant barrage of bombs and rifle grenades from his flank and front. During his temporary absence in search of more bombs an eighth counter-attack was delivered by the enemy, who succeeded in driving in his party, and threatened the defences of the whole flank. At this critical moment, although he had been blown off his feet by a bomb and was greatly exhausted, he rallied his men, drove back the enemy and maintained his position. The very conspicuous bravery displayed by this Non-commissioned Officer cannot be overstated, and his splendid determination and devotion to duty undoubtedly averted what might have proved a serious disaster in this sector of the line."

Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers in March 1917, Palmer returned to the frontline ahead of the Arras offensive. On 3 May 1917, while leading a composite detachment north of Oppy Wood, his men were pinned against unbroken German wire; he maintained an isolated, sixteen-hour perimeter until severe head wounds compelled his medical evacuation to Britain. King George V presented him with both the Victoria Cross and the Military Medal at an investiture ceremony in Hyde Park on 2 June 1917. Deemed unfit for further trench combat, he transferred in 1918 to the Royal Flying Corps Kite Balloon section, subsequently receiving an appointment as a lieutenant in the newly constituted Royal Air Force.

Demobilising after the armistice, Palmer pursued a business career across Malaya and Singapore as an executive in printing and commercial enterprises. With the onset of the Second World War, he returned to Britain in 1940 to offer his services once more, securing a commission in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve under personal service number 87693 within the Administrative and Special Duties Branch. Appointed to administrative command and station duties supporting operational training units throughout the air campaign, he reached the rank of acting wing commander and received a Mention in Despatches. Following the Japanese conquest of Singapore in 1942, his Chinese wife, Doris, and their young children endured four years in an internment camp; the family was reunited in 1946, eventually settling in Hampshire until Palmer's death at Lymington on 10 September 1955.