Alfred Brian Palmer
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Alfred Brian Palmer MBE,
DSC DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...
(27March 18994July 1993) was a
Royal Navy Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...
captain and near the end of his career was the commander of the shore base HMS ''Furneaux'' in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
. He is known for his bravery in breaking the German blockade of
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclopà ...
in the Second World War with his small
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
''Maria Giovanni''. During the Second World War he was wounded several times and finally taken prisoner by the Germans, from whom he attempted numerous escapes. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1941 for "courage, skill and devotion to duty in operations off the Libyan coast", and made a
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
in 1944.


Early life

Palmer's name at birth was Alfred O'Brien. He first went to sea on the ''Daniel'', a 185-ton sailing vessel built in Norway in 1830. After three voyages to New Zealand on the ''Daniel'' in November 1916, Palmer joined the ''Burrowa'', an Australian merchant sailing vessel (2902 gross register tons). On 27 April 1917 ''Burrowa'' was attacked and sunk "sixty miles west of the
Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point, and has the souther ...
" by a German submarine. The crew spent two nights in a lifeboat. They were sighted by a patrol plane, picked up and taken to
Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...
. Palmer then served in the British navy until the end of the First World War. Between the First and Second World Wars, Palmer was a merchant seaman serving on many
Commonwealth Line The Commonwealth Line was a shipping company owned and operated by the Australian federal government between 1916 and 1928. It was officially known as the Commonwealth Government Line of Steamers until 1923, and thereafter as the Australian Com ...
ships. He was a crew member of the ''Carawa'' when it was run aground in the
Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...
. The crew members returned to Sydney on the steamers ''Australrange'' and ''Australmont'' in July 1920. In 1928, as the depression began, the Commonwealth line was sold and crews were retrenched. He commanded a company of the Chinese Lancers in Shanghai and was a member of the volunteer reserve. On the outbreak of the Second World War he rejoined the Royal Navy, and first served as executive officer of .


''Maria Giovanni''

The ''Maria Giovanni'' was a 200-ton schooner captured from the Italians by the British destroyer on 1 January 1941. Palmer was made skipper of the ''Maria Giovanni'' in January 1941, and the ship was used to ferry supplies to the beleaguered town of
Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclopà ...
. He "won fame through his cussedness on the Spud Run", and by his willingness to carry any cargo. The supply of Tobruk by Palmer and others was known as the " Ferry Service". There are slight differences in accounts of how his ship was captured, with one source saying the Italians "trapped him by a ruse", and the other saying the Germans "kidded him" to make landfall in their territory. Regardless, Palmer and his crew became prisoners of war in Italy. He was well liked in the POW camps and always had a positive effect on his companions.


CNRRA Incident

Palmer was accused of embezzlement while working as marine superintendent of waterways transport for the Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in 1947. He was convicted and sentenced to one year hard labour, but the conviction was overturned on appeal.


Later life

Palmer and his wife flew from Florida to Australia to attend a
Rats of Tobruk Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' (pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
reunion in 1977, where around 600 veterans marched through Sydney streets.


Autobiography

*''Pedlar Palmer of Tobruk'' (1981) Canberra, Australia: Roebuck Society. *''The Pirate of Tobruk: a sailor's life on the Seven Seas'', with Mary E. Curtis (1994), Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Alfred Brian 1899 births 1993 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Navy personnel of World War II Royal Navy officers World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Australian people of American descent