The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Tobruk, Libya. 11 September 1941. Informal portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Alfred (Pedlar) Palmer DSC, Royal Navy Reserve, captain of the Italian schooner, HMS Maria Giovanna. Lt Palmer sailed the schooner from Alexandria or Mersa Matruh into Tobruk weekly between May and November 1941 to deliver food and supplies to fellow Australians stationed there. He navigated by setting course for the direction of the headlights of the German lorries on the coast road near Bardia until he sighted the shaded green light that marked the entrance to Tobruk Harbour. However, in order to capture Lt Palmer, the Germans placed a decoy light along the coast to the east which Lt Palmer aimed for, running the schooner ashore, and after eight hours resistance he was eventually captured. During his time as a prisoner, he attempted escape on numerous occassions and on 10 Octoner 1943 he was shot through the arm, which was later amputated, while trying to escape from a train. He was repatriated to England in September 1944.
Informal portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Alfred (Pedlar) Palmer DSC, Royal Navy Reserve, captain of the Italian schooner, HMS Maria Giovanna. Lt Palmer sailed the schooner from Alexandria or Mersa Matruh
Informal portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Alfred (Pedlar) Palmer DSC, Royal Navy Reserve, captain of the Italian schooner, HMS Maria Giovanna. Lt Palmer sailed the schooner from Alexandria or Mersa Matruh
Australian soldiers unloading stores from the Italian schooner HMS Maria Giovanna, captained by Lieutenant (Lt) Alfred “Pedlar” Palmer, Royal Navy Reserve, in Tobruk Harbour. Lt Palmer sailed into Tob
Portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Lloyd G. Palmer Royal Australian Navy Reserve (RANR). Lt Palmer was appointed to the RANR as a Sub-Lieutenant in 1937. After completing the gunnery course at HMAS Cerberus
MERSA MATRUH, EGYPT. 1942-11. A COLOURED MEMBER OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN FORCES POINTING TO AN ITALIAN SIGNBOARD AT MERSA MATRUH WHERE HE HAD BEEN WORKING AS FORCED LABOUR BY THE GERMANS. HE HAD BEEN CAPT
Typescript memoir by Flight Lieutenant Alex Roberts MID, NO.452 Spitfire Squadron RAAF (UK) entitled "One...that got away". Describes how F/Lt Roberts parachuted into German held territory in July 194