Royal Navy – HMS Iron Duke
Alfred Edward Dennis Palmer was born at Frampton-on-Severn on 25 November 1898. His father, Alfred E, was shown in the 1901 Census as being an insurance agent and he was married to Edith Caroline.
At that time they lived at 28 The Street, Frampton-on-Severn. Alfred was their eldest child.
By the time of the 1911 Census, the elder Alfred Palmer had become a labourer in an iron works and the family now consisted of five children (one having died) and lived at Mill Cottages, North Woodchester, near Stroud.
Alfred (junior) joined the Royal Navy on 5 March 1918, signing on for the period of hostilities.
His previous occupation was that of a ‘fitter and turner’ and initially he was posted to HMS Excellent, the shore establishment at Portsmouth.
On 2 July 1918 he joined the dreadnought battleship HMS Iron Duke, which had been the flagship of Admiral Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
He served on Iron Duke until 4 November 1918, when he died of pneumonia at the Royal Naval Hospital at South Queensferry, possibly a victim of the ‘Spanish’ influenza pandemic which was sweeping Europe.
He was just 19. He was buried in Woodchester (St Mary’s Churchyard) and has a standard Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone to mark his grave.
Research by Graham Adams 11 July 2012