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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 891

Four: Rifleman G. J. Palmer, Royal Ulster Rifles, late Worcestershire Regiment, who was captured at La Bassée on 27 May 1940, and spent 3 days on the run in 1942, having escaped from a P.O.W. working party

1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45; Korea 1950-53 (4915635 Rfn. G. J. Palmer. R.U.R.); U.N. Korea 1950-54, unnamed as issued, loose suspender and light edge bruising to third, nearly very fine (4)

George J. Palmer was born on 30 August 1919 and resided at 36 Beilby Road, Birmingham, England. He briefly worked as a labourer before enlisting in the Worcestershire Regiment on 16 January 1939 and serving in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force.

Taken prisoner at La Bassée, he was allocated the P.O.W. number '622' and then transferred to Fort VIII in Poland where he was put to sand clearing work for a year. In June 1941, he was moved to Metzdorf in Germany, where he worked on the aerodrome.

In September the following year, he decided to make a break for it, his M.I.9. confidential report noting:

'Escaped from E.180 Airodrome working party September 1942 with 2 comrades, names I have forgotten. Two fellow prisoners, Pte. L. Lindsay (2418) and Pte. E. G. White (2417) cut the barbed and talked to guard while we got through. Recaptured 3 days later by police and we were sent back to Stalag 8B.'

Clearly unimpressed, the Germans transferred him to Marzdorf camp in October 1942 where he was put to river work - where Palmer continued to be a minor thorn in their side:

'Breaking tools or throwing same in river at E491 River Job.'

Palmer spent his final two years in captivity working in a coalmine in Germany, before being liberated on 30 April 1945 and then interviewed at Stalag VIII.B on 11 May 1945; sold with copied research including General Questionnaire for British/American Ex-Prisoners of War.



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Sold for
£350