William Palmer Imperial War Museum Audio Interview

In researching the defence of Brockworth Aerodrome and the Gloster Aircraft Company a number of audio interviews within the Imperial War Museum Archive have been found which might be relevant. In this interview undertaken by Conrad Wood on 7 August 2000 with Bill Palmer (1924 -2008) talks about growing up in Gloucester and his time in the Army during the Second World War. There is a link at the bottom of the page to the first reel of the interview.

Bill Palmer was born in 1924 at 31 Worrell Street in the Clapham area of Gloucester in 1924. Pre-war, where he lived, there was a poor standard of living with his family of 8 living in a 2 bedroom house with an outside toilet shared by four families and water from an outside tap. Father, when in work, was an iron miller at the railway carriage and wagon works but for a long time dad had been out of work. Describes going hungry “many many times”. He attended school at St Marks Primary School and later at Archdeacon Elementary in Clare Street, leaving at age 14 in 1938. His first job was as an errand boy delivering groceries on a bicycle and later became an apprentice baker.

Discusses start of the war with the Territorials driving up and down Eastern Avenue from their HQ at Saintbridge (assume this is the Chequers Cafe) and trying to join the Marines in Worcester but was refused as too short. Joined Gloster Aircraft Company in about 1940 and they had the bombs there and was on the Home Guard, and had to guard two unexploded bombs on the airfield which were covered up with sandbags until they could do something about them. One day lewis gun at a German plane from the top of the factory – lot of pleasure letting off steam, plane had got down amongst barrage balloons eventually got hit and crashed on the edge of the Cotswolds. (possibly the Oakridge crash but cannot be certain as he would only have been 16 at this time.)

Gloucester as a whole he estimated that about 50 people killed in different raids. lists raids at Millbrook Street, Massey Road and Barton Street. Describes visiting Barton Street bombing. Asked about morale – “on the whole very good”. Also aid he had to use shelters at work but at home not bothered – the family had a big steel metal table indoors – he and his brother used to sleep under the stairs. It was noisy, behind where he then lived at 51 Stanway Road, Coney Hill, there was 3.7inch Ack Ack guns firing at planes he describes as travelling to Birmingham.

This gun site is marked on a Luftwaffe Aerial Photo, shown below, described as “Heavy flak” with 4 guns and 18 bell tents and marked as 4 and 5 for site B on the map. The location of gun site is in the vicinity of the playing field on the south of Metz Way.

Bill went on to join the Army in August 1942 at the age of 18 in the Gloucestershire Regiment but was attached to the 9th Battallion of the Devenshire Regiment and after doing coastal defence work in Norfolk went out to India and also saw service in Burma