An interesting Second World War Coastal Command Mention in Despatches, Palestine Jewish Revolt and Kenya Mau-Mau Emergency and visit of Princess Margaret to RAF Eastleigh, Kenya group awarded to Group Captain E.G. Palmer, Royal Air Force group who saw service with Costal Command during the Second World War where he would fly on Anti-Submarine patrols whilst commanding No.172 Squadron, later being Mentioned in Despatches in the London Gazette of 1st January 1945. He would go on to see service in Palestine during the Jewish Revolt and later during the Mau Mau Emergency as Kenya during which time he would be employed as Commanding Officer of R.A.F. Eastleigh, Kenya and as the Air Officer Commanding East Africa 1955-58, his duties in this period included welcoming HRH Princess Margaret to the base on 18th October 1956. He would subsequently serve as Air Attache in Rome until his retirement as Group Captain in 1961.
Group of 7: 1939-1945 Star; Atlantic Star; Defence Medal; War Medal with Mention in Despatches oak leaf emblem, General Service Medal 1918-1962, GVIR 1st type bust, 1 Clasp: Palestine 1945-48; (WG CDR E.G. PALMER. R.A.F.) Africa General Service Medal 1899-1956, EIIR Dei.Grat bust, 1 Clasp: Kenya; (ACT. GP. CPT. E.G. PALMER. R.A.F.) Coronation Medal 1953. Court-mounted for display.
Condition: court-mounted for display, minor contact wear, Good Very Fine
Along with five photographs, two of which relate to him welcoming H.R.H. Princess Margaret to R.A.F. Eastleigh, Kenya on 18th October 1956, one of Group Captain E.G. Palmer, Station Commander, R.A.F. Eastleigh lays an R.A.F. wreath Nairobi on 15th September 1957, one as a Group Captain as H.B.M. Air Attache, Rome at the Italian Embassy, via Milano, Roma, and the final one where Palmer is seen welcoming the Queen Mother.
Earle Gordon Palmer was born in Lethbridge, Alberta on 23rd March 1914 and originally entered the Royal Air Force on a short service commission in March 1936. Qualifying for his wings in the same year, his pre-War appointments included service with No.44 and 206 Squadrons.
On the outbreak of hostilities, he was attached to HQ, No.51 Group, subsequently attending 31 Air Navigational School and joining H.Q. Flying Training Command, which post he held until 1943. Then in August he assumed command of No. 172 Squadron, with the rank of Temporary Wing Commander, in which capacity he was employed until May 1944 taking part in several operations where he piloted Wellington Mk. XIV, on 3 Anti-Submarine Patrols and two sorties noted as Percussion T3 in the Squadron record books. Later that year he attended the Staff College at Haifa, Palestine, remaining in the Middle East until early 1946 when he returned to R.A.F. Uxbridge. He had meanwhile, been Mentioned in Despatches on 1st January 1945, but whether this award reflects his earlier services at Coastal Command on anti-U-Boat operations is unknown.
Palmer who spent the immediate post war years on technical work with the Ministry of Supply in London and the U.S.A. was confirmed in the rank of Wing Commander in 1950. Then after service as Commanding Officer of R.A.F. Eastleigh, Kenya and as the Air Officer Commanding East Africa 1955-58, during which time he would welcome HRH Princess Margaret to the base, he was promoted to Group Captain.
A newspaper article announced his arrival at Eastleigh:
‘The new Senior R.A.F. Officer in East Africa, who took up his post at Eastleigh yesterday, is Group Captain E.G. Palmer from Lethbridge, Alberta, one of the big ranching and farming areas of Western Canada. He succeeds Air Commodore W.K. Beisiegel, who has held the post for 18 months.
Before the Emergency the post was held by a Group Captain but it was upgraded to the rank of Air Commodore because of the importance it assumed through Emergency operations. It now reverts to its original status. With the departure of the Harvards, Lincolns and Meteors, the station was run-down rapidly. Apart from sky-shouting , which is being done on a large scale, its main functions , in future will be to form a nucleus for quick reinforcement in times of emergency, to act as a reception base for British troops, to retain a communication flight for the R.A.F. and carry out any duties required by the Army in Kenya…..
The New senior R.A.F. Officer Group Captain Palmer, joined the R.A.F. in 1935. During the early part of the war, he served with Coastal Command on anti-U-Boat operations. Later, he served on the Directing Staff of the R.A.F. Staff College at Haifa, Palestine.
Since the war, he has been engaged on technical work with the Ministry of Supply in London and the US.
Group Captain Palmer arrived in Kenya last week with his wife and 10 year old daughter. He expects to be in the Colony for about two years.
The next year he was appointed an Air Attache in Rome, finally being placed on the Retired List in 1961. The Group Captain died in October 1977.
