.The National Order of the Legion of Honour (Legion Du Honnuer) is the highest-ranking order and decoration in France, it was created by Napoleon Bonaparte way back in 1802. To be eligable for admission to the order an individual requires 20 years of civil achievement in peacetime or to have displayed extraordinary military bravery and service in times of war. It was the fullfillment of the second criteria that saw Alford resident Jeff Palmer receiving the award on the 21st of October 2020.
Jeff was born in Sutton on Sea in 1924 living on Victoria Road until he left to join the Royal Navy. Having collected his ship, HMS BYMS2047, from Jacksonville Florida in 1942 he was seconded to the Royal Canadian Navy and spent considerable time performing minesweeping and anti-submarine work off of the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. For this work Jeff earned his ‘silver fleet badge’ which is awarded only to men in the Patrol Service who served 6 months at sea.
After the U-boat threat had been ‘resolved‘ during the Battle of the Atlantic, Jeff and his ship were sent to Dover and in the months leading up to and after D-Day performed smoke laying, minesweeping (including grenade sweeping) and convoy escorting duties. On at least one occasion the ship took fire from the Germans when it was sweeping too close to the French shore and had to bid a hasty retreat. Once the allied forces pushed the Germans away from the coast the ship could dock each night at French ports and enjoy local hospitality.
Jeff continued to sweep on BYMS2047 all along the French, Belgian and Dutch coasts and the Scheldt estuaries. He was later transferred to MMS173 until he was demobbed in 1946 as Jeff was considered ‘hostilities only’ having had no ties with the navy prior to the war. It was after his return from America to the UK that he earned the qualifications for the Legion of Honour.