No.C/JX154386, Leading Seaman, Alfred Ernest PLUMMER
Aged 25
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Alfred Ernest Plummer was born in Pakenham on 29th July 1917 (3rd qtr 1917 Bury St.Edmunds 4a:1328) son of Monday and Bertha (née CRICK).
His father was a postman in Ixworth who lost his right eye in 1918. In the 1939 register his parents (father a labourer) were at "Wooden House", Stow Lane, Ixworth with his sisters Mary E [30-12-1916, Stella M (BACKHOUSE) [5-11-1928] and Peggy (MANNING) [16-12-1932]; brothers Douglas L [3-4-1929] and Walter J [7-4-1935]. There is one closed entry. |
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From the few details in the Bury Free Press article it appears that Alfred would have joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor at Ganges. HMS Grove was operational in the Atlantic and Arctic convoys before going to the Mediterranean. H.M.S. Grove was a Hunt class destroyer, commissioned early 1942. While escorting convoy MW11 from Tobruk to Alexandria she was hit by two torpedoes from U-77 off Sollum. Bow and stern structure blown off and ship sank in 14 minutes. 110 men were lost, HMS Tetcott rescued 79 survivors. She had actually run aground in Tobruk and damaged her port propeller and the screw, reducing her speed to 8.5 knots.
also commemorated on the Ixworth memorial click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details |
