HMS Formidable Japanese kamikaze attack wounded WW2 medals photos badge Palmer

For sale is a set of medals comprising of 1939 – 45 Star, Atlantic Star, Burma Star with PACIFIC clasp, Italy Star, War Medal, all unnamed as issued, court mounted for display with Kings Badge affixed to the group. Comes with his original waterproof certificate of service, medal slip, Kings Badge certificate and photographs, many with hand written personal annotations to reverse. Leslie Albert Palmer was born in Hockbridge, Surrey on 1/8/1919. A linesman by trade he enlisted into the Royal Navy on 26/4/1943 as an ordinary seaman. After initial training he was posted HMS Formidable (Illustrious-class aircraft carrier) from 25/11/1943 – 21/7/1945. On 13/11/1943, the Formidable flew off her air group and sailed for Belfast to begin a lengthy refit, arriving on 19 November. The refit was completed in early June, and the ship spent the rest of the month working up. The 18 Corsairs of 1841 Squadron and the 24 Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers of 827 Squadron and 830 Squadrons flew aboard on 29 June and Formidable sailed for Scapa Flow to train with the carriers Furious and Indefatigable before launching an attack on the Tirpitz in Kaafjord on 17 July (Operation Mascot). Her Corsairs escorted the strike aircraft from the other carriers to the target; one was shot down by German flak. A smoke screen prevented most of the Barracudas from seeing their target and they failed to hit the Tirpitz. Upon the ship’s return to Scapa Flow, 827 and 830 Squadrons were replaced by 826 and 828 Squadrons, also flying Barracudas. Formidable’s air group was reinforced by a dozen Corsairs of 1842 Squadron on 7 August in preparation for further attacks on Tirpitz (Operation Goodwood). A smoke screen again protected the Tirpitz and no damage was inflicted. Another attack scheduled for the afternoon had to be cancelled because of low clouds. A further attack could not be mounted until 24 August because of bad weather. The Tirpitz was lightly damaged by two bomb hits during this attack. A final attack was made five days later, again without effect. She returned to Scapa Flow on 2 September. She later sailed to Gibraltar to begin a refit that, among other things, augmented her anti-aircraft outfit in preparation for operations in the Pacific. The Corsairs of No. 6 Naval Fighter Wing flew aboard on 1 January 1945, as did Grumman TBF Avengers of 848 Squadron. After several weeks of working up, Formidable departed Gibraltar on 14 January to join the British Pacific Fleet (BPF). She arrived in Sydney, the BPF’s main base, on 10 March after several stops en-route to refuel and embark stores and ammunition. By this time Formidable’s air group had a strength of 36 Corsairs and 18 Avengers. She arrived in San Pedro Bay in the Philippines on 4 April to await the return of the BPF from their efforts to neutralise airfields on the Sakishima Islands, between Okinawa and Formosa, as part of the preparations for the landings on Okinawa. Formidable was called forward six days later to join the 1st Aircraft Carrier Squadron (1st ACS) of the BPF on operations. She arrived on 14 April and contributed aircraft when the attacks recommenced two days later. The commander of 1842 Squadron was killed on the first day of operations while strafing buildings at Nobara airfield. After refuelling and two more days’ attacks, the BPF sailed on 20 April for San Pedro Bay to replenish its ships for further operations. The fleet returned to waters off Okinawa on 4 May and renewed its attacks on the airfields on the Sakishima Islands. Vice-Admiral Bernard Rawlings, second in command of the BPF, and his staff had determined that bombardment of Japanese gun positions by the heavy guns of battleships and cruisers might be a more effective method of destroying them than aerial attack. They detached King George V and Howe, as well as five cruisers, that morning to bombard Nobara and Hirara airfields of Miyako Island while fighters flew a protective CAP over them and spotted the fall of their shells. The loss of the most effective anti-aircraft ships was more important than anticipated and the Japanese were able to take advantage of the opportunity. The carrier had just launched two Corsairs for bombardment-spotting duties and the deck park of eleven Avengers was being moved forward to allow aircraft to land when an undetected Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter attacked at 11:31. The Zero first strafed the flight deck before any of Formidable’s guns could open fire and then turned sharply to dive into the forward flight deck despite the ship’s hard turn to starboard. The fighter released a bomb shortly before it would have impacted the deck and was destroyed by the bomb’s blast, although the remnants of the Zero struck Formidable. The detonation of the bomb put a large dent in the flight deck, around 24 feet by 20 feet and 2 feet deep, with a 2-square-foot hole in the centre and much spalling from the underside. It killed 2 officers and 6 ratings, wounding 55 other crewmen. A fragment from the flight-deck armour penetrated the hangar-deck armour and passed through the centre-boiler uptakes, the centre-boiler room itself, and an oil tank before it came to rest in the inner bottom. The fragment severed the steam pipes in the centre-boiler room and forced its evacuation, cutting the ship’s speed to 14 knots. The blast on the flight deck blew the Avenger closest to it over the side and set another one on fire. Shrapnel from the blast peppered the island, causing the bulk of the casualties, and severed many electrical cables, including those for most of the ship’s radars. The fires on the flight deck and in the hangar were extinguished by 11:55, and seven Avengers and a Corsair which were damaged beyond repair were dumped over the side. The bomb struck at the intersection of three armour plates and dented the plates over an area 20 by 24 feet. The dent was filled by wood and concrete and covered by thin steel plates tack-welded to the deck so that she was able to operate aircraft by 17:00 and steam at a speed of 24 knots. Thirteen of her Corsairs had been airborne at the time of the attack and they operated from the other carriers for a time. The damage to the boiler room and its steam pipes was repaired so that the centre boilers could be reconnected to the engines at 02:00 the next day. The bombardment significantly reduced Japanese aerial activity on 5 May, although several of Formidable’s Corsairs, temporarily operating from her sister Victorious, shot down a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft at an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,100 m). That evening the fleet withdrew to refuel and was back on station on 8 May although heavy rains forced the cancellation of the planned air strikes.