216966 A/Ldg Sea. Edmund Wiley Royal Navy HMS Nigeria My Uncle served on the HMS Nigeria he was A/Ldg Sea. Edmund Wiley. He joined the Navy in 1933 and joined the Nigeria on 3rd September 1940 after spending two weeks in May at the Gunnery School in Portsmouth and was then based at Chatham awaiting ship. My mum said that he loved the Nigeria and he said that no one would ever sink her.
However my Uncle 'Teddy' was one of the many young brave men who was killed during Operation Pedestal on August 12th 1942. He was just 27 years old and left behind a young widow of 26 and four young children as well as a mother and father who had lost their only son, and two sisters who had lost a brother. It always haunted my mother, she could never talk about her brother without crying her heart out. From my aspect it is the terrible price of war that ripples through the generations of a family.
I was born in 1964 so I never experienced the war nor sadly was I able to know my Uncle Teddy. However I proudly display a photo of him on my wall at home and try to pass on his memory as much as possible. I will never forget all those who gave so much for our freedom today. I would so love to get in touch with anyone who may have known him. My mum said that he was very well liked on the ship and the fact that none of his friends from the ship visited after he was killed must have ment that they too were also killed on that day.
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