The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

5043293 L/Sig. William Norman Royal Navy HMS Nigeria from:Kings Lynn, Norfolk My sisters, Margaret and Elizabeth and I spent our childhoods during World War 2 in a small village in the hills behind Perth and the port of Fremantle in Western Australia. My cousin Edna, and mother Ethleen billeted crew members from British ships when they called at Fremantle. Among the ships that called were HMS Kenya - and, memorably, HMS Nigeria. I was 9 years of age, Maggie was 7 and Liz was 4. Commander Oliver was first billeted with us in our big airy house on the hills above Darlington. We have fond memories of him - my sisters remember seating this senior serviceman on the floor of their playroom and dressing him in their play-clothes! Then came Bill. We have never forgotten him. He became an embedded part of our memories of our childhood. We were deeply fond of 'our sailor Bill' Nigeria was in port for 3 weeks I think and Bill stayed for about a week. Mum and Dad served him breakfast in bed. We roamed our orchard picking fruit from the trees. We went for long walks in the hills - I remember taking him on one of my 'secret' tracks to see what I regarded as my own discovery of a glade of rare spider orchids. We knew that he enjoyed the dances held in the tiny local hall when all his shipmates from the billets in the districts had a chance to meeti some of the local girls - and, I imagine a doughty cohort of watchful local matrons as well!. The Japanese war was threatening Australia at the time - Darwin had already been bombed among some 15 air raids in the north-west - but our childhood focus was very much on England, and Bill in his smart uniform represented everything heroic we imagined of the Empire, though I am sure he would not have regarded himself as a hero. Many years later I realized he was only 18 at the time - a boy himself, swept up into the maw of that dreadful war. In a letter to my Mother (Ethleen) and Father (Ted), after leaving Fremantle, he called us 'my three children'. I am now 74 and If Bill is alive he would now be about 83 years of age. We only know he came from Kings Lynn in Norfolk. This request is inspired by the fact that 60 years on, my great niece and god-daughter is in a primary school in rural Oxfordshire and I have been asked to provide a few memories of a childhood in Australia during WWII. I would be a wonderful convergence of time and fate if someone among your membership remembered 'our Bill' and could direct us to him or his descendants. Whatever happens - or doesn't happen as a result of this request, please accept it as a modest but heartfelt tribute to a fine young man and to his years of service for his country. Storry Walton Add to this record.  Related Content: HMS Nigeria Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.