大象传媒

My grandfather who served on HMS Vivacious which saw action at Dunkirk and in the sinking of the Scharnost During the tours between Newcastle and Murmansk his ship was in a collision in fog with another of the convoy.At the time he was on the bow and in a thousand to one chance was thrown onto the deck of the of the other ship slicing through his leg below the knee on the shell rack.Less than 60 seconds in the artic would have meant certain death but he landed fully concious on the deck of the other ship which turned out to be Vivacious's sister ship.This was crucial in saving his life as he knew the exact location of sick bay and he was he was able to crawl down there where medics were able to stem the bleeding but unable to save the leg.He was taken to Newcastle General Infirmary in October 1942.This story was handed down to me by my mother - Marina Patricia Palmer nee Sockhill

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