HOMER William

HMS Prince of Wales was a battleship of the King George V Class. In August 1941 following repairs from damage sustained during a battle in late May, she carried Winston Churchill across the Atlantic to Newfoundland for the Atlantic Charter Conference, the first meeting between the Prime Minister and the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In early December 1941 HMS Prince of Wales went to the Far East with the battlecruiser HMS Repulse in response to the growing threat from Japan. Following the attack on Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941, the Japanese invaded northern Malaya and the two ships along with four destroyers were sent to attack the invading troops. Unable to locate the invasion force the British ships were en-route to Singapore when they came under attack from a large force of Japanese bombers and torpedo planes. With no allied aircraft to offer protection, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were hit several times. At around 12.30 HMS Repulse capsized followed less than an hour later by HMS Prince of Wales. Out of the 1612 men on board the Prince of Wales, 327 lost their lives – 20 officers including the Captain, 280 sailors and 27 marines.

A memorial book to the fallen of WW2 can be found in St Andrew’s Church, Netherton. Information on William Homer states that he was killed in action whilst serving with the Royal Navy on HMS Prince of Wales. Home Address: 29 Norton Crescent

William Homer has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on Plymouth Naval Memorial.