Able Sea. Robert Alan Stoker
Royal Navy HMS Pembroke
from:Sunderland, Co Durham
Robert Stoker was my dad. He was known all his life by his middle name Alan. He joined the Royal Navy on the 14th of June 1943 and was on HMS Ganges until 27th of August 1943. He was 18 years old. On the 28th of August 1943 he was transferred to HMS Pembroke. From his papers he went to the Nile and he also protected Malta to help ships get through with much needed food. His role was to man the huge guns on the ship and in future years this contributed to him having perforated eardrums so was quite deaf and had to use hearing aids.
Dad didn’t talk about the war very much but I do know he was torpedoed. He also told me his parents received the dreaded telegram stating that he was missing and presumed dead. It turned out that he had actually been shot in the leg and was in a hospital somewhere, sorry can’t remember what hospital. Dad finished his service on HMS Pembroke on the 1st March 1946 and was Released Class B.
