HMS Diadem
the diary of signalman John Emrys Williams

Joseph Connor

Can anyone help Des Connor from Coleraine in Northern Ireland with this query about his late father's Distinguished Service Medal citation?

"Hi, I have just been reading with interest about Diadem. My late father served on her on the Russian convoys - not sure what date. He passed away in June 1964 aged 50 when I was 11. He was awarded the DSM and I would like to know what it was for. I tried to get the citation but was never able to find it . His name was Joseph Connor and he was a seaman service number PX10098B. I thought you might like to know this. I feel very proud of what my father came through for our country."

"My mother, who is still alive at age 97, often told us that after the war my father suffered bad headaches and problems with his ears ringing and weeping liquid. It must have been hard for him to live with this when he was working at his job as a joiner. I would have liked to have got to know him and shared his memories of the Royal Navy in wartime but I was just 11 when he died of a blood clot on his brain."

- Des Connor from Coleraine 21 March 2013

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