Victor George Colby

A Chief Petty Officer with H.M.S. Boadicea, Victor died on 13th of June 1944 aged 32. 

Victor was born at Oulton Broad on 7 January 1912, a son of Ernest and Florence Colby. In 1921 his family lived at 1 Oswald Cottages, Bridge Road. 

On 13 December 1939 Victor married Elizabeth Codling at Saint Mark’s Church, Oulton Broad. Victor was a Petty Officer with the Royal Navy and gave his address as 5 Station Road, Sycamore Avenue, and Elizabeth lived at 25 Blackheath Road. Their home was at 22 Sycamore Avenue.

Victor worked as an acetylene cutter before joining the Royal Navy, as a Boy 2nd Class, on 1 April 1927. Victor served continuously with the Royal Navy until his death in 1944.  

In June 1944 Victor served with the destroyer H.M.S. Boadicea. On 13 June the Boadicea was off Portland Bill escorting a convoy of merchant ships to France, German bombers attacked the ship causing the ship’s magazine to explode, sinking the ship. Only twelve of the ship’s 182 crew survived.