G’day, James Sutton here today I’m going to tell you the story of a once famous resident of Roseville called Alfred Brian Palmer. Palmer was born in Redfern in 1889 and served in the British Navy during the First World War. Between the wars, he travelled the world as a merchant seaman, serving on many Commonwealth Line ships. A shipping company owned and operated by the Australian Federal Government until 1928. The depression in the 1930s caused major economic decline around the world, which substantially reduced trade and heavily impacted the shipping industry. As a result, Alfred Palmer took a role as Chief Officer of the SS Balls Head, whose job was to ferry greyhounds from Australia to China for an illegal dog racing circuit. He later became Commander of a company of Chinese Lancers in Shanghai, but at the outbreak of World War II, he was immediately tracked down and invited to rejoin the Royal Navy, initially on the HMS Medway. In 1941, a small 200-ton schooner called the Maria Giovanni was captured, and Palmer was made skipper.

At the time, German Field Marshal Rommel had captured a highly strategic port in Libya called Tobruk. The port was strategically important for access to the Suez Canal and Alexandria. 15,000 soldiers from the 9th Australian Division, who became known as “the rats of Tobruk” were called on to defend Tobruk. However, Rommel laid siege to that city. The siege lasted 214 days of intense heat without food and water, a dire situation that needed many heroes. Alfred Palmer was credited heavily for his bravery as he captured Maria Giovanni to break the blockade and successfully get supplies through to the troops and civilians trapped in Tobruk, despite the danger. He was eventually captured and sent to 12 different prisoner of war camps where he made multiple escape attempts, one of which caused such damage to his arm, he had to have it amputated. He published his memoirs in a book called “The Pirate of Tobruk: A Sailor’s Life on the Seven Seas between 1916 and 1948.”

Though it is referred to in history books as “Palmer of Tobruk.” A remarkable life, though his address in Roseville is unknown, a local newspaper of the time reported a story in 1945 referring to A.B Palmer of Roseville. But back to the modern day and the housing market in Roseville ended up the year in a really strong shape. The median price for three-bedroom houses remained constant over the year at around 2.9 million on the back of a huge increase the year before of 43.2%. Four-bedroom houses had a really slight decline to a median value of about 3.4 million, having risen by 46.4% the year prior. Five-bedroom houses increased in value by about 8.3%. So despite all the negative press around the housing market, prices have remained strong in Roseville throughout the last year, having recently sold a number of homes, including 26 Golfers, 15 King Edward, which we’re at at the moment, and 25 Lord Street, we can certainly attest to that. If you’d like to have your property valued or like to discuss your property in any detail, feel free to give me a call anytime. My number is 0422 704 370. I hope you enjoyed the story of Alfred Palmer and look forward to bringing you many more over the weeks and months to come. My name’s James Sutton and goodbye for now.