William Mervin Thomas Flage
William Flage also known as Bill or Taffy as he was Welsh, served on the 1952/54 commission of HMS Gambia. Bill's son, John sent a lot of information and photos of him.
William Flage and mates in 1953. Bill is one the left in this photo
Phot kindly submitted by Bill's son, John
Bill served in the RN from 1946 to 1953. Like my Dad he was a stoker, loved the navy and was also "special service" as he was reserved for 5 years on discharge ranked as LSMT. Sadly he passed away in 1984 of cancer, at a young 57.
The family lived in Filton, Bristol until emmigrating to Australia in 1967 and are now scattered around Australia. Bill's son, John Flage, who was born in 1961, was a Warrant Officer in the Royal Australian Navy, living in Perth, Western Australia and later in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, New South Wales. On April 12, 2017, John would have served 40 years with the RAN. In 2016, Bill's wife will be 86. John writes that she always regretted making him leave the service, she says it was the best years of his life but the hardest for her due to his continual absence at sea.
