The Probus Club of St Annes-on-the-Sea

Rodney Archer
September 1924 - 26 December 2013

Rodney Dennis Stanley Archer was born September 1924 in Bournemouth.  He volunteered for the Royal Navy in 1942. Serving on HMS Victory training as Sonar ASDIC operator in Scotland on HMS Nimrod, he then embarked on the Queen Mary for New York.  He served mainly on the Western Approaches on convoy escorts in the Arctic Circle, including Murmansk in Russia with supplies for the Russian Army.  Whilst on duty involved in a U-boat sinking, Rodney received damage to his ear and was hospitalised.  The London Gazette records “Able Seaman Rodney Archer – mentioned in dispatches for distinguished service - in respect of sinking a U-boat”.  He was demobbed in May 1946.

Rodney was a civil servant in Stormont NI for forty years and retired in 1988.  After retirement he helped raise thousands of pounds for The Salvation Army through his work in the charity shop.  He was a life-long member of the Salvation Army and Sunday School Leader for 22 years.

Whilst In Belfast with the Royal Navy he met and married Peggy in June 1945. Married for 67 years, they have two children, 6 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.  Peggy pre-deceased Rodney in 2012 and Rodney moved to St. Annes to be near his daughter Carole and husband Phil Webb who introduced him to Probus where he became a member.  He enjoyed the weekly meetings very much.

The funeral service in St. Annes was followed by a Thanksgiving Service in Northern Ireland in a packed Church with many friends in attendance and he will be missed by a great many.

Les Hall