Palmer was about 35 years old, and a private in the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, British Army during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

[1] On 5 November 1854 at the Battle of Inkerman, Crimea, Private Palmer, with two other men were the first to volunteer to go with Brevet Major Sir Charles Russell to dislodge a party of Russians from the Sandbag Battery.

During this action Private Palmer shot down an assailant who was in the act of bayoneting Russell, and so saved his life.

[2] He was also one of a small band which, by a desperate charge against overwhelming numbers, saved the Colours of the battalion from capture.

[3] In 1874, Palmer was commissioned as a captain in the part-time 5th (Plaistow and Victoria Docks) Essex Rifle Volunteer Corps.