| 8th Assignment - HMS MELBREAK |
| 29/09/1942 to 11/11/1942 - Leading Stoker - HMS Melbreak. |
| 12/11/1942 to 17/05/1943 - Acting Stoker Petty Officer - HMS Melbreak. |
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| HMS Melbreak, (Pennant No. L73) was a group 3 Hunt class Escort Destroyer built by Swan Hunter Shipyard in 1942 and had a crew of 168 officers and ratings. Hunt class Escort Destroyers were, for reasons of cost built purely as escort ships and were designed for a top speed of 27 knots, as opposed to the conventional type Destroyers which were much faster, excess speed was considered wasted for ships which would be escorts to the slower merchant vessels. HMS Melbreak was heavily armed with two twin 4-inch AA, twin 21-inch topedo tubes, a Pom Pom, 40mm Bofors AA mounted in front of the bridge and on the quarterdeck, 4 Depth Charge Motors and 3Depth Charge Racks. The Hunt class Escort Destroyers were too unstable and short ranged for trans-oceanic duties, their main use was around the East Coast of Britain, The North Sea and for Mediterranean convoy escorts. In July 1943 whilst part of the Force 26 operation she was torpedoed and badly damaged. In June 1944 she was part of the British bombardment force during the Normandy Invasion, positioned on the Eastern sector of Omaha Beach. She was in service throughout the war and was scrapped in 1956. |
| HMS Melbreak - in Plymouth Sound 1943 |
| 9th Assignment - HMS PEMBROKE |
| 18/05/1943 to 09/06/1943 - Acting Stoker Petty Officer - HMS Pembroke, (Chatham Barracks). |
| 10th Assignment - HMS ESSINGTON |
| 10/06/1943 to 11/11/1943 - Acting Stoker Petty Officer - HMS Essington. 12/11/1943 to 30/09/1945 - Stoker Petty Officer - HMS Essington. |
| HMS Essinton, (Pennant No. K-353) was a Buckley Class Escort Destroyer built at the Mare Island , Calofornia, laid-1942, launched-1943, commissioned-1943. She was lend leased from the United States Navy. Buckley class Escort Destroyers were built purely for escort duties and as such had a top speed of only 25 knots. HMS Essington was heavily armed with three 3-inch AA, four 1.1-inch AA,eight 20mm AA, three 21-inch torpedo tubes, one "hedgehog", two Depth Charge Racks and eight DCT's. She was part of the 3rd Escort Group.and earned the following battle honours : Artic, (Russian Convoys), Biscay, English Channel, Normandy Landings. On 29th June 1943 whilst patro;;ing the English Channel, off the western coast of Guernsey she joined forces with HMS Duckworth, HMS Domett and HMS Cooke in the successful sinking of German U-Boat, U-988. On 14th August 1944 whilst patrolling the Bay of Biscay west of Nazaire she again joined frces with HMS Duckworth to sink the German U-Boat, U-618. She continued to operate throughout the war and was returned to the United States Navy in October 1945, before finally being sold for scrap and broken up in 1947. |
| 11th Assignment - HMS PEMBROKE |
| 01/10/1945 to 28/11/1945 - Stoker Petty Officer - HMS Pembroke, (Chatham Barracks). |
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| HMS Essington alongside HMS Duckworth and HMS Berry |