| Over the next month Petard was employed mostly on escort work, including being part of the screening force of 23 destroyers for the aircraft carriers Illustrious and Formidable and the battleships Nelson, Rodney, Warspite and Valiant. Both destroyers were raked by German machine gun fire, but there were no casualties, and only minor damage was sustained. Escort Group B-5 returned to MOEF with the H-class destroyer Havelock, the Flower-class corvettes Pimpernel, Godetia, Saxifrage, Buttercup and Lavender and with the new River-class frigate Swale replacing the old destroyers. As unbelievable as it sounds, the oldest active duty member of the US Coast Guard in history was Anthony Christy, who served until he was a staggering 105 years old. The non-profit organization serves to explain and promote the history of the civil rights movement. One of his last actions was to send the ceremonial colours from Uarsciek to Walkers Yard in Newcastle. One of the first Retribution offensive sweeps was carried out by Pakenham, Queen Olga and Petard on 16 March.. Three dive bombers were shot down; one, which narrowly missed Queen Olga, by the accompanying Beaufighters. |
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| 2026/03/03(Tue) 18:46 |
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