Donald Waterall

PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL Panel 83 Column 2

Able Seaman Waterall was killed in action on 24 February 1944. This is the exact date HMS Anthony—in cooperation with the destroyer HMS Wishart and RAF aircraft—successfully located and sank the German submarine U-761 in the Strait of Gibraltar. He was one of the casualties suffered by the ship's company during these intense anti-submarine operations.

HMS Anthony (H40) was an A-class destroyer of the Royal Navy built by Scotts Shipbuilding in Greenock, commissioned in 1930, and heavily active throughout World War II.

Key WWII Operations & Service

• Dunkirk Evacuation (Operation Dynamo) (1940): Played a major role in rescuing over 3,000 troops from the beaches.
• Hunt for the Bismarck (1941): Participated in the fleet operations and interception efforts in the Atlantic.
• Arctic & Home Waters: Served on convoy escort duties and participated in the Spitzbergen raid.
• Operation Ironclad (1942): Landed Royal Marines directly into the harbor at Diego Suarez (Madagascar) in a daring night assault.
• North Africa & Sicily: Took part in Operation Torch (1942) and Operation Husky (1943).
• Anti-Submarine Warfare (1944): Re-armed as an anti-submarine escort and assisted in sinking the German submarine U-761 on February 24, 1944.
• Civic Adoption: Adopted by the town of Matlock, Derbyshire, in 1942.

Fate After the War

• Converted into an air target ship in 1945.
• Placed in reserve and used for damage control trials.
• Sold for scrap and broken up at Troon, Scotland, in 1948.