A Petty Officer's Saga of Second World War Mediterranean service, who survived a sinking in 1941, served on Malta Convoys, and believed interred by the Vichy French in Tunisia: Chief Petty Officer Ralph William Punchard, Royal Navy late H.M.S. Havock

- The 1939-45 Star. No clasp
- The Atlantic Star. With clasp 'France and Germany'
- The Africa Star. No clasp
- Defence Medal
- War Medal 1939-45
- Naval LS&GC Medal. GVI first type (M.39646 R. W. Punchard, SY. P.P. H.M.S. Havock.)

Survivor of sinking of H.M.S. Grimsby off Tobruk, 25 May 1941: HMS Grimsby was a sloop of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class. Grimsby was built in the 1930s, entering service in 1934. Serving most of her pre-war service at Hong Kong, Grimsby was deployed on convoy escort duties along the East coast of the Britain and in the Mediterranean Sea during the Second World War. Ralph Punchard served aboard H.M.S. Grimsby from 1 November 1939 through to the day the ship was destroyed and sunk off, Tobruk, on, 25 May 1941. 'Grimsby' and the trawler Southern Main were escorting the tanker Helka to besieged Tobruk. unusually on that fateful day, no fighter air cover had been provided to the small convoy as it steamed along the North African coast, and it was attacked by seven Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers of the Italian 239a Squadriglia attacked the convoy, sinking Hekla and damaging Grimsby. A second attack by Ju 87s of the German I/StG 1 later in the day sank Grimsby, killing eleven of Grimsby's crew at the cost of one Ju 87 shot down

H.M.S. Havock: Ralph Punchard, was posted to H.M.S. Havock, on 26 May 1941, the day after the sinking of 'Grimsby'. HMS Havock was an H-class destroyer built for the British Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. Ralph joined Havock when was under repair at Alexandria until 16 June 1941. The ship bombarded Vichy French positions in Lebanon in early July, and then began escorting ships to Tobruk until October. In mid-December, 1941, she escorted the supply ship Breconshire to the island fortress of Malta during the brief engagement known as First Battle of Sirte, and then joined Force K in an attempt to intercept an Italian convoy to Tripoli, Libya. On the night of 18/19 December, the reinforced Force K ran over an Italian minefield that sank one cruiser and damaged two others. Havock escorted the badly damaged light cruiser Aurora back to Malta. Havock was one of four destroyers that escorted Breconshire back to Alexandria in early January 1942. Whilst escorting another convoy to Malta, the ship was diverted to escort the damaged freighter Thermopylae from Benghazi back to Alexandria but the latter was attacked and sunk en route by Axis aircraft on 19 January. Havock rescued some 350 survivors before Thermopylae sank

The ship was transferred to the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla in February and continued to escort convoys to Malta. On 22 March 1942, several splinters from a 15-inch (38 cm) near miss from the Italian battleship Littorio perforated one of her boilers during the Second Battle of Sirte, killing eight men. Havock was forced to make for Malta for repairs. Whilst in dock, the ship was a target for Axis aircraft and sustained some damage on 3 April and was ordered to Gibraltar before her repairs were complete. Havock ran aground off Kelibia, Tunisia, in the Strait of Sicily on 6 April and was wrecked, with one crewman killed in the incident. Her crew and passengers were interned by the Vichy French at Laghouat in the Sahara, but were released in November 1942, as a result of Operation Torch. Her wreck was later torpedoed by the Italian submarine Aradam

Medals and clasp verification: The 1936-1945 era campaign medal rolls for the Royal Navy, are not yet in the public domain. The recipients extant Royal Navy service sheets do however confirm recipients service for the duration of the Second World War (note service sheets 1939-1946 do not include any enumeration of Second World War campaign medals awarded), together with the names of ships served aboard including confirmation of the award of the Naval LSGC as cited below:

- The 1939-45 Star: Qualified serving aboard H.M.S. Grimsby 1939-1940, Service Sheet refers
- The Atlantic Star. With clasp 'France and Germany': Qualified for Atlantic Star aboard H.M.S. Grimsby 1939-1940
- The Africa Star: Qualified serving H..M.S. Nile / H.M.S. Havock April-July 1941
- Defence Medal: Awarded for aggregated service (served for duration of WW2)
- War Medal 1939-45: Awarded for 28 days uniformed service 1939-45
- Naval LSGC. GVI issue: Medal shown as 'Traced' on service sheet 24.10.41

Ralph William Punchard, son of Richard Punchard (a Farm Labourer) and Emma Elizabeth Punchard (nee Hipkin) was a native of, Norwich, Bramerton, Norfolk, England, where he was born on 21 August 1908. Ralph joined the Royal Navy on 16 August 1924., on which date he was rated 'Boy II'. Amongst the ships he served aboard in the period 1924-28, including, H.M.S. Centurion, H.M.S. Warspite, H.M.S. Malaya & H.M.S. Centaur. Ralph Punchard married Nora Annie Nicholls in 1929. He is recorded to have died at Norwich, Norfolk, England, sometime during the first quarter of 1976

Condition: Mostly GVF

Code: 24330