Six months later, with "Eglinton" based at Harwich, Manner's and his wife again avoided death under similar circumstances, when their rented house was hit by a bomb while they were in the bathroom; although unscathed, four other occupants of the house were killed. Manners served as a lieutenant aboard "Eglinton" until February 1942, after which he held a brief command aboard which was being repaired at Chatham. After a few weeks commanding "Fame", Manners was sent to at Falmouth, after her first lieutenant had fallen overboard and drowned. He served aboard "Eskimo" in Operation Harpoon during the siege of Malta in June 1942, subsequently seeing action in the relief of Malta, for which he was later mentioned in dispatches. In September 1942, "Eskimo" formed part of Convoy PQ 18 escorting supply ships in the Arctic on their way to the Soviet Union, before returning to the Mediterranean to take part in the Operation Torch landings. Manners was made commanding officer of "Eskimo" in May 1943, with the ship taking part in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, during which she was bombed and severely damaged.