Roger P . Hill Lieutenant Commander Roger Percival Hill , DSO , DSC , ( 22 June 1910 – 5 May 2001 ) was a commander in many famous destroyers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War . Hill served in crucial theatres of the war , being present in the Arctic convoys , the Mediterranean Campaign and Malta Convoys , as well as playing a supporting role aboard HMS " Jervis " during the Normandy landings . Hill ' s first command , HMS " Ledbury " played a part in the success of Operation Pedestal , the convoy to resupply the beleaguered island of Malta . The " Ledbury " propped up the crucial oil tanker SS " Ohio " after it was hit and successively torpedo ed by Axis forces , and nursed it to reach the Grand Harbour , Valletta . Early Service Record . Hill was educated at Pangbourne College , before joining the Royal Navy in 1927 . Between 1 September 1928 and October 1930 , he served aboard the battlecruiser , with the Atlantic Fleet . Hill was confirmed as a sub - lieutenant on 16 July 1931 , and then took a promotion course at Portsmouth between August 1931 and January 1932 , serving in the Mediterranean aboard the battleship HMS " Resolution " up to June 1933 . He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 December 1933 . He served aboard the cruiser HMS " Caradoc " in China while Hill was aboard the destroyer HMS " Electra " ( part of the Home Fleet ) . He served again aboard between August 1937 and February 1938 , later serving in the Mediterranean aboard the cruiser HMS " Penelope " . After serving for the eight months ending March 1940 aboard the minesweeping trawler HMS " Tamora " , Hill served as first lieutenant aboard the sloop HMS " Enchantress " . Having been stationed for three months on the mainly administrative Combined Operations Centre HMS " Quebec II " in Largs , Scotland , he was appointed as commander of HMS " Ledbury " on 30 December 1941 . War Service . Commander of the Ledbury . Hill escorted the Russian convoys PQ 15 , PQ 16 and the unfortunate PQ 17 , in which twenty - three out of thirty - four freighters were sunk after a signal to scatter was received from the Admiralty . Hill ' s Senior Officer on PQ 17 , Captain Jack Broome , wrote that " after PQ 17 [ Hill ] had little faith in the shore staff who directed operations at sea . He was part rebel : in another age he would have made an excellent - if humane - pirate " . After taking part in Russian convoy escort duty , the " Ledbury " was transferred to the Mediterranean , arriving in the Straits of Gibraltar to join the escort for Convoy Pedestal . In early August , thirteen merchant ships and the tanker Ohio , with an escort of aircraft carriers , battleships , cruisers , destroyers and submarines , left Gibraltar . The convoy was continuously assaulted by Axis airpower , U - boat s and E - boat s . After a few days at sea , the convoy was attacked by Luftwaffe Ju 88 dive bomber s and torpedo bomber s . During this attack , Hill took the " Ledbury " through the columns of freighters , crossing and reaching the head of the column to have " a better place to shoot at these planes " . During the attack that continued through the night , the " Ohio " ' s steering gear was damaged . Hill moved the " Ledbury " alongside the stricken tanker , and then led the " Ohio " back into the convoy . As the convoy approached Malta , the ships came under assault by Ju 88 s , in an action which Hill himself described to be as " a mother and father of an attack " . The freighter SS " Waimarama " , which was transporting fuel in drums on her upper deck , suffered a direct hit by a stick of bombs , blowing up in an inferno which engulfed surrounding ships and survivors alike . The flames blazed hundreds of feet in the air , and the Mediterranean was aflame " as far as the eye could see " . As Italian aircraft dropped circling torpedoes into the water , Hill led the " Ledbury " into the surrounding inferno , where the destroyer ' s complement went over the ship ' s side with ropes to pick up survivors from the explosion . The intensity of the heat , and the amount of flames around the destroyer was so immense that as Hill leant over the side of his ship , he held on to his beard " to prevent it catching fire " . Again under frequent bombardment , the " Ledbury " , with the destroyers Penn and Bramham , nursed the disabled " Ohio " towards Malta , pushing her into its position for a tug , to take her into harbour - there the whole group of ships around the destroyer were greeted by bands playing , and people cheering and shouting . Hill received the signal " Well Done " from Prime Minister , Winston Churchill , and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order . The Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Vian wrote that Hill ' s " intrepidity and resource seemed to have no limit " . Later engagements . In 1943 , Hill received the command of the destroyer HMS " Grenville " . On the way from the English Channel to the Mediterranean , the " Grenville " was engaged in a successful U - boat hunt in the Bay of Biscay . For this action , Hill was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . Afterwards the " Grenville " took part in Operation Tunnels , with night sweeps to sink Axis shipping trying to reach Biscay ports . The " Grenville " was present when the cruiser was sunk , leaving Hill as Senior Officer to deal with the aftermath and to give evidence in a subsequent court martial . Immediately after this action , the " Grenville " was ordered to the Mediterranean , where she was one of the supporting ships off the Anzio beachhead . Hill was transferred to the command of the destroyer HMS " Jervis " , which was repaired after having her bows blown off by a guided bomb , in which he supported the Normandy landings in June 1944 . By September 1944 , " Jervis " s engines were heavily worn , and the destroyer took a long refit in Belfast . Hill was Mentioned in Despatches for his part in the Normandy landings . Hill was then sent to command an Air Station . Then , as a passenger in an ambulance , Hill sustained head injuries which led to his being invalided out of the service . He was placed on the retired list on 30 July 1946 . Later life . In 1965 , after his first marriage ended , Hill and his second wife emigrated to New Zealand . Initially , he worked as a dock labourer , while he was writing his wartime memoirs , " Destroyer Captain " . Afterwards , Hill taught navigation at Nelson Technical College , and farmed outside Nelson . Hill built a house , which he called " Jervis " and was a member of the Nelson Harbour Board . Latterly , he lived at Arrowtown , Central Otago . Roger Hill , who died in New Zealand aged 91 , is survived by his second wife Jonquil and their two daughters , and by a daughter and son ( a second died in an accident when Chief Officer of a merchant ship and a third in more recent years ) from his first marriage . His ashes were scattered over Grand Harbour in 2002 .