The Battle and the Breeze follows Edward Ashmore from junior service into the demanding Malta convoy of Operation Harpoon. After the distant covering force and carrier turned back, the close escort continued with the anti-aircraft cruiser Cairo, fleet destroyers, and Hunt-class destroyers. Italian and German aircraft attacked from dawn to dusk, and the escorts had deliberately crammed aboard as much anti-aircraft ammunition as they could carry. Italian cruisers and destroyers then forced the escorts to divide attention between screening the convoy, closing the surface force, and protecting damaged ships. Ashmore's account gives a compact picture of why Malta supply depended on ships confronting air attack, surface action, ammunition limits, and convoy survival at the same time.
Chapter · 2:49:53-3:00:01
Operation Harpoon and the fight to supply Malta
Edward Ashmore's memoir shows a Malta convoy under concentrated air and surface threat, including the limits of its destroyer escort.