HMS Overdale Wyke

Ohlson, Lt. A. Smith (Engineer), P/O Stanislaus, P/O (Tel) Rankine, P/O (SM) Bastiampillai, P/O (CK) Marshall and Stwd.

Between March 1941 and December 1944, HMS Overdale Wyke with a crew of 4 officers and 40 sailors took on multiple duties including patrolling, minesweeping, providing escort services, search-and-rescue work and anti-submarine attacks.

On 5 April 1942, during the Easter Sunday Raid on Colombo, Lt. Simpson moved her close to HMS Hector which had been hit and ablaze to assist putting out its fires only missing a stick of bombs that fell on her former moorings.

Along with other vessels of the CNVF the armed trawlers Hoxa and Balta; converted Antarctic whaler Okapi, Semla and Sambur supported by tugs Samson, Goliath and C-405; she formed part of the Ceylon Escort Group, which was later designated the ABCD (“Arabia-Bangala-Ceylon-Dutch East Indies”) group, carrying out patrol, escort, search-and-rescue, guard-ship and sundry other duties off Ceylon, Bay of Bengal and as far west as Addu Atoll and Diego Garcia.

In September 1943, she intercepted and accepted the surrender of the Italian sloop Eritrea and escort her to the Colombo port with a prize crew on board.