My father was a wirelss operator on HMS Puckeridge, name Sev Gander, known as Pete, he was adjusting the radio antenna on top of the gun turret in September 1943 afternoon when torpedos hit and the ship blew up, the turret was badly damaged in the explosion and he was pinned under the wreckage, the ship began to sink and all survivors abandoned ship, he couldnt get free. As the ship sank the wreckage began to shift and he was able to get free and swim away from the ship, he was picked up by a Spanish fishing vessel with the other survivors,The naval coast guard were signalled and the spanish boat was made to go to Gibraltar, rather than to Spain, and they all disembarked at Gib. My dad went into hospital with a mangled leg, which was then amputated, He died last year in July 2013 aged 92. His was the only injury out of all the survivors, of course a large number of men were killed straight away when the torpedos struck. He sailed in Puckeridge to Italy and the North African coast where he saw Rommel's army captured in huge numbers. Before Puckeridge he was on HMS Brocklesby and was involved at the Dieppe and St Nazaire Raids.