Few people know that one of the crew members of HMS Hardy, whose captain was awarded the prestigious Victoria Cross (VC) medal, was a certain Carmelo Aquilina of Valletta.

Born on June 4, 1898, he first married Maria née Gatt and had five children. After she died during childbirth in 1934, he moved in with his family who lived in St John Street, Nadur. His father, who was also named Carmelo, was a silversmith and his mother Carmela’s maiden name was Schembri.

Aquilina in navy uniform

Carmelo Jr married another woman from Nadur, Virginia (Ginny) née Micallef, a widow with five children. They had two children, Lucy and Raymond.

In 1953, he relocated to Malta where he died on November 3, 1953, at the age of 55. He was buried at the Addolorata Cemetery. His second wife, Ginny subsequently emigrated to Australia with their two children.

The Victoria Cross is the highest and most prestigious award of the British system of honours. It is awarded for valiant deeds during the war to members of the British armed forces. It can also be given posthumously. It may be granted to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command.

Since the first prizes were presented by Queen Victoria in 1856, two-thirds of all prizes have been presented in person by the British monarch. These investiture ceremonies are usually held at Buckingham Palace.

The VC medal was introduced on January 29, 1856, by Queen Victoria to honour brave deeds during the Crimean War. Afterwards, honour continued to be awarded regularly to servicemen who showed heroic deeds during World War II.

The Victoria Cross medal

Captain Warburton-Lee was awarded the medal posthumously, on behalf of the crew of HMS Hardy, for their role in World War II while serving in the Norwegian waters. When they returned to England, they were greeted in person by then prime minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Warburton-Lee, or “Wash” as he was known in the navy, took command of HMS Hardy in August 1939 when he led a flotilla of destroyers to Malta. He stayed for a short time and from Malta went to Freetown, in Sierra Leone for six months. The flotilla returned to England in February 1940.

Aquilina joined the Royal Navy in 1939 and was hired on HMS Hardy as a cook when she was in Malta. He continued to work on it during the war. According to J.F. Turner (VC’s of the Royal Navy, 1973), he prepared very good burgers. He never lived in England.

HMS Hardy was built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms embargo imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. The Hardy was then transferred to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in October 1939, to hunt for German trade raiders in the South Atlantic with Force K.

HMS Hardy

After returning to the UK on April 9, 1940, the Admiralty ordered the Hardy and four other Class H destroyers − Hotspur, Hostile, Havock and Hunter − to attack German ships in Narvik, Norway.

Operation Wilfred began on Tuesday, April 2, 1940, when,  early in the morning, Hardy led four more destroyers from the Ofotfjord in a surprise attack on the port of Narvik during an ice storm. The main German destroyer, Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp, was hit and the German flotilla commander, Friedrich Bonte, was killed during the attack. The Heidkamp sank the next day.

The second torpedo attack was carried out against two German destroyers but were not hit, although severe damage was done to the iron ore basins.

Following the regrouping, Warburton-Lee conducted another attack on the port later that morning but the attack was unsuccessful due to poor visibility.

As the British destroyers completed their second attack, they were attacked by three German destroyers. The British destroyers tried to retreat to the west but were pursued by German ships and two other German destroyers that arrived on the scene to assist in the German attack.

Hardy was hit several times and started sinking. During this attack, Warburton-Lee was shot and severely wounded All other officers, including the second-in-command, Lieutenant G.H. Stanning, were killed or wounded. Although he was wounded, Stanning took command and, after the ship was hit several more times, he ordered the ship to be wrecked at Vidrek and she was eventually abandoned.

Warburton-Lee was brought ashore and died an hour later from head injuries.

Another 139 men managed to land, including Aquilina, but 26 were seriously injured. The Hardy sank in the shallow sea of the Skjomen Fjord and the wreckage of the destroyer was still visible on the seabed until 1963.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Paul Aquilina, grandson of Carmelo Aquilina, for the photos and the information about his family and the permission to publish.