263794 ERA. Harry Ronald Ward Royal Navy HMS Eagle from:Portsmouth, Hampshire My grandfather, Harry Ward, joined the Royal navy in July 1929, aged twenty. He was serving aboard the HMS Eagle when it was torpedoed and sunk during Operation Pedestal. Luckily, he was not in the engine room at that time. In the water for two hours before being picked up, he remembers choking on the petrol that was in the sea. His wife, Peggy, was pregnant with their second child at the time and had to wait a couple of weeks before knowing her husband's fate. Family history has it that his hair went white overnight due to the shock. He remained in the Royal Navy until 22nd June 1949.
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