A lifeboat, commanded by PO J. Tyrrell, containing 23 survivors from HMAS PERTH, (cruiser), surrendered to the Japanese at Semangka Bay, Sumatra. The party set out to sail to Australia after their ship sank, but 37 days of adverse winds and constant searching for food and water weakened them. On 1 April the boat was shelled by a Japanese destroyer, but they escaped under cover of dark. After their capture they were taken to a prison camp at Palembang, where they remained until the end of the war.
LCDR V.A. Smith, DSC, RAN, participated in operations from the escort carrier, HMS TRACKER, which resulted in the destruction of six German long range aircraft and the sinking of the submarines U288 and U366, in the period 1 to 3 April. TRACKER, equipped with Avenger fighter bombers and Wildcat fighters, was escorting an Arctic convoy to Murmansk.