The Naval Auxiliary Patrol was established as a formation of the RAN. A volunteer patrol had operated from Australian ports from the outbreak of WWII. In the first 10 days of the NAP’s existence, 450 men were enlisted. The vessels used by the patrol, peacetime pleasure cruisers, became known as ‘nappies’.
HMAS NESTOR, (destroyer), embarked troops and sailed from Gibraltar as an escort of Force H, bound for Malta.