Pacific Voyage: A Year on the Escort Carrier HMS Arbiter During World War II

This book is a personal account of the closing stages of the war against Japan, victory being, in no small way, due to the contribution of the British Pacific Fleet. Formed in 1944, the Fleet, the largest, multifarious collection of ships of all shapes and sizes to operate as a single unit, collaborated with the much larger forces of America to reclaim all the areas of the Far East overrun by the Japanese. Peter Ward joined HMS Arbiter, an escort carrier, and part of the BPF, as a leading Seaman Radar RP2. The book describes HMS Arbiter’s trip to its Pacific Base, Sydney, Australia via Gibraltar, the Mediterranean and India etc., followed by her part in supplying the Main Fleet in the Forward Area off Japan using naval bases at Leyte (Philippines) and Manus (Christmas Islands). ‘Arbiter’ also visited Hong Kong twice. ‘Pacific Voyage’ is based on memories, memorabilia and photographs taken at the time, together with pictures, ship’s log references etc., and describes the danger and discomfort endured by crew members in ships, such as the escort carrier ‘Arbiter’ engaged in this final episode of the Second World War. Two things overshadowed the Far East theatre of war, as far as the people at home were concerned, the distance from the British Isles, and the European War, well on its way to a conclusion. I hope that this book will, in some small way, help to redress the balance.