Crew members of HMAS Deloraine have dressed the ship at Refuge Bay, Wilsons Promontory, prior to ...

Crew members of HMAS Deloraine have dressed the ship at Refuge Bay, Wilsons Promontory, prior to a visit to Devonport, Tasmania. After the end of the Second World War Corvettes visited as close to their named town as possible. Devonport was the closest port to Deloraine. The crew of HMAS Deloraine took most of the residents of Deloraine and others from Devonport for a trip in Bass Strait. HMAS Deloraine shut down for a week, the residents of Devonport received an extra petrol ration and the crew was feted. Activities included cricket, horseriding, penny farthing cycling, sight-seeing and a dance. This image is from the collection of Lieutenant Paul Merrick (Mick) Dexter, who enlisted in the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANV) in 1943, and was a watchkeeper and anti-submarine specialist on Corvettes between 1944 and 1946. He continued to serve in the RANV after the Second World War, resigning his commission in 1964.