Pacific Star with 'Burma' clasp : Commissioned Gunner (T) John Charles Lace, Royal Australian Navy

Pacific Star with 'Burma' clasp. Unnamed as issued.

John Charles Lace was born on 2 February 1905 at Douglas, Isle of Man. He joined the Royal Navy as a Boy, Second Class at the age of 15. Transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in the mid-1920s, Lace was promoted to able seaman in 1926, leading seaman in 1929 and petty officer in 1930, having served aboard HMA ships Swordsman, Adelaide, Brisbane and Australia. Lace retired from the Navy in 1935 and spent time as a prison officer before re-signing with the RAN in 1938. He was promoted to commissioned warrant officer at the start of the war and specialised in gunnery, as well as undertaking a short torpedo training course in England. He then served as a commissioned gunner (T) aboard HMAS Sydney in the Mediterranean. Shortly before the Sydney's final and fatal voyage, Lace became ill and was left behind in Western Australia; this led to false reports of his death in both the Australian and Manx newspapers. After his recovery, Lace was posted to HMAS Vendetta, then at Alexandria in Egypt.

The aging Vendetta had been built in 1917 and was brought out of reserve to form part of Australia's "Scrap Iron Flotilla"; it had already had two engine refits. It undertook escort and patrol work, participating in the operations connected with the North African, Greece and Crete campaigns throughout 1940 and 1941. By October 1941, having spent almost two years on operations, including 19 "ferry runs" withdrawing troops from Tobruk, Vendetta was in need of another major refit and was withdrawn from operations in this theatre and sent to Singapore; her engines especially had suffered from continuous running at maximum revs. The destroyer arrived at Singapore on 12 November 1941 and was put into dry dock facilities where work commenced on dismantling her turbine engines and stripping out her electrical wiring. Her crew of 130 was distributed to other RAN ships in Singapore, leaving a skeleton crew of 20 men aboard, including Lace. The Vendetta's captain, Lieutenant Commander Charles John Stephenson also departed, leaving Lieutenant William George Whitting in command.

The Japanese bombed Singapore Harbour on the morning of 8 December and almost immediately Vendetta's Lewis guns and anti-aircraft guns were incorporated into the defence of Singapore Harbour. Gunner Lace found himself at the centre of the organising of these defences, becoming Officer of Quarters for the Lewis guns during daytime, his Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Whitting, becoming Officer of Quarters for a 12 pounder anti-aircraft gun mounted on the wharf alongside Vendetta; they shared night-time duties. This gun was famed for bringing down three Japanese bombers with one lucky shot.

As air attacks reached a climax during January 1942, and it became obvious that Singapore might well fall to the Japanese, the crew and dockworkers worked hard to salvage the destroyer's engines in preparation for departure to Australia; the 12 pounder was mounted on Vendetta's foredeck. Devoid of power, Vendetta had to be towed, leaving on 2 February under tow by HMT St Just, as Japanese forces were storming the Singapore causeway. HMS Stronghold took over the tow in open seas, and the two ships were under frequent Japanese air attack, although no hits were experienced. The ship had no engines, no refrigeration, no electricity, no sewerage and only tinned food to eat.

Vendetta arrived safely at Palembang in Sumatra the following day and left under tow to Batavia by HMAS Yarra a week later, where the impressed Yangtse River ship Ping Wo took over for the tow to Australia, with Yarra escorting. The Ping Wo also carried many thousands of pounds worth of gold recovered from Singapore. The slow convoy reached Fremantle on 3 March. The worst part of the journey was across the Great Australian Bight (the coastal steamer SS Islander taking over the tow), where heavy seas and storms saw the tow snap on four occasions ("like a carrot", according to Lace) and both ships almost rolled over.

However, Vendetta safely reached Port Phillip Bay on 15 April, having undertaken a 72 day journey from Singapore, the longest towed voyage ever undertaken by an Australian ship. For their efforts in safely bringing HMAS Vendetta back to Australia under arduous circumstances, both Lieutenant Whitting and Gunner Lace were each awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for 'courage, endurance and devotion to duty'. Lace continued serving aboard the Vendetta in its New Guinea operations until early 1943 and had a successful post-war career in the navy, being involved in mine clearance operations in the Pacific. He resigned from the Navy in 1958 and died on 30 January 1984.