 Stuart and other ships of Waller 's 10th Destroyer Flotilla supported the assaults on Tobruk in January 1941 and Benghazi the following month . In March , Stuart escorted Allied troop transports to Greece as part of Operation Lustre , narrowly avoiding falling victim to Axis dive @-@ bomber attacks . During the Battle of Cape Matapan at the end of the month , Waller 's ships were credited with sinking two Italian destroyers . From May to July , the 10th Destroyer Flotilla made 139 ferry runs during the Siege of Tobruk , carrying supplies to the town 's garrison and evacuating the wounded . Waller was mentioned in despatches twice during 1941 : in July for his army cooperation role with the Inshore Squadron off the Libyan coast , and in November for his service during the Greek campaign . In January 1942 , he was awarded a Bar to his DSO for " bravery and enterprise in the Battle of Cape Matapan " . Waller earned the personal admiration of Admiral Cunningham , who described him as " one of the finest types of Australian naval officers ... greatly loved and admired by everyone " . On the occasion of a visit to Alexandria by Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies , Cunningham escorted him to Stuart and declared : " And now you are going to meet one of the greatest captains who ever sailed the seas — his name is Waller " . According to author Ray Parkin , who began writing while a prisoner of war , " Andrew Cunningham and Hector Waller were cast in the same mould : men would follow them , suffer , and be glad about it . These were both men made by Fate for those ever @-@ recurring Saint Crispin 's Days of human affairs " . 
