Suez canal

[Nevthedigger]

I would be eternally grateful for any nudges I could be given in the right direction regarding my dad's military history. I have details of his service record in the navy during the second world war, from 1942 when he joined until his leaving in 1946.
Unfortunately we lost him in 1985, but as a child I remember him saying things about the Suez Canal which have always led me to believe he was on active service there (during the Suez Canal crisis maybe?)
I have membership of Ancestry and of the British Newspaper Archive website, and I've found nothing on Ancestry, but I still consider myself a learner here. Is there anywhere else online where I might have a chance of finding anything? This Suez thing has niggled me for years.

[jim1]

You can forget the "Suez Crisis" as this happened in the 50's.
I would suggest your father was involved in escort duties protecting
shipping taking men, ammunition, supplies etc. to the 8th. Army that
were operating in Egypt & Libya at the time.
They couldn't dock in Libya as the ports there were in German hands so
Egypt & then across land was pretty much the only option.
There's plenty online with regards to the desert campaign. (1941-3)

[Nevthedigger]

I have his documents from the war, including the record of his ships and dates, but don't know much about their movements (as I say, I'm still learning). I do know he spent time in Ceylon, and after the war, before he was demobbed, his ship spent time moving between Ceylon, Indonesia and Australia. He never mentioned anything about that. I'm now thinking I need to trace the movements of the ships he was on during the war.

[jim1]

I'm now thinking I need to trace the movements of the ships he was on during the war.

I was going to suggest that.
The type of ships & their movements is your best bet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_naval_ships_of_the_United_Kingdom

[Mvann]

Another suggestion is try u-boat.net as they havé ships movements listed on their. I havé got Information of 2 boats that my grandad was on from there.

[Nevthedigger]

I've found it ... ! He was on HMS Fencer when it went through the Suez Canal in 1944. My quest is probably at an end. I'll keep checking the other ships in case there's more, but I believe this must have been what he talked about.

[bbart]

Now that you have the ship names, I highly recommend that you search each name in the British Newspaper Archive.  For example, there are multiple news items for HMS Fencer in 1944, and they really bring a better of understanding of the events and times.