From 17 to 24 September 1941, Whitehall, Witch, Isaac Sweers, Piorun, the destroyers Laforey, Lightning, and Oribi, the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Garland, and the escort destroyer Blankney escorted WS 11X from the Clyde during its passage of the Northwestern Approaches bound for Gibraltar and Operation Halberd, a major effort to relieve Malta, then under siege by Axis forces; the destroyers detached to return to the Clyde while the battleship Prince of Wales and light cruisers Euryalus and Kenya covered the convoy during its Atlantic passage. HMS Whitehall, pennant number D94, later I94, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in the Second World War. After entering service with the fleet in 1924, Whitehall saw limited operational use before being decommissioned for economic reasons, transferred to the Reserve Fleet, and placed in reserve. Upon completion, Witch was commissioned in March 1924. She saw little service and soon was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Rosyth, Scotland. On 8 April 1940, Witch, the destroyers Vimy and Viscount, and the sloop Rochester joined Convoy HG 25F to escort it on the final leg of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool, but the following day Witch and Vimy were detached from the convoy with orders to proceed to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands for service with the Home Fleet in Operation Rupert, escorting convoys carrying Allied troops to Norway to oppose the German invasion of the country.

On 22 April 1940, Witch joined the light cruisers Galatea, Glasgow, and Sheffield, and the destroyers Campbell, Icarus, Impulsive, Ivanhoe, and Vansittart in Operation Sickle, in which the ships transported troops from Rosyth to Molde, Norway, to reinforce Allied forces at Andalsnes, with each destroyer carrying 60 troops; the ships arrived at Molde on 23 April 1940. On 11 May 1940, Witch joined the light cruisers Calcutta and Coventry and the destroyers Campbell, Isis, and Zulu in escorting the damaged light cruiser Penelope to Greenock, Scotland. On 22 January 1944, Whitehall, Oxlip, the destroyer Westcott, the sloop Cygnet, and the minesweeper Seagull departed Loch Ewe escorting Convoy JW 56B to the Soviet Union. From 13 to 16 November 1941, Witch, Badsworth, Verity, Whitehall, and the destroyers Exmoor, Maori, and Vanquisher were the local escort for Convoy WS 12Z as it transited the Western Approaches, the ships returning to the Clyde after detaching from the convoy. From 13 to 18 November 1941, she joined Witch, the destroyers Maori and Vanquisher, and the escort destroyers Badsworth and Exmoor as local escort of the military convoy as it departed the Clyde and transited the Northwestern Approaches, detaching to return to the Clyde; the battleship Royal Sovereign provided the ocean escort for the convoy.

From 1 to 4 October 1941 she formed part of the local skinny girl escort east london of Convoy WS 12 during its passage through the Western Approaches along with Cairo, Blankney, Whitehall, the destroyers Badsworth, Bradford, Brighton, Lancaster, Newark, Stanley, and Verity, and the Royal Canadian Navy destroyers Assiniboine and Saguenay, returning to the Clyde with those ships after detaching from the convoy. From 17 to 26 September 1941, Witch, Whitehall, Issac Sweers, Piorun, the destroyers Blankney, Laforey, Lightning, and Oribi, and the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Garland escorted Convoy WS 11X from the Clyde to Gibraltar in one of the preliminary moves of Operation Halberd, an effort to steam a resupply convoy through the Mediterranean Sea to Malta. On 9 August 1941, Witch joined the escort of Convoy WS 8C, a military convoy which steamed from the Clyde to Scapa Flow as part of the build-up for a planned occupation of the Azores which later was cancelled; she returned to the Clyde on 10 August 1941. From 15 to 17 August 1941 Witch, Whitehall, and the Royal Netherlands Navy light cruiser HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck escorted Convoy WS 10X from Liverpool to the Clyde. On 5 August 1941, she and the light cruiser Cairo, the destroyers Whitehall and Winchester, the Royal Netherlands Navy destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers, and the Polish Navy destroyer ORP Piorun deployed as local escort for the military Convoy WS 10 during the first leg of its voyage from the United Kingdom to Freetown in Sierra Leone; the ships detached from the convoy on 7 August 1941 and returned to the River Clyde.

The highly successful German invasion of France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands began on 10 May 1940, and on 20 May Whitehall was assigned to the support of operations ashore as Allied forces retreated before the German offensive and required evacuation to the United Kingdom. Witch, Malcolm, Wolverine, and the destroyers Boreas and Rapid departed Freetown on 6 May 1943 as local escort for Convoy WS 29, detaching on 8 May 1943 to return to Freetown, and on 3 June 1943 Witch, Rapid, Wolverine, and the destroyer Boadicea departed Freetown as the local escort for Convoy WS 30, remaining with it until 9 June 1943, when Quadrant, the destroyer Redoubt, and the Royal Australian Navy destroyer Norman relieved them and they detached to return to Freetown. From 10 to 12 July 1943, Witch and the corvette Armeria escorted Convoy WS 31 during a leg of its voyage from Freetown to the Cape of Good Hope, detaching to return to Freetown when relieved by Rapid. She then deployed with the 2nd Escort Group to oppose the German Pfeil ("Arrow") submarine group, which was threatening Convoy SC 118 on its voyage from North America to the Clyde, and on 4 February 1943 Witch, Vimy, the destroyers Beverley and Vanessa, the corvettes Abelia and Mignonette, and the Free French Naval Forces corvette FFL Lobelia conducted antisubmarine warfare operations targeting the Pfeil group.