On 8 November 1942 Broke, together with the destroyer Malcom took part Operation Terminal, part of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa. In "Terminal", the two destroyers were to attempt to land infantry directly onto the portside in Algiers in the hope of capturing the port facilities and preventing their destruction by the Vichy French forces. It was hoped that either complete surprise would be achieved or that the defenders would support the invasion to the extent at least of refusing to fire on the attackers. However, the Vichy forces opened fire on the ships, damaging them heavily. Malcolm was forced to withdraw, but Broke had better luck. On her third attempt, she sliced through the boom and succeeded in landing her troops under fire on the Quai de Fécamp, four hours after the operation started. Broke continued to receive heavy fire and was forced to withdraw at 10:30. Broke was again hit by shore batteries when withdrawing which compounded earlier damage. She was taken in tow by the destroyer Zetland but sank two days later on 10 November.

Some records show that William was lost when the ship sank, but given his date of death of 2 days earlier, 8th November, it seems most likely that he was killed by shore fire or small arms fire at the quay.