At nearly 90 years of age, war veteran Leslie Cooke from west Suffolk has been officially thanked for the part he played in the Arctic convoy missions during the Second World War.
The grandfather-of-eight, from Icklingham, served with the Royal Navy from 1943 to 1946, taking part in the convoys to Murmansk in modern day Russia from November 1943 onwards.
The veteran, 89, has recently been awarded ‘the Medal of Ushakov’ by the Russian Government for his “invaluable contribution”.
He said he was pleased to receive the recognition after all this time, adding it is important we continue to remember the contribution war veterans made.
“Lots and lots of poor beggars never got home,” he said.
While Mr Cooke, who volunteered for service at the age of 17, could not see much during the convoys as he was based in the boiler room, he remembers the sounds.
“I was in the engineering branch as a stoker and I spent much of my time down below in the boiler room which was okay - we were in the war - and if anything happened - a bomb would fall near you - it was just like someone was outside trying to get in banging on the side of the ship with a hammer. I couldn’t see a thing shut down there.”
He added: “I suppose at times I was frightened. There were ships going down around us and I suppose it was just fate you got through alright.”
Mr Cooke, who is married to Esther, remembers making three trips up to the Arctic, and he said they went back again after the war to bring home some gold, which he understands was payment for the guns and tanks they had taken to the Soviet Union.
The Arctic convoys of the Second World War sailed to the northern ports of the Soviet Union to deliver essential supplies.
At the awards ceremony last month, the ambassador of the Russian Federation, Dr Alexander Yakovenko, said: “It is a huge privilege for me to thank you on behalf of the Russian Government for the invaluable contribution you and your comrades-in-arms made to the defeat of Nazi Germany.
“What you did 70 years ago, taking part in what Sir Winston Churchill rightly called “the worst journey in the world,” was extraordinary even among what is considered to be beyond the call of duty.”
After the war, Mr Cooke, who did not attend the awards ceremony, returned to his job at the flour mill in Icklingham.
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