Harry Templeton, who was born in Belfast and was a veteran of the hazardous Second World War Arctic convoys to Russia, has died aged 90.
Sir Winston Churchill described that freezing cold voyage targeted by packs of enemy warships as the worst journey in the world.
Earlier, at the age of 19 and at the time of Dunkirk, Mr Templeton, whose full name was Hewitt Howard Templeton, was awarded the Croix de Guerre by order of the Free French leader General Charles de Gaulle.
Mr Templeton won this medal for ferrying hundreds of volunteers many of them Polish from a small French village, St Jean de Luz, a few miles from the Spanish border.
He commanded a party of 28 navy men running an improvised escape route by sea for volunteers who wished to carry on the fight against the Nazis.
Before the war ended his adventures at sea earned him several decorations, including Russian medals and the Atlantic Star and Arctic Badge for a series of hair-raising encounters.
His Royal Navy career began when he became a boy entrant, under-age at 15. With the helping hand of his grandmother, who signed the necessary papers, he joined training ship HMS Ganges.
While he was still in the navy, stationed at Rosyth, Mr Templeton met his wife-to-be, Ann, in Dunfermline.
She dropped her library books outside Woolworths and Mr Templeton, being the gentleman he was, picked them up for her.
The couple married in 1942 and their daughter Pat was born a few years later.
The family emigrated to Australia five years after that, but returned to the United Kingdom within two years.
Ex-chief petty officer and telegraphist Mr Templeton gained employment in Dunfermline.
His war work in communications gave him a good grounding for his new job as an executive engineer with the Post Office.
Later he was mainly based in Dundee while living in Newport.
Mr Templeton retired 27 years ago and his new-found freedom gave him time to enjoy sailing, bowling and gardening.
He was responsible for co-designing what is known in Newport as the Nature Trail.
He was a supporter of the Conservative Party and one-time chairman of the local association.
Mr Templeton is survived by daughter Dr Pat Lockie, granddaughters Karen and Gillian, and five great-grandchildren.
A neighbour of Mr Templeton’s said he was ”the perfect gentleman”.
”I’ve heard him say, ‘in life never weary, never despair’. And he didn’t.”