| Royal Navy veteran Charles Devlin (78) made the trip to Croatia with his wife Evelyn and two seamen with whom he served 60 years ago, and came face to face with the former enemy in the area he once served.
The party paid their respects to the 135 men who lost their lives when HMS Aldenham hit an enemy mine.
Mr Devlin was aboard HMS Atherstone, following HMS Aldenham across the North Adriatic sea back to dock after a day of bombardment, when the ship exploded into a cloud of smoke on December 14, 1944.
Mr Devlin, who was only 18 at the time, returned to the scene of the tragedy with fellow seamen Charlie Humphries from Huddersfield and John Bachelor from Halifax.
The trio placed a wreath into the water.
After paying their respects a group of German tourists approached them and asked what they were doing. After sharing the explanation they each shook hands with Mr Devlin and his counterparts.
“It was the most bizarre moment,” said Mr Devlin.
“You come face to face with the former enemy 60 years later and they are shaking hands with you for commemorating the event. It was quite strange but appreciated.”
The trip was made possible due to an award of £1875 from the Heroes Return scheme by the Big Lottery Fund.
“It was an emotional trip where we shared memories of the good and the bad times when we were here. These incidents should not be forgotten and it is thanks to this fund that we were able to travel out there.” |
