A Royal Marine who served on the Arctic convoys during the Second World War has been awarded a special medal at a ceremony at the Russian Embassy.

Arthur Woodyet served on HMS Newcastle as an anti-aircraft gunner on some of the most inhospitable seas on the planet.

Mr Woodyet was born in 1920 and was originally from Sunderland, but later settled in Sturry and Hersden after meeting his wife Esther, who was in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, known as the Wrens.

His ship protected the vital supplies being sent north to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangelsk.

"The sea was rough, the roughest I had been in. You had to get behind the guns to keep the wind off and we had to wear helmets to stop the rain" - Mr Woodyet

It meant battling huge storms and icy conditions as well as the Germans.

Mr Woodyet is now 94 and lives with his daughter Barbara Gauntlett in Chestfield.

Together with his other daughters Christine Gower and Janet Metcalfe, he attended the ceremony with other veterans, and was awarded the Ushakov medal by the ambassador.

He said he was “proud” to have received the medal, and recalled the awful conditions he endured on board, when the ice was often inches thick on deck.

He said: “It was bad because the sea was rough, the roughest I had been in. You had to get behind the guns to keep the wind off and we had to wear helmets to stop the rain.

"You couldn’t ever get to sleep in the hammock.”

Mr Woodyet originally joined the Royal Marines before the outbreak of war in 1939 and trained in Plymouth. He went on to see service all around the world, including on the convoys to Malta.

After the commemorations of Victory in Europe Day last week, his daughters explain that the German surrender did not mark the end of the conflict for all those serving.

Mr Woodyet was stationed in Australia as the war against Japan continued for a further three months.

Christine said: “He was out at sea for so long on the other side of the world so he didn’t get to see the parties in the streets when Germany surrendered.

“We’re proud of him. He always tells us those days were the time of his life.

“He’d had a tough life before the war growing up in Sunderland. Many of his generation hadn’t ever been out of the country, so it was an adventure.”

Mr Woodyet is now a proud grandfather-of-five, great-grandfather-of-five, and great-great grandfather-of-three.

His daughters all agree that it is important that the sacrifice of his generation should never be forgotten.

Christine added: “The children have gone into schools to talk about their granddad during the war. I think that is really important to keep it all alive.”