A Spalding 88-year-old has been awarded a war medal by the Russian government – almost 70 years to the day after the warship he served on was torpedoed.
George Porter received the Ushakov Medal at the Russian Embassy in London.
The medal was given to all living Royal Navy and merchant seamen who survived the perilous Arctic convoy missions in World War Two.
The convoys carried essential supplies to the Soviet Union, helping to slow Germany’s advances on the Eastern front.
Veterans have only recently started being properly recognised as the Cold War meant it was politically difficult to give survivors a medal for assisting the Soviet Union.
Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed to strike the medal and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed it could be received.
Mr Porter, of Oak Court, was an 18-year-old officer steward on HMS Mounsey when it was hit on November 2, 1944.
He recalls: “The ship was at the mouth of the Kola River, most of the crew were in their bunks. The ship shuddered and the alarm was sounded.
“As we left our bunks we were knee deep in sea water. When we got on deck everything was covered in smoke and flames.
“We were ordered to abandon ship (maximum three minutes’ survival time in the water) but the skipper offered the chance to maybe survive by tackling the fire. I was on the hose, by the engine room.
“The Russians towed Mounsey into Murmansk. When we looked at the damage in the morning the whole was big enough to drive a double decker bus through.”
Mr Porter is the father of South Holland District Council leader Gary, who used his Twitter page to try and trace surviving comrades still alive.
His appeal for information was retweeted an astonishing 2,488 times and had 175,000 views.
He said: “It led me to the names and ages of the crew who died, the name of the submarine that hit them, the type of torpedo and where and when the sub was sunk when finally captured.
“Unfortunately, so far I’ve only got a lead to one living survivor.”
