100 Year old WWII Veteran Returns to Sea in Newcastle

National World - LocalTV

Roy Elwood, a 100-year-old war veteran from Gateshead, revisited his wartime past by boarding the S/S Hestmanden during its rare UK visit to Newcastle, reflecting on his service in the Arctic Convoys and the enduring bond between the UK and Norway.

Transcript

00:00Roy Elwood boarded the SS Hesmanden, the last surviving ship of Norway's World War II, Nortriship Fleet.

00:07Docked here in Newcastle for a rare UK visit, the 114-year-old steamship serves as a floating museum,

00:14honouring Norway's vital role in the Allied war effort.

00:17Nearly 200 feet long, the merchant ship, affectionately known as the Lucky Ship,

00:21played a vital role in transporting medicine, food, fuel, ammunition and weapons to support the resistance during World War II.

00:30For Roy, the visit is deeply personal. During World War II, he served aboard HMS Zambesi on the perilous Arctic convoys

00:37and helped rescue over 500 Norwegian civilians from the island of Saroia.

00:43Eight decades later, Roy remains in contact with families of those he helped save.

00:46Now, stepping aboard the Hesmanden, he reconnects with the legacy of bravery, sacrifice and lasting friendship between nations.

00:54It's one of the three I went down. But this one, we, during the time, we escorted about 30 merchant ships that went into Murmansk.

01:11And while they were in Murmansk, four destroyers, including the one I was on, went to an island in the north of Norway.

01:24They were in very bad condition. People had houses been knocked down. They were living in caves.

01:33And we took just over 500 off. We took them back to Murmansk, distributed around the merchant ships that were then mostly empty.

01:48And the next day we sailed back to this country. I'm still in touch and aware with some of those people.

01:57It's just very nice to be part of something that's reaching back that far.

02:05I've hugely impressed them in the boat. I'm a hundred and the boat's quite a bit older than me.

02:12And there aren't many boats to float. So as old as I am, never mind quite a bit older.

02:20You feel quite young today then?

02:22Yeah, you could. You could put it like that, yes.

02:27I'm the captain of the vessel Hessmannen. I have been working here for five years.

02:33Now, this is the last port of our tour to the British Isles. The journey has been wonderful.

02:42When we came to Shetland, we had sunshine. And we have had sunshine most of the tour.

02:49On the Shetland Isles, they were so surprised because they had sunshine for one week.

02:54Usually they had one day of sunshine and one week with rain.

02:59The wind was so surprised that the wind was so bright.

03:09They were so nice. The wind was so bright and the wind was so bright.

03:11And we had to get a little bit more.

03:15And then we would have to stop going back in the front.

03:18So, we're so ready to stop going!

03:19You see, the wind was so bright.

03:20Your wind was so bright, and we're so excited.

03:22It's so bright.

03:23That was great.

03:24That's great.

03:25And I'm like, we're doing that.

Category

Transcript

Recommended