Arctic vet Albert’s medal joy

SURVIVOR . . . Albert Giddens with a picture of one of his ships, the HMS Trinidad.

A HOLLINWOOD veteran whose ship was torpedoed and bombed during the Second Word War will finally be honoured.

Albert Giddens (90), of Margaret Street, is one of only around 400 remaining survivors of the Arctic Convoys.

The mission to keep open the vital supply lines to the Soviet Union was described as the “worst journey in the world” by Winston Churchill.

The veterans won their long fight for recognition after Prime Minister David Cameron announced before Christmas they would receive medals.

“It means a lot,” said Albert, who served on the convoys as they delivered vital supplies to the Soviet Union.

“It was pretty rough, not just the water but the danger. I lost a lot of friends.”

Albert’s first ship was the HMS Trinidad — hit by one of its own torpedoes in March 1942, while in a battle with German destroyers.

“The missile came back and killed 33 of our own men,” explained Albert, originally from Chadderton.

Albert added: “There seems to be only one other person from the Oldham district who was on the Trinidad, a Chadderton lad Tommy Pickup who emigrated to Australia.”

The grandfather later served on other ships in the convoys, including the HMS Devonshire, before leaving the Navy at the end of the war and working as an engineer.

Around 1,400 merchant ships took part in the convoys from the UK, US and Iceland, protected by warships from the Royal Navy, the US and Canada.