A NEWPORT man who served 19 years in the Royal Navy has been awarded the Arctic Star medal.

Frank Spendelow, 96, of Ringwood Avenue, was awarded the medal as recognition of his Royal Navy service on convoys to Russia during the Second World War.

Mr Spendelow said he was "very pleased" to have received the medal, which honours his part in the Arctic convoys.

"There were lots of good times in the service and lots of dark times," he said.

As recognition of his service above the Arctic Circle, where conditions were "dire" and "absolutely freezing," he has received the award nearly 70 years after the end of World War Two.

In 1933, aged 17, Mr Spendelow joined HMS Ganges where he was trained up and in 1934 he joined HMS Nelson battleship.

Throughout his career he worked on numerous ships, including HMS Victory and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal and progressed to the position of Yeoman of Signals.

In 1952 he officially finished his service with the navy.

His daughter, Catherine Cook, 60, of Penarth, said her father was "very happy" with the medal which marks a huge part of his life.

"Like a lot of veterans he does not like to talk too much about it but he does have lots of stories," she said.

"He has a lot of memories, some sad and some happy. A lot of sadness prevails because of all the lost colleagues, his lost ship mates."

Mr Spendelow still keeps in touch with his surviving fellow servicemen through the HMS Cossack monthly newsletter.

When he left the navy, he continued his work in the sea by helping set up the Newport Sea Cadets, which he worked with for 40 years.

He said: "I wanted to pass on my experience to the cadets."