A former HMS Ganges instructor has this week been awarded a medal by the Russian Government for his service during the Arctic Convoys in World War Two.

Tom Brosnan, who will be 93 at the end of this month, was presented with the medal to commemorate; 'The 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945' and sent by ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin, on the instruction of Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin.

As Mr Kelin was not able to make the presentation in person due to the coronavirus lockdown, Tom's friend of nearly 50 years, parish council vice chairman, Barrie Powell did the honours informally at the war hero's home in Shotley Gate.

It is the third time Tom has been honoured by the Russian Federation but this medal meant even more as he has been battling skin cancer.

He said: "This really means a lot to me. It came at good time really as I have been a bit poorly, and I have not been able to see my grandchildren, so this has given me a big lift."

Originally from Ireland, war hero Tom joined the Royal Navy as a 15-year-old and did his initial training on the Isle of Man before joining the battleship HMS Rodney.

The Rodney had achieved fame in 1941 when she played a big part in sinking the German battleship Bismark before Tom joined the ship.

Tom had already taken part in the D-Day landings in June 1944 aboard HMS Rodney, when they were sent to escort merchant ships from Liverpool to the Kola Inlet peninsula in Murmansk, in the Soviet Union.

Risking attacks from German airplanes and submarines, and the perishing cold, Tom and his shipmates survived the brutal Arctic Convoy duties.

"My job was as a sight-setter on one of the gun turrets," recalled Tom. "It was so cold I asked an officer for a coat and he told me 'when it get so cold the ice forms in your ear, I will sign a chit for you to get a duffel coat'.

"It wasn't too bad for us on a battleship but the smaller ships got tossed about on the water like a cork."

Tom was also on board Rodney during the D-Day landings in June 1944, bombarding the Normandy Coast protecting the troops going ashore and soon came under fire themselves.

"We were on the top deck taking a look when the shots started coming over," said Tom. "We soon scarpered below decks when we saw how close they were."

After more sea time on ships including aircraft carriers HMS Bulwark and HMS Illustrious, and cruisers HMS Cumberland and HMS Gambia, Tom had risen to the rank of Chief Petty Officer.

He was drafted to HMS Ganges and served there for three years where he married Muriel and they had two children. Mary works for AXA, while Catherine is a frontline NHS worker at Colchester hospital, and he now has three grandchildren.

After 25 years Tom left the navy but the family settled in Shotley and he worked as a sailmaker for Rands and Jeckell.

"We made sails and boat covers, and in the evenings, I made blue serge suits for the sailors – they were good times."

Barrie, who worked with Tom after he had left Ganges and has been helping to look after him during this Covid-19 crisis, said: "Like many who did so much for all of us during the war Tom is a very modest man. But I know after speaking with him over many years, usually with a rum or two, of the hardships he and his shipmates suffered.

"Even after all that, Tom has remained a happy-go-luck sailor, a real character.

"The Royal Navy meant everything to him, along with his family, and this medal is very fitting, for him and all other who served in the Arctic Convoys."

Only 550 Arctic Convoy veterans in the UK are eligible for the medal, which is also handed out to Russian sailors involved in the missions.

Ken Rowbottom, chairman of Royal British Legion, Suffolk branch added: "It is a medal well deserved

"The Arctic Convoys was one of the most dangerous in World War Two, anyone who took part in them deserves every recognition going.

"The chances of surviving being torpedoed was virtually none because once you were in the water you only had about minutes before the cold sea got you anyway."

And the secret to Tom's longevity? "A tot of Captain Morgan's rum and a drop of Barrie's honey every day," Tom told us with a twinkle in the eye.

Celebrate the 75th VE Day with a party at home next Friday, May 8.