‘You’d come out of a fog bank covered in ice’

A Whitehead veteran has had his memories of the Second World War rekindled by an article on one of Northern Ireland’s most famous vessels.

As a young man John Atkinson saw action in North Africa and the Arctic as a member of the Royal Navy.

And when perusing the latest edition of Navy News, he was pleasantly surprised to come across a piece on HMS Formidable.

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“A brilliant ship” was John’s view when the Carrick Times caught up with him to find out more about his time on the Harland and Wolff-built aircraft carrier.

“She finished the war even though she got blasted twice,” he added.

Laid down in 1936, the Formidable, in John’s words, “launched herself” in 1939, travelling down the slipway before the official launch.

Originally from Yorkshire, John completed his training on HMS Collingwood before going on to ‘celebrate’ his 19th birthday in November on board the 740ft-long ship as she provided support for landings in North Africa.

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Formidable, he recalled, also took him to Sicily and then Italy.

After returning to Clyde, the crew members were issued with “warm clothing” with the Formidable Arctic bound and temperatures 40-50 below.

“We picked up the Arctic Convoy North of Iceland, proceeding to North Cape. It was cold up there. When you went into a fog bank you came out covered in ice,” said John, who maintains a keen interest in the fleet with a series of photos of famous vessels on his wall.

“We were the second winter convoy going up. We escorted convoys up. They got a hell of a hammering.”

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Duty done, the Formidable returned to familiar waters, but the reminder of the horrors endured by many in conflict were never too far away.

John continued: “We came back to Belfast, funny enough. The place was thick with fog. The Georgia troop ship - she was bombed at Suez - we moved in when she came out.”

Almost 70 years later John and colleagues were honoured for their contribution. He was pleased when a letter arrived last July informing him he was receiving the Arctic Star.

This followed the announcement by the Prime Minister that the awards should be made in acknowledgement of the great bravery of those who contributed to this very significant campaign of World War Two. It includes recognising the particular severity of the conditions experienced by those who served in the Arctic.

Formidable character shown on a Formidable vessel.