A Moray man has been honoured with an Arctic Star for his service during World War II – which included a part in a famous attack on a German battleship.
Retired warrant officer Lawrence Knowles – known as Pat – was given the accolade at a recent RAF Lossiemouth awards ceremony.
The medal is awarded for service above the Arctic Circle by members of the British Armed Forces and the Merchant Navy between September 1939 and May 1945.
The retrospective award was formally approved by The Queen late last year.
Mr Knowles, 89, was joined by his grandson, Robbie, and his son and daughter-in-law, Scott and Gail, for the ceremony at the officers’ mess.
The Arctic Star was presented by Group Captain Ian Gale, the station commander at RAF Lossiemouth.
Mr Knowles joined the Royal Navy’s fleet air arm in 1942, at the age of 18.
After a short training period, he was drafted into active service and saw action in the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific throughout 1943-45, working on various ships including the aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Trumpeter.
He also served on the carrier HMS Implacable, which tracked and engaged the German battleship, Tirpitz, off the coast of Norway in November 1944. It is widely believed that the RAF’s 617 “Dambusters” Squadron would never have found and sunk the Tirpitz had the Royal Navy not been there to report where it was.
Mr Knowles completed one of his last tours of duty at HMS Fulmar in 1972 before it was handed over to the RAF.
He retired from the Royal Navy in 1974 after 32 years’ service and settled in Moray. His late wife, Joyce, had served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Mr Knowles, who has lived in Burghead for decades, said he could not think of a better place to have settled after the war.
Mr Knowles, of Granary Street, said yesterday he was delighted to return to the Lossiemouth camp after more than 40 years.
He said of his time in the war: “It was a big adventure. War was a natural progression. People nowadays think I was some kind of hero – what a load of rubbish. I was a young teenager and I went where my ship went.”