BUSSELTON resident Jock Cowie, 89, has waited 70 years for his bravery award to recognise his survival as an Artic Convoy cadet in World War Two.
The Russian Government posted Mr Cowie his Ushikov medal last month after deciding decades later the Artic Convoy veterans deserved recognition.
It is believed Mr Cowie is one of four convoy veterans in WA to receive the award after his wife spent years appealing to the Russian and British Government's.
Mr Cowie joined the merchant navy in 1941 at the age of 16 and endured what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called "the worst experience in life."
In 1941 Russia was declared an ally to Britain and supplies were sent from Liverpool to North Russia as Premier of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin said it was the only way he could win the war.
Mr Cowie said Churchill would never admit the British had made these convoys because he wasn't very fond of Stalin at the time.
The big adventure of going to war soon changed for Mr Cowie when his convoy of up to 30 ships left the coast of Britain.
"It was a pretty hard job because the Germans in the submarines and the air rafts were dropping bombs on us for ten straight days so we were under constant attack," Mr Cowie said.
"You couldn't go to bed, go to sleep, change your clothes or wash.
"Having said that, if someone is dropping fire works at your tail it keeps you awake anyway."
On the rare occasion the convoys weren't under fire Mr Cowie said the men were still kept in the gun pits to stop the waves freezing the guns.
"We knew as soon as you hit the water you had three minutes to live before the hyperthermia got you so we had to keep the guns free of ice and firing."
Mr Cowie still finds himself shivering in the middle of a hot Australian summer from the years spent in minus temperatures.
"The Germans would always be waiting for us, you got belted on the way up and on the way back down, they would knock the empty ships off too."
When the men arrived with the supplies in Russia the greeting was far from welcoming.
"Russia had fought the earlier part of the war against us so there was a lot of friction when we arrived, we still weren't safe," Mr Cowie said.
Mr Cowie remembers the Russian authorities boarding their ship to collect every newspaper, passport and anything else which was western rather than communist. The materials were locked in a box and taken away.
When the convoys were due to sail back the embassy people would bring the box on deck and just dump the contents.
The Russian convoy missions had the highest casualty rate throughout the war and Mr Cowie said staying alive was "based on sheer luck."
Mr Cowie made three trips to Russia and said it was "nice" to witness the British and Russian Government finally acknowledging the service Artic Convoy veterans had given.
"I was just one of many men who fought on the convoys, we just did our duty," Mr Cowie said.
