IT was a special moment for three Royal Navy veterans when they were presented with medals for their efforts during World War Two for the first time.

John Carter, aged 90, Canon Colin Craston, aged 91, and Winston Shanley, aged 92, were each given an Ushakov Medal by the Russian Federation for their work in the Arctic convoys.

The men, who braved treacherous weather conditions, lost their friends at sea and travelled all over the world, had never been presented with a medal for their war efforts before.

Until last year, Foreign and Commonwealth Office rules stated that British veterans could not receive a foreign medal if the act being honoured happened more than five years ago.

Mr Carter and Canon Craston were presented with their medals at an official ceremony at Manchester Town Hall.

Mr Shanley, who was unable to collect his medal in person, got it specially presented to him by the Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Martin Donaghy, and Bolton North East MP, David Crausby, at the Four Seasons care home in Breightmet.

All three joined the navy before they were 20 and travelled from Iceland to Russia, which was described by Winston Churchill as the ‘worst journey in the world’ — but each of their stories is fascinatingly distinct.

WINSTON Shanley, originally from Leigh, was a Fleet Air Arm Petty Officer who served on the HMS Attacker, HMS Victorious and HMS Pursuer, from 1939 to 1946.

During the war, Mr Shanley witnessed two of his close friends being killed and even had the skin on his hands ripped off by ice.

Once the war ended, Mr Shanley moved to Bolton and eventually settled in Harwood with his wife Margaret, before recently moving to the Four Seasons care home.

He said: “I’m absolutely over the moon — I feel like the happiest chap in the world. I have suffered in the past and I have gone through some terrible things, but to be rewarded for my efforts is an extremely special feeling.

“I was very pleased to meet the other gentlemen, who have had many of the same experiences as me.”

JOHN Carter, of Beachcroft Avenue, Darcy Lever, is originally from Winchester, and joined the navy at just 15 years old at the start of World War Two.

He served on the HMS Edinburgh, a type 42 destroyer and the HMS Quail, a Q class destroyer, among others, and became an anti-aircraft director towards the end of the war.

Mr Carter lived in Russia for five months during the war and travelled through Burma and the East Indies.

He moved to Bolton after forming a friendship with somebody from the borough. Had it not been for this intervention, Mr Carter would have nowhere to live after the war finished, as he did not know who his parents were at the time and had previously lived in Barnardo’s orphanages.

Mr Carter said: “It was the worst experience of my life. I was far too young to realise the danger we were in — I saw it as an adventure.

“At 15 or 16, you think you are immortal, but I was totally lost. The only consolation I had at the time was that I had no one to worry about.

“I made a lot of friends during the war. You make a lot more close friendships at sea than you ever would in civilian life.

“I took a lot pride in receiving this medal and it was great to be at the service — it was something special.”

CANON Colin Craston, of Lever Park Avenue, Horwich, joined the war as a teenager and was a wireless telegraphist on the HMS Eclipse, an E-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, from March 1942 to March 1943.

In a twist of fate, Canon Craston was sent ashore by his captain to be selected for a commission.

Seven months after he left the destroyer, it sank in the Aegean Sea east of Kalymnos, Greece, killing 119 of the 145 crew members on board.

Canon Craston was sent to America to join an aircraft carrier and went on to serve in the Far East, along the Indian Ocean, from 1943 to 1945.

He said: “I was an Anglican priest for 53 years and I believe that being sent from the ship was a sign that God hadn’t finished with me, that he still had some work to do.

“The presentation was very nice and very honourable and the Ushakov Medal is a lovely medal indeed.

“The Russian Federation organised the day extremely well and I was proud to be a part of it.”

Canon Craston is originally from Preston but moved to Bolton in 1954, where he served as priest of St Paul’s Church in Deansgate until 1966 and of St Paul’s with Emmanuel Church in Vicarage Street, Daubhill, until 1993.