‘A REAL gentleman’, who waited seven decades to receive recognition for serving on the perilous Arctic convoys, has died – just days before being presented with his medal.

Eric Alley had seen his Arctic Star award before passing away peacefully at Sunrise Senior Living in Westbourne on May 17, at the age of 89.

The naval veteran was just 18 when he joined the convoys after only three weeks of training. He served aboard HMS Inglefield, which was sunk off Anzio in 1944 with the loss of 34 lives.

A radar operator on trips from Iceland to Russia, delivering arms to the Eastern Front, Eric made 15 two-week trips, which Winston Churchill described as “the worst journey in the world”.

He went on to become a Home Office adviser and, in the 1980s, asked the then Secretary of State Douglas Hurd what he was going to do for the Arctic convoy veterans.

In an interview last year, Eric, from Weymouth, said: “I am very pleased that the brave men will get the recognition they so richly deserve for the dangerous work they did. It’s about time.”

Eric was made an honorary member of the Russian navy for his contribution to the war effort.

His son Michael represented Eric last month when Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset Mrs Anthony Pitt-Rivers presented medals for three residents who sailed on the Arctic conveys from 1941 until 1945.

Michael said: “It was a great honour and privilege to receive my father’s medal; he had actually seen it before he died.”

Eric’s funeral was held at Bournemouth Crematorium.