A TYCROES war hero has finally received the recognition he deserves for his efforts in the frozen north during World War Two.

Leslie Davies, of Penygarn Road, has at last been honoured with an Arctic Convoy Star.

The 92-year-old was a coder aboard Merchant Navy vessels which evaded German warships while transporting crucial supplies to Russia and Scandinavia between 1939 and 1945.

Mr Davies, now a great- grandad of three, was one of the brave souls whose vessels crept through the narrow funnel of water be - tween the Arctic ice-pack and the German naval bases in Norway – a journey Sir Winston Churchill labelled “the worst” and “most dangerous in the world”.

The water was so cold that any man who went in would be dead in less than two minutes.

“He was just 19 when he was called up for National Service,” said grandson Aled Williams. “They were a different breed of men back then.”

Leslie and his crew-mates have faced a long battle to receive the recognition their efforts deserve in their homeland – Russia awarded the Arctic convoy crews medals immediately after the war – but now after almost 70 years, the British Government has at last honoured them as heroes.

“It is sad that it has taken so long and that there are so many of these servicemen who are no longer with us,” said Aled.

“What they did was a vital part of winning the war.

“They were all heroes and I am so proud to say that my granddad was one of them.