THE family of a former Blackwood miner who completed a dangerous military convoy run nine times during the Second World War is applying for him to receive a posthumous medal.

Albert Wilson contacted the Argus after reading the story of Joseph Pockett, a former miner from Nelson, whose daughter wanted him to receive the newly-created Arctic Convoy Star medal for his part in delivering supplies in 1944, as a leading torpedo officer in the Navy.

Mr Wilson’s father, George Nigel ‘Tug’ Wilson, served as a gunner aboard HMS Pembroke, HMS Cumberland and HMS Sheffield, among others, during the Second World War.

Born in Ebbw Vale in 1922, George Wilson worked at Markham colliery before joining up, following in the footsteps of his father who fought in the First World War and survived an explosion in France.

He sailed as part in the Arctic Convoy missions, taking munitions to Russia through treacherous icy seas and under threat of German bombardment, nine times, and in later life became actively involved in the Royal Naval Association in Blackwood and Pontllanfraith, helping ex-servicemen who fell on hard times.

“My dad was a big man and very respected,” said Mr Wilson, whose elder brother as next-of-kin is eligible to apply for the medal on their father’s behalf. “He was our hero.”

The next-of-kin of a deceased serviceman can apply for a form to get the Arctic Convoy Star medal by writing to Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, Centurion Building, Grange Road, Gosport, Hampshire, PO13 9XA. The completed form should then be sent to the MoD Medal Office, Innsworth House, Imjin Barracks, Gloucester, GL3 1HW.