98-Year-Old WW2 Veteran Receives Medal 73 Years After Service

A 98-year-old WW2 veteran and Spanish Civil War hero is set to receive his sixth wartime medal.

It has taken the veteran three years to receive the accolade after he applied to the Russian government alongside 3,300 others.

Cristobal Campos thought he had been forgotten and was worried he wouldn't receive his last medal before he died.

But the widower was delighted when he was finally contacted by the Russian Embassy in London on Friday.

Embassy officials were pleased to tell the pensioner he will be awarded the Medal of Ushakov to recognise his service on the vital Arctic Convoys.

These vital ships delivered much-needed supplies to Russia during the Second World War.

The award was created by the Russians in 1944 in honour of those who defended the country in wartime.

They have even offered to deliver the medal to his home, or he can collect it personally from the embassy at a time to be arranged.

Father-of-two Cristobal, who was born in Southern Spain in 1919, fought against Francisco Franco's fascists in the 1930's Civil War.

After the fall of the Second Spanish Republic, he fled to Sierra Leone and in 1941 he joined a crew on a coal barge that was headed to North Shields in England.

After arriving in the UK, Cristobal joined the British Merchant Navy to help fight in the Second World War.

He worked in the engine room of the steamship Ocean Viceroy on two Russian convoy trips, in 1943 and 1944.

The former Merchant Navy mariner, who has lived in South Tyneside since the war, said:

 "I'm delighted that I will definitely now be getting this medal.

"I knew I was entitled to it, but I was beginning to think that it would never arrive in my lifetime.

"I'm very grateful to the people who raised this issue with the Russian Embassy - it certainly seems to have done the trick."

He added:

"I'd also like to thank the staff at the embassy, who responded so quickly when they realised I had not yet received it."

In the seven decades since, Mr Campos had not received recognition from either the British or Russian Governments for his valiant efforts.

That changed in June 2013 when surviving convoy veterans were presented with the Arctic Star at a ceremony in South Shields Town Hall.

Cristobal applied for the Russian Medal of Ushakov after receiving the British equivalent.

And the Russian Government has finally honoured one of the few remaining Russian Convoy heroes three years later.

Cristobal is among 3,300 Second World War UK veterans entitled to the award.

In an email to his family, Vadim Retyunskiy, the Third Secretary at the Russian Embassy, confirmed the medal was to hand.

He said: "I have very good news for you. We have received the Ushakov medal for Mr Cristobal Campos this week.

"You can come and collect it from us or wait until we deliver it to you personally."

Cristobal’s son, Michael Campos, 64, a business development manager, said the family had yet to decide how best to receive the medal.

The medal will join Cristobal's impressive collection earned in the Merchant Navy, sitting alongside his 1939-45 War Medal, the Atlantic Star, The Burma Star, the 1939-1945 Star and the Arctic Star.

Speaking about his experiences, Cristobal said:

 "At the time of the convoys I didn't think too much about it. I just got on with the job.

"But all these years later, it is good to know that I did something to help our allies.

"The medal is a good thing for me."

Despite his age, Cristobal remains fighting fit.

At the age of 94 he mastered a Korean martial art after becoming inspired by watching his grandsons compete, becoming a fourth dan in the Korean martial art of Taekwondo.