Memorial to convoy sailors will be unveiled

A memorial dedicated to the sailors who delivered supplies to Russia during Second World War will be unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum on August 19.

Phyllis Coyle, whose late husband Mick served as a stoker in the Royal Navy between 1942 and 1947 and sailed with the Russian convoys, has commissioned the tribute.

The 83-year-old, of Pensnett, has paid for the memorial, which is costing £15,000 to make and install, out of her own pocket.

She is now inviting former serviceman and Mr Coyle's friends and comrades to the unveiling ceremony at the site near Alrewas, Staffordshire. Mrs Coyle said: "This is for my husband and all of the other men who risked their lives on these convoys. I am glad that there will finally be a memorial to these brave men."

The great-grandmother has received many donations to help with the maintenance of the memorial once it has been opened.

Mr Coyle, of Derwent Close, Pensnett, died in November 2010, aged 85, from lung cancer.

He was a welfare officer for Stourbridge Royal Naval Association and was one of six veterans who helped raise the £86,000 needed to create the cenotaph in Dudley's Coronation Gardens.

In October, an oak tree was dedicated to Mr Coyle at the National Memorial Arboretum.

A plaque next to the tree states: "Always gentle, thoughtful and kind, A wonderful memory you leave behind."

The unveiling ceremony will start at 1pm in the marquee at the arboretum, in Croxall.

More than 650 attended a show in his memory held at Brierley Hill Civic Hall last year.