HE was just 15 when he set sail from Hull on his first deep

sea trip.

Weeks later, Jim Radford was under German fire with bodies

floating in the sea around him, as he helped establish the

Mulberry Harbour for the D–Day Normandy landings.

He said: “I saw more dead and dying men in my first six

months at sea than I've ever seen.

“I joined the tugs because that was the only way I could get

to sea and every kid in Hull wanted to play a part in the

war.

“In 1944, you were either a boy or a man and we became men

very quickly.”

Mr Radford, is now 70 and is believed to be the youngest

D-Day Veteran. He will return to his home town this week for a

special presentation of MayDay Tugs Of War at Hull Screen.

He will be joined by film-maker Robin Williams and other

veterans of the deep sea rescue tugs including Jim Williams,

Fred Radford and Ron Robinson, they will recount the history of

the little-known service that played a vital role in the

SecondWorld War.

Mr Radford's brother Jack had been killed when his shop SS

Cree was torpedoed in the Atlantic in 1940. His other brother

Fred had joined the Royal Navy Rescue Tugs Service in 1942 so

he was determined to follow him. Too young to be allowed to

join the Royal Navy, he went into the Merchant Navy on the tug

Empire Larch.

Accompanying Allied convoys all over the world, the tugs

provided vital support against the threat of German

U-boats.

As the United Towing Company was based in Hull, the city

provided many crewmen for the rescue tugs operated by the Royal

Navy (T124T unit) and also for Merchant Navy tugs leased to the

Ministry of War Transport.

Assembled in haste in 1940, they were kept secret from the

Germans, but became targets because they protected millions of

tonnes of shipping and their crews.

By the end of the war, the deep sea rescue tugs had salvaged

more than three million tonnes of shipping but had lost 30 tugs

and 600 tugmen.

Mr Radford said: “Historically, it was a momentous period.

At the time, we knew it was a very significant event we were

involved in.”

Despite the contribution of the Rescue Tugs, he remains

disappointed the service has not found its place in history

alongside the Desert Rats or the bomber pilots.

“It's rather strange that they were so significant and yet

no one knows about them.”

Robin Williams, the Californian film-maker who produced

MayDay Tugs Of War, will introduce the film.

He said: “When I first met these guys I was amazed to find

no one had recorded what they did.

“Without their contribution, the Battle Of The Atlantic

would have been lost and the Normandy Invasion would have

failed. Theirs is the biggest untold story of the Second World

War.”