'There's not many of us left, mate. We've sailed the seven seas'

A 99-YEAR-OLD Navy veteran has recalled celebrating at the end of the war with all the other “lucky fellas” who survived.

- By Sam Russell

Dougie Shelley is proud to be one of the last surviving heroes who will be marking VJ Day today.

Dougie, who will next month become a centenarian, said: “There's not many of us left, mate. We've sailed the seven seas.”

He modestly described himself as “an old, old sailor of 100 years old”.

But Dougie is much more than that. After joining the Royal Navy at the age of 17, he served as a seaman gunner on Arctic convoys and was later posted to the Pacific and Australia.

He served on several ships, including HMS Milne, which he described as “the biggest ship the Royal Navy ever built...and boy what a ship”.

Dougie was in the Far East when the war was declared over.