Hero’s plea for missing medal
A hero of the Russian Convoys has made what may be a last bid to receive a missing medal marking his wartime bravery.
Former Merchant Navy mariner Cristobal Campos, 98, has appealed to the Russian authorities to speedily present him with the Medal of Ushakov.
Created in 1944, it is given in honour of those who have defended the country in wartime.
Mr Campos, of Don View, West Boldon, applied for it three years ago, along with about 3,300 other UK Second World War veterans.
But he has yet to receive it, leaving the dad-of-two and great-grandfather fearing he has been forgotten.
He said: “This is an important medal and I would dearly love to be presented with it.
“I have applied for it and was told by the Russians a couple of years ago that I am entitled to it and even that I’m on their list of recipients.
“If I don’t receive it soon, I’ve a feeling they’ll end up g iv i n g i t to m e a f te r I ’ve died.”
M r C a m p o s wa s b o r n in southern Spain, and in an eventful life, fought in the Spanish civil war of the 1930s against General Franco’s fascists.
He fled to Sierra Leone in 1941, before joining a coal barge heading to Tyneside.
Soon after, he joined the British Merchant Navy, risking his life by working in the engine room of the steam ship Ocean Viceroy on two convoy trips, in 1943 and 1944.
In 2013, his valour was recognised by the British Government, which awarded him the Arctic Star medal.
His son, Michael Campos, 64, a business development manager, of Stanley, Co Durham, said: “He’s in very good health, but he does joke that at his age, he may not be here next week.”
The Russian embassy in London did not respond for a request for comment.
I n a s t at e m e n t o n i t s w eb s i t e i t s ays i t i s p re - senting the medal to British veterans of the Arctic Convoys.