A Second World War veteran has been honoured at a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the Arctic Convoys on which he served thanks to the assistance of Legion Scotland. 

Jim Simpson, 94, was assisted to attend the ceremony in Liverpool by Legion Scotland. He was among 35 Royal Navy and Merchant Navy veterans who gathered to commemorate the anniversary of the convoys, which sailed from the UK to Russia between 1941 and 1945 to provide supplies to the Eastern Front.

The route through the treacherous seas, often occupied by U-boats, was described by Sir Winston Churchill as the worst journey in the world.

Mr Simpson, from Inveresk in East Lothian, served on HMS Devonshire during the war and left the Royal Navy in 1946 after serving for four years.

He joined other veterans for a reception at Liverpool Town Hall on Monday, followed by a ceremony on board Type 45 Destroyer HMS Dragon hosted by the ship's company and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones.

Mr Simpson said:

"It was a super day. Being on board a Royal Navy ship again made the memories flood back. I'm wondering if they still need recruits."

The convoys often departed from Loch Ewe and the River Clyde and over the course of the war delivered between three-and-a-half and four million tons of cargo of all kinds, from thousands of tanks and aircraft to vital fuel and machinery.

Some 3,000 seafarers lost their lives on the journeys and one in every 20 vessels taking on the route sank.

Mr Simpson said he did not see himself as heroic.

"I never thought of myself in that way," he said. "I was just there to do a job. Even now, everyone wants to hear my story but my whole focus was doing the best I could, the best job, and I had a lot of help along the way."

After the war he followed a career in the building trade, eventually becoming a director of the Walker Group.

Watch Jim's story: