A Second World War veteran who took part in the perilous Arctic Convoys and the D-Day landings has sadly died at the age of 100.
Dougie Shelley died on March 21, having dedicated his youth to naval service after enlisting in the Royal Navy at just 17 years old.
During the Normandy invasion, he served aboard the destroyer HMS Milne as a seaman gunner, protecting the beaches while Allied troops made their way ashore.
A resident of Southend, Essex, Mr Shelley had previously endured some of the war's most dangerous missions, sailing the treacherous Arctic routes that supplied the Soviet Union.
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The Royal Naval Association paid tribute to Mr Shelley following news of his death.
Captain Bill Oliphant, the organisation's chief executive, said: "We are very sad to hear of Dougie's passing. He was of a generation to whom we owe a great deal.
"Our Second World War veterans are the last voices of this period in history, and the Royal Naval Association was privileged to have heard Dougie's stories and counted him as a beloved member of our naval family".
Captain Oliphant concluded with the traditional naval farewell: "Fairwinds and following seas shipmate".
PICTURED: Dougie Shelley with his tot of rum on his 100th birthday | PAMr Shelley's centenary in September last year became a nationwide celebration, with an appeal generating more than 16,000 birthday cards from well-wishers across the globe, as far as Australia.
Messages also arrived from the King and Downing Street, while the veteran marked the occasion with a tea party at his local Royal Naval Association branch in Southend.
On that same milestone day, Mr Shelley learned he would be awarded France's highest honour, the Legion d'Honneur, in recognition of his role in the liberation of the country.
His carer Paul Bennett said Mr Shelley was "over the moon" upon receiving the birthday wishes and recognition for his service.
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Thousands of birthday cards sent by well-wishers at the Royal Naval Association in Southend
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Mr Shelley's wartime service saw him survive two separate sinkings while operating in the Arctic, according to Mr Bennett.
On D-Day, his role aboard HMS Milne involved defending the skies above Normandy from enemy aircraft as landing craft ferried soldiers to the beaches below.
Mr Shelley himself recalled the vessel with great fondness, describing it as "the biggest ship the Royal Navy ever built" at the time, adding: "And boy, what a ship".
His service later took him to the Pacific and Australia, with the war's end finding him in the Far East.
"We came into Hong Kong, and that's where it was at the end of the war," Mr Shelley said, "we went into the China Fleet Club. Boy, did we have a lovely time".
Mr Shelley followed in the footsteps of his brother and uncle when he joined the Royal Navy, though he admitted to falsifying his age to enlist.
Mr Bennett said: "His claim to fame is he lied about his age to join the Navy and got in, and he said it was the best time of his life".
The veteran, who had no known surviving family, remained an able seaman throughout his naval career, failing his bosun's exams due to eye problems.
After leaving the Navy in 1947, he later returned to sea with the Merchant Navy, working on vessels transporting Ten Pound Poms to Australia, before taking roles in security and as a Ministry of Defence driver.