New Zealander Colin White is about to leave for Malta on one of the toughest missions he has ever undertaken. The 85-year-old war veteran leaves for the tiny Mediterranean island to join a Battle for Malta Veterans Re-union, marking the 60th anniversay of the end of the 1942 Siege of Malta.
Colin white ,who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his service there , will be laying a wreath in memory of New Zealanders who died helping to defend Malta.
He had arrived on Malta in June 1942 as a 21-year-old aboard the fast minelayer HMS Welshman , having taken up a commission in the Royal Navy's Fleet air Arm. White remembers the his trip vividly : "The stern was blown out of the water by a Stuka's bomb.It missed hitting us by a very close margin. We were pretty lucky "
It will be the first time that Colin White , from Cheviot, in Canterbury , New Zealand ,has set foot on Malta since 1943.
He's not looking forward to reliving painful memories . but is determined to pay tribute to friends who died there.
He is the only New Zealand Fleet Air Arm pilot left who flew with 828/830 Torpedo Squadron and 185 RAF squadron on Hurricanes during 1942.