WW2 veterans ride on D-Day boat for VE Day

Four veterans celebrated VE Day with a special trip on a high-speed World War Two vessel.

As part of events at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on Saturday the special guests were invited to ride on the motor gun boat.

Ken Arkell, 98, a former Navy serviceman who trained for the boats but never got to board one, told the BBC it was a "wonderful" opportunity.

Describing the experience afterwards, in which the boat reached a speed of 30 knots, he said: "Wow. If I'd had any hair it would have been blowing in the wind."

Bletchley Park code breaker Dorothy Walsh, also 98, boarded the boat for the trip too.

Explaining her part in the war, she said: "I was a bombe operator, one of Alan Turing's girls."

Describing the man who cracked the Enigma code, she said: "He was nice. He was a bit reserved… a slight impediment in his speech – we always had a giggle at it."

They were joined by former Wren Mabel Kidney, who was based at HMS Daedalus in Lee-on-the-Solent, and Robin Boodle, one of the last surviving personnel from the Battle of the Atlantic.

The veterans were invited to take part by the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity.

Hannah Prowse, chief executive of Portsmouth Historic Quarter, said: "The boat the veterans went out on was Motor Gun Boat 81. She is herself a Second World War veteran. She saw active service just off Sword Beach on D-Day.

"The coastal service squadrons were mainly comprised of young men who used to go out and fight their German counterparts in the Channel. Imagine being on one of those boats, usually under cover of darkness, with guns firing from everywhere."

The day also included a veterans Q&A session with local schoolchildren.

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