EX-NAVAL service men and women gathered in Kirkby Lonsdale to share wartime memories at the invitation of local Royal British Legion chairman Alan Day.

Reporter Jennie Dennett was there to meet them.

WITH plenty of tea, cake and, of course, Lamb's Navy Rum, a gathering of ex-naval service men and women met for an amiable tea party in Kirkby Lonsdale's Institute to exchange wartime memories.

Speaking to the gathering of Wrens, Submariners, Naval servicemen, officers and their partners, organiser Alan Day invited the group to "exchange stories, pictures, muck in and maybe have a wee tot."

Duly charged, the group, drawn largely from the naval ranks of the Second World War, enthusiasticly followed Mr Day's starting orders.

Among them was former Colditz prisoner Captain Tommy Catlow.

Now 86, Mr Catlow encapsulated his two-and-a-half years of life in Colditz as "boring and cold."

He described the state in which he left Colditz as "thinner."

Readers of Captain Catlow's memoirs, A Sailor's Survival, will understand this as typical witty understatement.

The captain served in the Navy for 41 years, surviving two periods of imprisonment only to report again for duty and take part in the Yangtze action to recover HMS Amythst and fight in the Korean War.

On returning to civilian life, Mr Catlow chose another challenge - life as a hill farmer.

He now lives with his wife in Tunstall, near Carnforth.

The group brought together war experiences from all over the world.

Ex-Naval Serviceman Ron Wheatley, of Kirkby Lonsdale, served on HMS Duke of York in the Pacific and was present in Hiroshima shortly after the nuclear explosion.

The scene of devastation did not, however, elicit horror for Mr Wheatley who "had seen what they the Japanese had done to British prisoners."

Common to the sentiment of much of the group, he felt his naval days were some of his happiest: "I was happy all the while, I was glad to be doing it and to win the war."

One of the many women keen to share their war stories was Betty Dean.

She was 18 when she joined the Wrens in 1944 and went on to serve as a writer with naval administration.

Her most interesting war moment came when she worked on HMS Glendower in Prince Phillip's office.

"He was very charming and a fine officer."

For Mrs Dean, like many others, the war brought separation from her husband, John, who served in Army HQ in Delhi.

For Mr Dean, the war was trying "because of the climate.

The monsoon failed and it was extremely hot and sticky.

I came home like a skeleton!"

Organiser Alan Day, who is also the chairman of Kirkby Lonsdale's Royal British Legion, declared the tea party "a fantastic success".

"I was so happy to see all us oldies exchanging salty experiences.

Now when people see each other in the street they'll know each other."

Mr Day served on DEMS (Defenisvely Equipped Merchant Ships) minesweeping around Africa and India.

He is eager to hear from any fellow DEMS serviceman.

Despite protest, Mr Day would not allow the group to donate towards the cost of the event, so George Harrison organised a whip-round for for the RNLI, which raised £ 55.