The family of a Royal Naval serviceman who drowned in Australia more than 60 years ago were overwhelmed with memories when they were reunited with a plaque bearing his name.
Donald Stevens, from Beddington, died on January 14, 1946, at the age of 19, while on leave in Leeton, New South Wales, Australia.
The Sutton Guardian traced the dead man’s family to Northumberland after Ministry of Defence (MoD) staff in the Naval Historical Branch found a copper plaque bearing his name and asked for help in returning it to his relatives.
Last month Donald Stevens’s nephew Jeremy Kinver, 49, of Ponteland, near Newcastle, collected the plaque from the MoD. Mr Kinver is the son of Mr Stevens’s sister Joyce, who died six years ago.
With him was his sister Jennifer, retired, of Wiltshire and his father John Kinver, of Ash Vale, Hampshire.
Mr Kinver, a sales manager, said he would be placing the plaque on the wall of his sitting room.
He said: “It brought back lots of forgotten memories about Donald for our father.
“The MoD had lots of information about how he died and I think it was quite a trip down memory lane for him.
“This would have meant a lot to my mum. She never spoke much about her brother – I don’t think she ever got over his death.
"She would have thought our family’s reunion with the plaque was incredible.
“The whole experience has been very humbling.
"We recently attended a wedding in Surbiton and went to Sutton to see where my parents used to live because of the memories it has brought back.”
Research by this newspaper discovered that Mr Stevens sailed to Australia on November 17, 1944 on HMS Mabbington.
He was visiting Mr and Mrs Walden in Leeton, NSW, as Mrs Walden’s father and brother lived a few doors down from the Stevenses in Wallington.
He went to cool off at the local baths and sank while swimming. Although rescued and resuscitated, he died later that day in Leeton Hospital.
Mr Stevens was given a military funeral, arranged by the local Returned Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen’s Imperial League, and is buried in Leeton Cemetery.
The newspaper said: “A tall fair sailor boy, he was always full of fun and of a pleasant disposition.
“His sudden passing has cast a gloom of sorrow over all who had come in contact with him.”
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