Recently discovered war heroes to be honoured by memorial plaque unveiling at Bridlington harbour

There will be a double commemoration on Sunday, May 7 to recognise two recipients of the bravery award.

Kenneth Cooke and Colin Armitage were on-board the cargo ship Lulworth Hill when she was torpedoed and sunk by an Italian submarine on March 19, 1943. 14 survivors found themselves on a raft and another man was taken prisoner of war.

50 days later only Ken and Colin were left alive when HMS Rapid rescued them, ending their terrible ordeal of starvation and watching their shipmates die one by one, leaving them close to death themselves.

Now, on the 80th anniversary, there will be two blue plaques unveiled at two different locations on the same day to mark this remarkable rescue.

At 11am on the Minerva Pier in Hull, the family of Colin Armitage will unveil the plaque close to his home village, overlooking where the ship sailed from on her final voyage. This plaque has been paid for by UK Operational Support Services, a local security company.

At 3pm at Bridlington harbour, the Kenneth Cooke plaque will be unveiled. This plaque was paid for by Bridlington Tourism Association.

Author Richard M Jones, who organised the ceremonies, said: “I am writing a book on Bridlington during World War 2 and came across the story of the Lulworth Hill and how two Bridlington men were on board and survived the sinking initially.

"By the time HMS Rapid found the raft only two guys were alive, Ken from Bridlington and Colin from Melton.

"The more I looked into this shipwreck the more information I gathered, so it went from being a short chapter on Kenneth and his George Medal to me embarking on an entire project about the Lulworth Hill story.

"I am now in touch with the relatives of both survivors as well as two other people who were on board and it would be great if anyone associated with this lost ship would get in touch with me to tell their story.

"This also goes for anybody to do with the rescue ship HMS Rapid.”

Contact Mr Jones via his www.facebook.com/shipwreck.data Facebook page or email him at [email protected] if you have any info about this rescue.