A 97-year-old Royal Navy veteran has gone swimming for the first time since surviving his ship being sunk by German torpedoes during the Second World War. Care home bosses arranged for Roger Roberts to go for his first dip in 80 years after HMS Charybdis came under attack in the English Channel in 1943.
Roger was aged just 17 when his vessel was bombarded and sunk during a German torpedo attack which left him stranded in the middle of the sea. He was fortunate to be one of the 107 men on board to be rescued but has not set foot back in the water since the traumatic event, which claimed 464 lives.
War hero Roger - who is one of only two survivors from HMS Charybdis still alive - has now taken the plunge to go swimming for the first time in eight decades. He had always been reluctant to return to the water but made it part of his bucket list when he moved into Foley Grange in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, last January.
