A memorial to the Merchant Navy seamen who lost their lives during World War Two was unveiled by 94-year-old Rex Little, a veteran of the Arctic convoys and a recipient of the Arctic Star medal.

A sculpture, entitled U-Boat Watch and created by local artist Graham Hall, now takes pride of place overlooking the Mission to Seafarers’ front garden within Falmouth Docks.

The fibreglass Merchant seaman with binoculars is joined in the garden by the propellers of the SS Sheildhall which currently underwent work at the docks.

Graham, who volunteers with the Mission, had created a poppy wreath sculpture to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of World War One and admits he then “got itchy fingers” and decided to make a more elaborate sculpture and to dedicate it to the 30,248 Merchant Navy seamen who died during service in the Second World War and the 4,654 reported missing.

After three months of painstaking work, his creation was ready to be unveiled and the decision then had to be made on who should unveil it.

Penny Phillips, chairman of the Falmouth branch of the Mission to Seafarers, said: “We felt it very fitting that someone who had actually been involved in the convoys should unveil the plaque and were honoured when Rex accepted our invitation.”

Mr Little, who lives at Brill near Constantine with his wife, Eileen, had provided the statistics quoted on the plaque which accompanies the sculpture. He had joined the Royal Navy Fleet Arm in 1940 as an electrician and was drafted to the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable and served at sea for three-and-a-half years seeing action in the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

In 1943 HMS Formidable was sent to join the Arctic convoys to northern Russia where its crew helped deliver vital supplies to the Soviet Union. The convoys were constantly under attack from the Nazis and more than 100 civilian and military ships were lost.

It was not until late 2012, though, that the campaign medal the Arctic Star was created, with Mr Little being presented with his during last year’s Armed Forces Day commemorations in Falmouth.