BROXTOWE Borough lies a long way from the sea. So it's surprising to find a real piece of naval history gracing the balcony wall at Beeston Town Hall.
Here visitors will find the bell to HMS Active, a destroyer adopted by the former Beeston and Stapleford Urban District Council during the Second World War.
When the ship was scrapped in 1947 the old bell and the original ship's plaque were presented to the council.
The tone of the bell is well known to councillors because it's rung to summon them to each meeting.
The bell revived wartime memories for two former sailors, who served on HMS Active when they visited Beeston Town Hall in 1989.
Eric Rollison, of Ilkeston and Eric Langford, of Basford, were unaware the plaque and bell had been presented to the council.
Mr Rollison, who served on the ship from 1943 to 1945, wrote to the then Mayor Councillor Terry Buckley.
At the time Mr Rollison recalled: "I was trying to find out whether the council had a German flag that we had captured.
"I thought it had been presented to the council after the war."
No one had any recollection of the flag. But the Mayor was only too willing to show the men the bell and plaque.
The two men, who lost touch when they were demobbed, were reunited in the early 1980s.
During the war they worked together on the same watch as part of HMS Active's 120-strong crew.
Mr Rollison was a telegraphist, taking down messages, and Mr Langford decoded them.
They told Mr Buckley of some of their experiences at sea. "We had some close shaves," said Mr Rollison.
"Once I was on watch when the ship was being attacked. A bomb blast made a pair of phones drop on my head."
But they also had light-hearted tales to relate.
"Because the council adopted the ship it used to send us food parcels and magazines," said Mr Rollison. "They also sent us balaclavas, gloves and scarves when we were in the Mediterranean!
"They didn't know where we were and could only send parcels care of the British Forces postal network."
The 323ft long HMS Active was launched in 1929.
When war broke out in 1939, she was serving with the 13th destroyer flotilla at Gibraltar, attached to the North Atlantic Command.
In 1940 she was transferred to the 12th destroyer flotilla and was deployed in the escort of convoys in the Atlantic, taking part in various actions against German U-boats.
HMS Active then transferred to Scapa Flow and took part in the watch on Bergen, which resulted in the sinking of the Bismarck. Later in the war the ship operated in the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and South Africa.
HMS Active was scrapped at Troon in May, 1947.
Twelve ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Active or HMS Actif.
In 1989, Burnley granted freedom of the town to its affiliated ship, HMS Active.
During the ceremony in the Borough Council Chamber, a silver casket and framed scroll were presented by Mayor Councillor Kenneth McGeorge to the commanding officer of the Type 21 frigate, Capt Paul Canter.
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