A VETERAN of the Second World War is to make an emotional return to the place where he saw nearly 2,000 comrades killed more than 60 years ago.

Bernard Hallas, 86, of Haxby, York, was a Royal Marine serving on the battleship HMS Warspite when German bombers attacked his fleet during the British evacuation of Crete in 1941.

Thanks to an £875 Heroes Return grant, funded by the New Opportunities Fund, he is going back to Crete today for the first time since the war to lay a floral wreath as a mark of respect to the 1,800 British seamen and Royal Marines who died during the battle.

Accompanying him will be Michael Farrington, of Acomb, York, chairman of the Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm, and secretary of York's Royal Naval Association.

The wreath, which the pair hope to lay on the sea, will also commemorate the former HMS York, torpedoed by the Italians eight weeks prior to the onslaught at Crete.

Mr Hallas, publicity officer for the York Royal Naval Association, is among thousands of veterans who are due to return to the places round the world where they served during the 1939-45 war as part of the Heroes Return scheme.

He said the British fleet had been at a "total disadvantage" in the disastrous encounter with the 400 German bombers, having no aircraft to cover them.

He said Admiral Andrew Cunningham, who was in charge of the evacuation, had discovered before the planned operation that the Germans were to attack, but was refused extra air support by the British Government.

Mr Hallas survived the battle, in which 20 out of 24 British warships were sunk or damaged, only because he had asked a colleague to cover his post while he went below deck to get a tot of rum.

When he returned, the man who had taken his place had been killed.

He said: "That's one of the reasons why I'd like to go back."

He said Admiral Cunningham had burst into tears when the remainder of the battered British fleet limped into the harbour at Alexandria, and promptly offered to resign.

This was refused by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who believed it would lower morale.

To find out more about the Heroes Return scheme, phone the New Opportunities Fund on 0845 0000 121, or the Veterans Agency free helpline on 0800 169 2277.

You can also log on to www.heroes-return.co.uk/

Updated: 08:38 Tuesday, May 18, 2004