THEY capture some of the finest moments ever taken of the Navy in action and for the last 50 years have been sitting in a briefcase gathering dust.

Now the owner of this rare collection of Second World War photographs has decided it is time to pass on the legacy and is appealing for a new home for his collection.

John Buckingham, 77, of King's Road, Hove, has looked after the photos ever since they were given to him in 1947 by a friend who served as one of the Admiralty's official photographers during the war.

He said: "I've had them in my briefcase for 50 years. They're just sitting there. I was keeping on to them thinking I could pass them on to my two daughters, but they're not really interested.

"To me they're just collecting dust, but there might be people out there who would be interested. They could even go in a museum. Many of these photographs are very rare. They will never be repeated."

The 150 black and white pictures cover naval events in every sphere of operation throughout the war years.

From the freezing port of Murmansk in Russia to the tropical seas of Asia, the photographs cover every corner of the globe and are remarkable in their variety.

They include the stirring sight of ships in battle, aerial shots of the fleet air arm, and close-up pictures of individual sailors.

They also capture famous Admiralty visits such as those of Winston Churchill and Field Marshall Montgomery, as well as photographs of official notices.

Many of the pictures were taken by Lt Nigel Thorne who was asked by the Admiralty to make a record of events in naval life.

Mr Buckingham was only 16 when he joined the merchant navy and spent the war years serving as an electrician on convoys which made the treacherous journey across the Atlantic to South America and back.

Anyone in interested in the photographs can get in contact with Mr Buckingham via the Argus.

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