THE Remembrance commemorations brought back nerve wracking memories for a former Llandudno lifeboat man.

Ian (Dan) Jones was second coxswain of the all weather lifeboat Andy Pearce, which was called out 25 years ago to assist a trawler which had snagged a World War Two mine in its net.

Dan said: “Seeing the mine was a stark reminder to me of how close Llandudno was to enemy action during the War, and it all came flooding back to me while I stood at the Cenotaph.”

An RNLI spokesman said: “The 80 foot trawler Solitaire had been fishing in the Liverpool Bay. When hauling in the boat’s net it was discovered the catch included an object seven feet long, two feet six inches wide and with four fins at the tail.

“To the crew’s dismay, it looked alarmingly like an unexploded bomb. Once the alarm was raised, the Coastguard advised the trawler to make its way very slowly towards Llandudno. It was a very nervous time for the five-man trawler crew given that the bomb been disturbed and could therefore explode at any time.

“Llandudno’s Mersey class lifeboat, Andy Pearce, was launched under the command of the late coxswain Meurig Davies. The station’s inshore lifeboat also launched to offer assistance. The trawler was escorted from eight miles north of the Great Orme to the middle of Llandudno Bay.”

He added: “Bomb disposal experts went out to the trawler and confirmed the bomb was actually an unexploded German magnetic mine which had probably lain in the sea bed for more than 50 years.

“The lifeboat evacuated the trawler’s crew while the bomb disposal team inspected the mine before lowering it to the seabed for the night attached to a buoy. The trawler’s crew was then taken back to their vessel and resumed their work.

“The following day, at the request of the bomb disposal team and the Coastguard, the Andy Pearce with her crew was launched again and towed the mine, now buoyed by air bags, out to sea north of Llandudno and stood by, three miles away, while it was detonated.”