Pat Rothery vividly remembers being swept overboard from HMS Impulsive into the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean in 1942 while part of a convoy attempting to supply Russian forces.

    The 99-year-old said he would have died if he had spent more than three minutes in the water. But within seconds, another surge of water swept him back on board.

    “I was washed all along the deck and was pretty knocked around,” Mr Rothery said yesterday after taking part in the Anzac Day march in Adelaide.

    Fellow HMS Impulsive crew member Bob Biggs had helped bring Mr Rothery to safety, nursing his crushed ribs and injured face. “He was badly knocked around, his nose was on one side of his face,” Mr Biggs said.

    After losing touch in the following years of World War II, the pair rekindled their friendship about 20 years ago when they serendipitously met at a military association meeting in Adelaide. “He (Biggs) was telling a story about an officer who was washed off and I said ‘that was me’,” Mr Rothery said.

    “It was quite incredible.”

    Mr Rothery and Mr Biggs, 96, along with fellow Arctic convoy personnel Darrell Mulberry, 92, Ken Ball, 95, and Reg Swanborough, 97, were among the lead groups in yesterday’s march.

    Adorning all of their uniforms was the Medal of Ushakov.

    The medal, created in 1944, was awarded by the Soviet government for acts of courage and bravery. “We all wear it very proudly … we were lucky to survive those trips, which Winston Churchill ­described as ‘the worst journey in the world’,” Mr Biggs said.

    Leading the Adelaide march was Australia’s oldest living Victoria Cross recipient, Keith Payne.

    Mr Payne, 85, said he was ­appreciative of those who ­applauded him along the way.

    “Australia’s seeing the younger generation appreciate the peace that’s been given to them,” he said.

    At the dawn service in Adelaide, the contribution of migrants in the defence of Australia was a key theme. Ian Smith, chairman of South Australia’s RSL Anzac Day committee, said many migrants were forced to overcome the ­restrictions of the White Australia policy and the Defence Act in order to enlist.

    “On the badge of the RSL, alongside sprigs of wattle, are a leek, a rose, a thistle and a shamrock,” he told about 2000 people who gathered in chilly conditions in Adelaide’s CBD.

    “But if you look at the rolls of honour inside the National War Memorial on North Terrace and on the memorials surrounding it, alongside names like Llewellyn, Brown, McDonald and O’Connor, you will find names like Jergens, Corigliano, Radke, Weidenhofer, Radoslovich. All fell in Australian uniform while fighting for the country they called home.”

    Mr Smith said migrants from many nations had a strong record of service in the Australian armed forces, including current president of the Royal Australian Regiment Association in South Australia, Mike von Berg, and RSL state president Bronson Horan.