EDINBURGH, Scotland - May 6, 2006 (UPI) -- The men who served in World War II on the battleship HMS Howe are holding their final meeting this weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The HMS Howe Association plans to lay out the ship's battle flag in a service at St. Giles Cathedral on Sunday, The Scotsman reported.
George Baker was 19 in 1942 when he joined the Howe, where he served for almost five years as a gun captain.
"We are putting our medals on and we want to say our farewells in Edinburgh where we think the flag belongs," Baker said. "The people of Edinburgh were fantastic to us. We have a great association with Edinburgh. They sent us food parcels during the war, warm clothing and mittens and all the rest of it."
The final meeting of the association is also the 66th anniversary of the Howe's launching at Govan in Glasgow. She was the last and largest of the King George V class of battleships.
The Howe was named after Admiral Richard Howe, who served in the British Navy during the American Revolution and commanded the Channel Fleet against the French in 1793 and 1794. The ship saw service in the Arctic, Mediterranean and Pacific during World War II. She was used as a training ship before being scrapped in 1958.
Copyright 2006 United Press International
FEATURES 
