Nick joined the Navy as a boy in 1933 and served until wounded in action in 1945. After training he served on HMS Emerald, a coal-burning cruiser. On returning from the East Indies he transferred to HMS Southampton, another light cruiser. On this ship he saw action against the Italian navy in the Mediterranean. He then transferred to service on motor launches, patrolling the North Sea for a brief period before being assigned to a minesweeper, HMS Ardrossan.

After time spent mine-sweeping parts of the English Channel and North Sea his flotilla escorted a convoy of merchant ships to the beaches on D-Day. The sea was rough and many of the troops being carried suffered from sea-sickness, as well as being attacked by the Luftwaffe, until protection from the RAF arrived. He found the screeching of the bombs as they dropped particularly distressing and he remembers it to this day. His ship then took part in the bombardment of German defensive positions.

He watched the infantry climbing from ships into landing craft which took them to the beaches. Some troops drowned because they left the landing craft too soon, trying to wade ashore in the choppy sea. They were carrying a lot of kit and Nick still recalls the bodies floating by his ship, and this sometimes keeps him awake at night. During this period his ship was at action stations for three weeks, fighting German E-boats and aircraft.

Every Armistice Day Nick remembers the details of these tumultuous events.