This fascinating and surprisingly tongue-in-cheek certificate was awarded to all Royal Navy sailors who had crossed the arctic circle. In an uncommon but touching display of British humour, the certificate urges polar bears and ‘all other creatures of those frigid deeps’ to show due respect to the named hero or incur the wrath of Neptune (‘Ruler of the raging main’). It is countersigned by Northern Lights queen Aurora Borealis and (for real) Captain of the Royal Navy, Kenneth Short.

This certificate tells us that John Rees’s father, Victor, succeeded in crossing the arctic circle on five occasions, aboard HMS Campania. What it doesn’t tell us is what happened next.

A couple of months later, the Campania was torpedoed, but thankfully Victor survived. In fact, he survived two torpedo attacks. On the other occasion, the news had said “all hands were lost,” then Victor came home!