Jack Speight and George Fletcher thought they were doomed to a watery grave when their troop transport ship Empire Windrush caught fire off the Algerian coast in 1954.
But they lived to tell the tale - which is now being retold 54 years later after a reunion, brought about with the help of The Courier, rekindled the old Sappers' friendship.
George, now 75, was on holiday in Malaysia about two years ago when he met a fellow tourist from Dewsbury - home town of his old friend Jack. The conversation turned to George and Jack's wartime friendship and the man promised to try to locate Jack.
That initial contact sparked a search lasting more than a year involving contacts with The Dewsbury Reporter, the Royal British Legion (which discovered there was a connection near Garstang), Garstang Town Hall, Garstang Library and The Courier.
It was Wyre Council's electoral department which ultimately linked up George, who now lives at Hambleton, with Jack who lives in Bolton.
The two men were finally reunited at The Courier office last Wednesday with hugs all round and reminisences of their National Service days in the Korean conflict and the drama of the fire (and eventual sinking) of the Empire Windrush.
The two chatted about their meeting as army conscripts in 1952 during the days of National Service, and their 18 months service in Korea.
But it was the drama of the return journey which prompted the most vivid memories.
They were returning with around 1,400 others (servicemen and their families) from the Far East, via Singapore and the Suez Canal and had reached the Mediterranean.
The vessel was the Empire Windrush, a government-owned troop carrier (which six years earlier had been involved in bringing the first influx of Jamaican immigrants to Britain).
In the early hours of March 28, 1954 an explosion wrecked the engine room of the ship, killing four crew. A fire rapidly spread, with flames up to 200ft high.
The service personnel and their families were given orders to go to the lifeboat stations, but many of the lifeboats had been destroyed by the blaze.
George recalls: "It was women and children off first, and we were told three mechant ships would be on the scene within an hour to rescue the rest of us."
An hour came and went, and the rescue ships were still on their way, and the fire was still raging.
Eventually the order came to abandon ship, with hundreds of servicemen including Jack and George clad only in their underpants (and leaving all their belongings on board) ending up in the water, clinging on to life-jacket lockers they had flung overboard.
"It was really cold, but all I was worried about was the sharks," said Jack,.
George recalls they spent three hours in the water before being picked up by the merchant ship Socotra, and along with his comrades being taken into the port of Algiers, where they were camped in a French Foreign Legion base.
Empire Windrush was in the process of being towed into the port, but sank before reaching Algiers harbour.
The aircraft carrier Eagle took George and Jack to Gibraltar, where they were soon flown back to England. A few weeks later they were demobbed, vowing to keep in touch - but in moving back into civvy street lost contact ... until now.
George went on to become an HGV driver and prison officer (witnessing the 1990 Strangeway riots) before retiring to Hambleton from his native Buxton 10 years ago.
Jack, who once played rugby for Dewsbury, became an industrial diamond driller working in various parts of the country, settling in Bolton.
Now the old chums, who are both married with families, have vowed to meet up regularly to swap memories of yesteryear.
* The two 75 year olds said they wanted to thank all the agencies and people who had contributed to their reunion, particularly Wyre Council's electoral department.