There is a sparkle in Noel Hetherton’s eyes as he fondly recalls the seven months that he spent living in Bermuda just after the end of the Second World War.

The 93-year-old can still vividly recall his batting 38 not out for the Admiralty House cricket team that helped to secure a dramatic last-ball draw against a Saltus Boys XI in 1946. He still has the paper cutting that includes the scorecard.

There is also more than a hint of emotion as the Yorkshireman describes how he adopted a local stray dog called Scruffy and asked the crew of a naval vessel to take the hound back to England when he left Bermuda.

Lieutenant Hetherton was posted to Bermuda in May 1946 as part of Admiral Irvine Glennie’s staff after serving in the Royal Navy on the vital South Atlantic convoys during the war.

He stayed for less than a year, but his time in “paradise” left an indelible mark on his life that has brought him back to the Island a further eight times over the years. This week, the lieutenant was back in Bermuda again with his family.

“When I arrived in Dockyard in May 1946, I had just married and become a father for the first time,” Lt Hetherton told The Royal Gazette.

“There was a part of me that just wanted to be with my family. I had been away for three years and I had no idea when I would be going home. But things changed very quickly. I soon realised what a beautiful country Bermuda was and I was able to bring my wife and son out to live with me.

“Those seven months we spent here as a family were all about pleasure and fun. It was an incredible time to live in Bermuda.

“There were not many cars about then — most people had cycles — and most of the roads were not tarmacked.”

Lt Hetherton initially lived in Hamilton before moving to North Shore in Devonshire when his wife Anne and son Simon arrived in Bermuda.

The then 24-year-old would cycle to work at Admiralty House every day, and at the weekend would go sailing in a small boat that he bought.

“We were very lucky with the people we met in Bermuda,” he said. “They were extremely kind to us and there are many who we have remained close with over the years.”

On December 15, 1946, Lt Hetherton was told that he was being demobilised and sent back to Britain. The family returned home via New York, but not before Lt Hetherton had made arrangements with the crew of a naval vessel in port to take their adopted dog back to England, too.

“It nearly broke me paying the kennel fees for him while he was in quarantine,” he said. “But Scruffy made it back to England and he lived another seven years with us in Yorkshire.”

Upon returning to England in 1947, Lt Hetherton began a career in law and two years later opened his own firm in the city of York.

His daughter Susanna followed in her father’s footsteps and moved to Bermuda in 1972 to work as a teacher, which allowed him to return and renew his acquaintance with the Island and old friends. In the past four years since his wife died, Lt Hetherton has embarked on a series of foreign trips to return to the countries that he visited as a sailor. His itinerary has taken him to South Africa twice, Sri Lanka (named Ceylon until 1972) and Bermuda.

“I have had more than my fair share of luck in my life,” he said. “Being able to live in Bermuda in 1946 and return to this beautiful Island so many times has been wonderful.”