Degele has come back to Bermuda with his wife for their golden wedding anniversary.

Mr. Degele was stationed on the USS Altaire as an Assistant Damage Controller during the second World War. He spent six months in Bermuda from 1943 to 1944.

He remembers spending time at the Riddell's Bay Golf Course for recreation.

"The USS Altaire used to anchor in the Great Sound, and motor launches would bring us in to the mainland.

"At that time the Riddell's Bay Golf Course was a nine-hole course and we used to go there for dances, as the United States Navy had leased it as an Officer's Recreational Club,'' he said.

The destroyer had a vital role to play.

"During the war, all destroyers that were built on the East Coast came down to Bermuda once they were completed.

"Once here, they `nested' alongside the USS Altaire , and engineering and technical personnel on board would inspect them to make sure that they were in proper working order.'' Once they were declared seaworthy, Mr. Degele and his crew would take them out to sea for `shake-down trials,' in which the vessels were put through simulated battle manoeuvres.

"The crew would conduct certain tests, in which real-life problems were simulated. After the all-clear, the destroyers would receive their orders to head out to a specific war zone for duty.'' All of this activity happened during the day, and with his nights free, Mr.

Degele would spend his time experiencing the Bermuda night life.

The Baltimore native and his wife Marjorie were married immediately after his return to the United States, just before he was assigned to the USS General C.

G. Martin , a troop carrier operating in the Pacific. After he left the Navy on Christmas Eve, 1945, he worked as a Bank Examiner for the State of Maryland, a post he held for 33 years.

"Just before I left Bermuda, I went to Astwood Dickinson Jewellers to buy my fiancee's engagement ring, I returned to the store the other day to show it to the sales staff,'' he said. "Bermuda certainly has changed, and this is our first visit since I left in 1944.'' REMEMBER WHEN -- Fifty-one years ago, Mr. Jack Degele was in Bermuda as an officer on board the USS Altaire . Last week, he and his wife Marjorie returned for the first time to celebrate their golden anniversary.