Mountainous waves, extreme climates and the taste of death might sound like key elements of an action film but for one town resident it was the harsh reality on board the destroyer HMS Beagle during the Second World War.

Peter Ward has now written a book about his experiences in the war. From Africa to the Arctic will appear in bookstores this month.

The book is based on a secret diary the East Road resident kept for a year while on West African convoy duty, escorting convoys to Russia and during the D-Day landing activities.

Peter, now aged 81, says it was his love of words which first sparked off the inspiration to write the book.

It was after attending a commemorative service to the victims of World War Two in Liverpool in 1993 that he felt inspired to dig out his diary, kept while serving for 12 months on the HMS Beagle.

The war veteran, now a well-known Midlands musician, was educated at the Walpole Grammar School in Ealing and joined the Royal Navy in September 1941.

He was sent to Pwllheli, North Wales, for five weeks to serve at HMS Glendower until he opted to do a radar course at Douglas on the Isle of Man.

Peter joined the crew of the corvette, Sweet Briar only to find himself based in Iceland and patrolling the North Atlantic in search of a German battleship.

The enthusiastic 21-year-old then joined the destroyer HMS Beagle, which was equipped to escort Russian convoys.

"Typical of the Navy, having fitted the ship to serve in the North Atlantic in the very cold weather, we were sent for six months to patrol the coast of West Africa," he said.

Peter said that conditions were good at this time with mostly calm seas and pleasant weather.

But it was while the destroyer was acting as one of the many escorts protecting convoys to North Russia and back that they encountered their most harrowing experiences.

The destroyer battled through atrocious weather, high seas, snow and ice and encountered the enemy in the shape of U-boats.

"We were lucky on the Beagle. One of my main worries at the time was that we may turn turtle at any time, this is where the ship overloads with ice," he said.

Peter's book describes the dodging of torpedoes, minefields, surviving bombing by German aircraft and sharing the sinking of a U-boat with the aircraft of HMS Tracker.

It also includes an account of two large American landing craft being sunk by German E-boats while travelling to Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings.

Peter said: "It was dark and the fire silhouetted us against the night sky making us easy prey for E-Boats. We had the sad job of picking up the survivors and taking them to hospital in Portsmouth."

The book ends with an account of the Beagle's involvement in the D-Day landings.

Penning the book consumed Peter's life for four years and at times he claimed his wife, Jean had to prise him away from his computer.

He said: "Jean has been behind me all the way and given me her whole-hearted support but there have been times when she's had to put the brakes on it often telling me I would end up dreaming about the book if I didn't leave it."

But he added: "I hope all the hard work pays off and the book will be a huge success."

Peter Ward will launch his new book this month. The official book signing will take place at High Street bookstore, Ottakers at noon this Saturday.

From Africa to the Arctic is published by Brewin Books Ltd, Studley.