Veteran sailor reflects on an eventful career as he returns to town to commemorate HMAS Wagga

Navy veteran Frank Boyd, 83, visited the HMAS Wagga exhibit at the Wagga Civic Centre with wife Wilma on Thursday to mark the addition of the navy outfit he wore while serving on the ship all those years ago.

While Mr Boyd was set to present the uniform himself over the Anzac Day holiday, he was forced to leave this to fellow HMAS Wagga veteran David Williams after family illness prevented from coming.

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Finally staging a return to Wagga, the journey brought back many memories.

Navy blood runs deep in Mr Boyd's family with his grandfather serving in both world wars and his father also serving with both the navy and army.

Joining the navy in 1957, Mr Boyd went on to serve on the HMAS Wagga, during which time he was deployed to New Caledonia in the aftermath of a devastating typhoon.

"That... flattened everything right across the country... so we took medical supplies, tents, blankets... and went there to help the locals," he said.

After serving on the ship's final voyage in 1961, Mr Boyd was deployed to HMS Lochinvar in Scotland where he met the love of his life on a blind date.

It was love at first sight for Mr Boyd, and just 11 weeks later on September 8, 1962, the pair were married.

Mr Boyd was in his navy colours for the wedding and said "in those days [sailors] were not allowed to wear civilian clothes."

Just weeks later the newlyweds were forced to part as Mr Boyd made preparations to return to Sydney on minesweeper HMAS Snipe, but after a late night out, he slept in and literally missed the boat.

"We were sailing at 6am, and I didn't get there in time, so I turned myself over to the naval police," he said.

In the end, he managed to catch up to the ship by boat, but was forced to jump aboard after the captain refused to stop.

After the three-month voyage back to Australia was over, Mr Boyd had to wait a further two months before Wilma came out to join him.

Reflecting on another dramatic encounter, while serving aboard the HMAS Tobruk in Jervis Bay, Mr Boyd recalled the time he was knocked overboard while sailors hauled a sea boat onto the ship.

"I tripped on a bollard on the deck and fell over the side," Mr Boyd said.

"Jervis Bay is full of sharks and all I could think of was that I was going to be eaten by one."

Fortunately he swum back to the ship in one piece and was rescued, but the trip-up didn't come without consequence.

"When I got on board, I had to go and see the captain who charged me with leaving the ship without position," Mr Boyd said.

Across his long and varied naval career, Mr Boyd was also deployed during the Vietnam War.

Towards the end of his time in the navy in the mid-1990s, he helped remove WWII-era mines from the Great Barrier Reef.

"Most of them were either magnetic ones or acoustic mines which were laid on the sea bed," Mr Boyd said.

He said the mines are still "quite dangerous" and can be set off by a metal boat passing above them without even requiring physical contact.

"You don't have to hit the mines, you've only got to pass within a certain distance of them. The force of the water being pushed up breaks the ship's back and down she goes," Mr Boyd said.

Out of the nearly 10 ships he served on in his career, Mr Boyd said he has forged particularly strong ties with his HMAS Wagga mates and loves travelling back to Wagga for commemorations every two years or so.

"It's the one time I get to meet all the mates I served with," he said.

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