A memorial plaque has been unveiled in Hazelbank Park, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, naming eight sailors from Northern Ireland who served on HMS Amethyst during the 1949 Yangtze incident.

The plaque recognises the crew members, including Sammy Bannister and Raymond McCullough Snr, both from Northern Ireland, who were on the ship when it came under fire from Communist forces on the Yangtze River.

Twenty British sailors died and thirty were wounded in the attack. The vessel was attempting to evacuate British citizens from Nanking amid the final stages of the Chinese Civil War.

Survivors were held captive for several months before the ship escaped to Shanghai in July 1949. Sammy Bannister, then aged 21, sustained shrapnel wounds and was briefly held ashore after abandoning ship.

Raymond McCullough Snr, aged 17, was ordered to abandon ship but remained aboard to assist the wounded. His family received a telegram stating he was missing in action.

Andrew Bannister and Raymond McCullough Jnr led an eight-year campaign to install the plaque. They said the memorial ensures future generations can remember the sailors' service.

The two men first met after Andrew Bannister appeared on the Antiques Roadshow at Stormont in 2018, when Raymond McCullough Jnr contacted him about their fathers' shared service.