Older residents may remember the sight of Tartars, Mongols, Siberians, Ukrainians and Usbecks marching through the streets of Worthing.

In the winter of 1944-45, more than 800 Red Army veterans were stationed at the Warnes Hotel, awaiting repatriation to the Soviet Union.

During their brief stay, the troops, many of Asiatic appearance, endeared themselves to the local population.

They were renowned for singing on the march and townsfolk joined in when they performed Cossack-style dances on the steps of the Warnes.

Hundreds helped clear snow from the streets and they were treated to a concert at the Pier Pavilion theatre. But behind the smiles, many of those young men, so far from home, must have nervously wondered what the future held.

The soldiers had been captured in 1941 by the advancing German army during Operation Barbarossa, when Hitler unleashed his Panzers on the USSR.

Nobody knows how many Soviet soldiers and civilians died during the war but historians estimate the death toll was more than 25 million.

Stalin, leader of the Communist state, had no sympathy for captured Red Army troops, famously stating: "There are no prisoners of war, there are traitors."

Thousands of Soviet PoWs joined the German army to escape the Nazi death camps and knew they could expect little mercy on their return.

After being liberated by the advancing Allied armies, more than 800 dishevelled men, some wearing German army caps, were sent to the Warnes and kitted out in British khaki uniforms.

A newspaper reporter noted: "There are a few distinctly Slavonic faces among them but for the most part they are dressed in British khaki and could well be mistaken for English soldiers except for their singing, which is musical and in harmony and compares well with the singing of Welshmen."

The men paraded on the seafront every day, where a Russian-speaking officer would read them the latest war news. They queued for food under the Union flag, the Stars and Stripes and the Hammer and Sickle.

But ominously, when Worthing tried to organise a civic welcome for its guests, there was resistance from the top brass, perhaps conscious of the fact that some of the soldiers may have fought for the enemy.

A Lancing man by the name of Oliver Bell was at pains to point out that many of the troops had joined the French resistance after D-Day and fought against the Germans, clearing a path for the advancing Allied armies.

On March 2, 1945, a concert was staged for the Soviets at the Pier Pavilion, with the YMCA mobile canteen supplying hot drinks.

A report of proceedings stated: "The Pavilion probably never contained a more appreciative audience than on Saturday when Russians were entertained by the Worthing Anglo-

Soviet Friendship Committee.

"Every item, but particularly the dancing of the children, was greeted with a storm of applause.

"The show lasted for three hours and included songs by a choir of 40 of the Russians, and singing by the whole body of men.

"Saturday night's entertainment will live as a pleasant memory for most, if not all of these Russians when they get back."

Within days, the Soviets were on their way home as part of a repatriation agreement drawn up at the famous Yalta Conference.

We do not know for certain what happened to the Worthing contingent but it seems likely that few, if any, saw their families again.

Some were possibly executed with a bullet in the back of the head as soon as they set foot on Soviet soil.

Others were sent to labour camps, where life was short and brutal.

But memories of their singing and dancing live on.