HE was a quiet, private man.

So the thought that Sidney 'Sid' Worrall might be part of an exhibition at one of Scotland's busiest museums makes his granddaughter smile.

Sid was a cook on the passenger liner SS Athenia when she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in 1939.

Badly burned and thinking he might die, Sid gave his watch to fellow passenger Gerald Hutchinson who took it back to Canada.

Mr Hutchison died in 2015 and his son, Rob, decided to return the watch to Glasgow and gifted it to the Riverside Museum.

Last week in the Evening Times, we appealed for family of Sid to come forward and help museum bosses fill in the gaps about the cook's life.

The call came after curator Emily Malcolm decided to turn detective and discovered that Sid had survived the sinking.

Both his granddaughter, Catherine Muir, and nephew, Ernie Worrall, came forward.

Neither had known the story of Sid's watch - and neither knew about each other.

Catherine, who was incredibly close to her grandfather, said: "It's been very emotional for me. I've been close to tears a few times during my visit to the museum today.

"We lived near Sid in Law village and my brother George and I were in and out of his house all the time. For the last three to four years of his life he lived with us, as his health failed."

Ernie also has fond memories of his uncle who worked as a porter in Stonehouse Hospital when Ernie was a junior house officer.

Ernie, a psychiatrist, said he remembers Sid's mother telling the story of how the family heard the Athenia had gone down but they did not know whether Sid was alive or dead.

A neighbour had been at the cinema and watched a British Pathe newsreel about the sinking - and was sure she spotted Sid coming off the rescue boat.

She went straight to Sid's mother who ran to the cinema and caught the manager locking up for the night.

He allowed Mrs Worrall to sit in the theatre and watch the newsreel.

Ernie, 74, said: "And sure enough, it was Sid. Imagine how that must have felt, sitting there in the dark and seeing her son was alive."

Sid was the second fish cook on board Athenia and when the torpedo struck a large pot of boiling oil tipped over him, burning him badly.

He was taken on a rescue ship to Galway, where he and another cook were given treatment.

Ernie said he was made aware of medical notes for Sid from the time of his hospital stay in Galway.

A doctor travelling aboard the Athenia treated Sid's burns with a mixture of ink and tar.

Just a year after the disaster, Sid went back to sea although he suffered from his injuries all his life.

Catherine, 52, said: "My grandfather was very badly burned on his legs and a bit on his face and torso.

"He was very slow walking and often had pain, which was much worse in cold weather.

"I remember he would tell me his skin grafts were his map of the world. He would say, 'This is Canada, this is Australia,' and I would take it all in."

Sid, who died in 1973, had one daughter, Margaret, who was Catherine's mum.

She said: "My gran died when my mum was 15 and so he was her rock, they were so, so close.

"He was a wonderful grandfather too. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful grandfather."

Emily said: "There are so many things in the museum we don't have the personal stories of but we always want to put the story around any item.

"We have personal meaning and historic meaning all in one small object.

"It has been fantastic to make contact with Sid's family and learn what he was like and that he had a happy life."

Sid's watch will now go on display in Riverside Museum as part of a larger display about the Athenia, the first UK ship to be sunk by Germany during World War II.