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Steward's Boy J B Anderson was 16 when he died, one of the victims of
the sinking of the SS Induna. His grave lies on the outskirts of Murmansk, in a small cemetery hidden in the trees. Even in
May it is covered in snow.
It is such a lonely place, rarely visited and easily missed from the
road, but someone cared about the young man, buried far from home.
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Ernie Kennedy and John Horton visit the memorial in Murmansk |
Two cigarettes lay next to his headstone, placed there by an unknown
visitor. A private gesture - from a stranger perhaps, or a shipmate; maybe an in-joke of a friendship suddenly cut short.
On the stone is the date of death - April 3 1942 - and an inscription:
"His leaf perished in the green, blasted by Arctic gales."
About 3,000 Merchant Navy and Royal Navy men perished in the Arctic
between 1941 and 1945 while attempting to deliver supplies to the Soviet Union. Unlike Steward's Boy Anderson, the vast majority
have no grave. They simply disappeared into grey-green depths - freezing to death in minutes after falling into the water,
or succumbing to wounds or the cold in open lifeboats.
Others were simply blown apart by bombs or torpedoes delivered by Luftwaffe
bombers or U-boats.
Winter provided 24-hour darkness but pack ice forced convoys to move
nearer to German bases in Norway. Summer provided more open sea but 24-hour daylight for the attackers.
Yesterday, a few hundred survivors of the Arctic convoys gathered in
Murmansk to remember those who lie at the bottom of the Barents Sea. The veterans, from the Russian Convoy Club and the North
Russia Club, were guests of honour at ceremonies in the city marking the end of the Second World War.
The Duke of York headed a British delegation that included the crew
of the frigate Sutherland. Some of the men, almost all of whom are in their eighties, took part in a march-past in the main
square, taking their places alongside young sailors from Russia's Northern Fleet.
From there, they were taken to the Alyosha monument, a concrete likeness
of a Soviet soldier more than 130ft high, peering out over the Kola Inlet towards the west.
Children cheered as their coaches drove by.
Ernie Kennedy and John Horton were among those wearing the white beret
adopted by Arctic veterans.
Mr Kennedy, 80, was a Royal Navy gunner serving on an American-built
Liberty ship which made the run to Murmansk and Archangel.
"You were so bloody cold," he said. "You wore a lifejacket in bed -
not for safety but to keep warm.
"If the escort was depth-charging, dead fish would come to the surface,
instantly frozen. Being sunk didn't bear thinking about. I saw two ships torpedoed in my convoy. They didn't blow up but just
lost speed and started lagging farther and farther behind. Poor b***ers. You just hoped a rescue ship got to them." Unlike
many Royal Navy seamen who never had the chance to set foot in Russia, Mr Kennedy spent time on land.
"The Russians didn't talk to us much - there was the language barrier
and they were scared of being seen with foreigners. Stalin, you see. They were starving - they ate our scraps, anything."
Mr Horton, 81, served on the destroyer Matchless, which saw much action
in northern waters. A radar operator, he watched the destruction of the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst on his flickering
green screen.
"We rescued some Germans," he said. "They were lucky - not many got
out. They were terrified - they thought we were Russians. We gave them rum to fetch the oil up from their stomachs."
The greatest disaster of the campaign occurred in July 1942 when convoy
PQ17 was ordered to scatter following incorrect intelligence suggesting the battleship Tirpitz was on the loose. Hundreds
of men died as the ships, devoid of escort, were picked off methodically.
Gordon Bruty, 85, served on the cruiser London, which sailed away. "I
remember watching them being bombed on the horizon," he said.
Counting the cost
More than 3,000 British men and women died on the convoys which
began in 1941.
A total of 78 convoys sailed to and from northern Russia during
the war.
5,000 tanks and 7,000 aircraft, as well as trucks, ammunition
and other supplies were delivered.
More than 100 ships were lost to surface, air and submarine
attack.
In July 1942 only 11 of 39 ships reached the Kola Peninsula.
Hundreds died as ships were picked off by German aircraft and U-boats. More than 200 aircraft, 400 tanks and 3,350 other vehicles
were lost.
This Article was provided by the Telegraph.co.uk.
Saturday 22 March, 2008. | 