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This marked the beginning of regular deliveries that continued until the very end of the Great Patriotic War. They were carried out in extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances. In addition to severe weather conditions, the convoys were threatened by the actions of the German Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe.
Alexander Werth’s 1947 book, ‘The Year of Stalingrad’, details the journey of Merchant Navy Ship “Empire Baffin” during WWII. The ship left Middlesborough, UK, for Reykjavik on May 1, 1942, arriving ten days later, and then sailed to Murmansk, USSR, on May 20th. Despite Nazi Germany’s control of the sea, air, and land, and losing seven ships, the Convoy PQ-16 of 36 international ships managed to reach port under the protection of naval fleets.
‘Seaman Arthur Gibson joined the Royal Navy Patrol Service (RNPS) in late 1941, and was soon aboard the Minesweeper – HMS Beaumaris Castle – stationed in the North Atlantic. His job was to keep the shipping lanes free of Nazi German mines (by shooting to sink them or explode with using mounted Lewis Machine Guns, or WWI 303 Lee Enfield or MK III Ross [303] Rifles), so that the Russian Arctic Convoys could deliver vital aid to the UK’s ally – the Soviet Union! As Arthur Gibson saw frontline service nearly everyday of his four-year service – this fact alone triggered a cascade of medals for time-served in the face of the enemy! I contacted the MOD recently to acquire an official letter confirming his medal entitlement. He would have been proud of his two granddaughters – Mei-An and Kai-Lin living in Sutton and helping me research his glorious past! Arthur Gibson was finally granted his medals on the 19th of September, 1950 – some five-years after the end of WWII – and after other conflicts were well under way around the world!’
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 