New broadside in battle for Arctic convoy medals

Keith Brown, a former Royal Marine who served in the Falklands, yesterday said it was a “scandal” that the veterans of the Arctic convoys to Russia had not yet received such a medal.

The veterans’ minister’s comments came at a Scottish Government reception for the surviving veterans of the convoys in the Trades Hall Glasgow. At the event, SNP MSP Rob Gibson, who chairs Holyrood’s all-party Russia group, presented a cheque for £50,000 to the group aiming to set up a museum at Loch Ewe, Wester Ross, from where most of the convoys sailed.

The donation came from Russian metals and property magnate Vasily Anisimov, who is said to have a net worth of $3.4 billion (about £2.1bn) as estimated by Forbes magazine.

The issue of an Arctic campaign medal is currently being considered in a review chaired by ex-diplomat Sir John Holmes.

The campaign for a medal began in the 1990s soon after the end of the Cold War. From 1941 to 1945, the convoys ran the gauntlet of Nazi air, submarine and battleship attack to take supplies to the Soviet ports of Archangel and Murmansk.

The conditions were so cold that a man could expect to survive for just five minutes if he fell in the sea. More than 3,000 men lost their lives on the convoys with dozens of ships sunk.

The convoys have been described as pivotal for the war effort because the supplies helped keep the Soviet Union in the war. If the Soviet Union had fallen to Nazi Germany, few believe the Allies could have won.

But after the war when the final medals were confirmed, the Arctic convoys were included in the Battle of the Atlantic campaign, which was fought to keep the UK supplied. Veterans of the Arctic say theirs was a completely separate campaign.

It is understood that because Stalin’s Soviet Union had become the new enemy, there was an unwillingness to hail those who had helped it.

But once the Cold War was over, in the 1990s Arctic veterans led by Commander Eddie Grenfell, originally of Montrose but now of Portsmouth, launched a medal campaign. Russia has already awarded British veterans the Russian Convoy Medal to show their gratitude.

Former Labour prime minister Tony Blair reneged on a promise to create a medal. In opposition, David Cameron vowed to introduce a medal but, now in power, the Prime Minister has put it out to a review.

With the surviving veterans now in their 80s and 90s, there have been warnings that time is running out.

Mr Brown said: “Serving aboard the Arctic convoys must have demanded huge courage and dedication. It is a scandal these men have not been recognised with a campaign medal.”

He added: “Now is the time for the UK government to listen and act.”