New medal hope for Arctic Convoy vets

Arctic Convoy veterans were given fresh hope of victory in their campaign to be awarded a medal after David Cameron backed calls for a new review.

An inquiry into the military medals system, set up earlier this year by the Prime Minister, said there should be a “rapid but in-depth independent look” at controversial snubs.

Former diplomat Sir John Holmes said his panel had been “sufficiently impressed by the arguments of some of the campaigners about past decisions” to recommend another look.

More than 3,000 seamen died in Operation Dervish, which saw supplies delivered to the Soviet ports of Murmansk and Archangel during the Second World War.