Sunday, 2 June 2013

Arctic Convoy Members Commemorated

The story of the Arctic Convoys and the struggle of survivors to achieve the level of recognition they felt was appropriate has been well-documented. Those unfamiliar with the story may wish to click here ;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21583176 .

What about the individual stories of  those involved ? Once again, the nation`s smaller newspaperrs have a lot to contribute here.

Two stories which caught my eye recently appeared in my local newspaper, and can be found here ;

http://www.ripleyandheanornews.co.uk/news/war-hero-recalls-arctic-missions-1-5661799

http://www.ripleyandheanornews.co.uk/news/local/arctic-convoy-hero-finally-gets-medal-70-years-on-1-5623125

The first concerns itself with Dennis Yates of Marlpool, Derbyshire, a shipwright on HMS Scylla, whilst the second concerns itself with George Eyre of Codnor, a wireless telegraphist on HMS Duke of York.

Small newspapers in other areas have comparable stories. Naturally I can`t track down and list them all, but the others include ;

 Unsigned - `Pensioner George Yorke Receives Medal...`, posted 19 May 2013 at www.dailyecho.co.uk
 Unsigned - `Arctic Convoy Medal for Veteran Bob Watkin`, which appeared in The Citizen and was posted at www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk 31 May 2013
 Emma Rigby -  `Hartford Man Ernie Nelson Will Receive the Medal...` , posted 31 May 2013 at www.northwichguardian.co.uk .

 Articles about Jock Dempster appeared at www.dailyrecord.co.uk , www.scotsman.com , www.heraldscotland.com , www.deadlinenews.co.uk , http://forargyll.com and www.eastlothiannews.co.uk and many others.

However belatedly, it`s only right that we commemorate the men who made the  journey that was so  dangerous that amongst themselves they referred to it as the `suicide run` and which Churchill once called "the worst journey in the world."









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