The Arctic Convoys

:00:04. > :00:14.in the Second World War. Robert Hall has met the few survivors who

:00:14. > :00:16.

:00:16. > :00:22.met on the top-secret voyages. On a narrow road in Scotland's north-

:00:22. > :00:27.west Highlands a group of veterans look through the rain-streaked

:00:27. > :00:37.windows of their minibus for a glimpse at the landscape they first

:00:37. > :00:43.viewed as young men. They wear the white berets which mark their

:00:43. > :00:50.service on the Arctic convoys. Four years facing storms, ice and enemy

:00:50. > :01:00.attacks as they battled true to re- supply their allies in Russia.

:01:00. > :01:03.Sometimes you feel sad because can the ships were lost and you saw

:01:03. > :01:11.that you are alive yourself you happen to be one of the lucky ones

:01:11. > :01:14.that made it. Churchill called them the bravest men afloat and yet they

:01:14. > :01:20.are still fighting to convince their own government that they

:01:20. > :01:28.deserve a medal. As we were on the convoys we thought this is health,

:01:28. > :01:33.this is absolute hell. But I don't ever want this to almost again. I

:01:33. > :01:43.looked back and I saw - that was when it was the proudest moment of

:01:43. > :02:08.

:02:08. > :02:18.my life, you know, to have done They are fewer and more frail as

:02:18. > :02:20.

:02:20. > :02:23.each year passes. But the calf this wind swept hillside cannot be

:02:23. > :02:33.ignored by those who sailed into dangers from which so many never

:02:33. > :02:37.returned. (Lament plays) Government the cold did not get you the kpwer

:02:37. > :02:47.mans would. It was described ooze a view side mesh are mission, that is

:02:47. > :02:55.

:02:55. > :03:05.how bad they were. -- the Germans. I'm 86 and when I went down at 18,

:03:05. > :03:40.

:03:40. > :03:44.I remember it. It was a horrible 70 years ago this was crowded with

:03:44. > :03:53.ships all waiting to begin as what Churchill described as the "Worst

:03:53. > :03:56.journey in the world". The largest convoy taken to Russia is feeling

:03:56. > :04:02.its way through the danger belt north of scanned naive yafplt this

:04:02. > :04:07.is the roof of the world which saw Antarctic sea battle between Nazis,

:04:07. > :04:11.torpedo droppers and submarines. In September 1941 the British Navy

:04:11. > :04:16.launched a secret operation code named Derbish. The convoy which

:04:17. > :04:26.sailed north-east was the first to plough through trefrp yus Arctic

:04:27. > :04:30.

:04:30. > :04:38.waters to the Russian points.. The waep Johns and supplies the German

:04:38. > :04:47.described as enough to equip an army. A lifeline to an ally, badly

:04:47. > :04:57.in need of supplies and far from the sheltered bays of Loch Hugh.

:04:57. > :05:03.This is guarding the Loch during the war and that was their look-

:05:03. > :05:07.outpost behind us that and that was the amount nation. John Murdow

:05:07. > :05:13.McKenzie then eight years old remembers the ships gathering in

:05:13. > :05:19.their last safe Anchorage. There used to be over 100 ships inside

:05:19. > :05:24.there at the one time waiting to go on the convoys, to different parts.

:05:24. > :05:30.Most going from Russia directly at that time. Exciting times for an 8-

:05:30. > :05:40.year-old boy or not? Very. We never thought it was a war, it was just

:05:40. > :05:44.

:05:44. > :05:53.great sport. Under these skies young men enjoyed their final hours

:05:53. > :06:03.of shore leavinant of the perils which lay ahead. -- leave inant of

:06:03. > :06:08.

:06:08. > :06:13.the perils which lay ahead. When we left here I was an hour west. We

:06:13. > :06:19.sent off - we set off north and that gale gradually deteriorated

:06:19. > :06:23.into a hurricane. I have never seen seas like it. They had been told

:06:23. > :06:28.they were sailing into the most dangerous waters in the world. Up

:06:28. > :06:38.to a fortnight in the teeth of gales which howled across seas so

:06:38. > :06:50.

:06:50. > :06:55.cold they could kill a man in minutes. The seas were so heavy any

:06:55. > :07:00.minute you thought you were going to be swallowed up, it was so bad.

:07:00. > :07:05.One of the things you had to watch on the look-out, you had your big

:07:05. > :07:14.hat an everything on, but if by chance your nose started running

:07:14. > :07:20.and you had the sniffles then that would freeze so it was like having

:07:20. > :07:24.a nose full of needles, that is how painful it was and its was painful.

:07:24. > :07:34.Ice was everywhere on the decks had to be chipped off in case the ship

:07:34. > :07:39.

:07:39. > :07:45.turned over. Ice everywhere and not only outside even inside the ship.

:07:45. > :07:49.We had 2 in muchs of ice inside the living quarters. So if you lived

:07:49. > :07:55.with ice all around us and we went out onto the deck, once again ice,

:07:55. > :07:58.and the one thing we had to be careful of that is if you touched

:07:58. > :08:08.anything metal with your bare hands then you left your skin behind and

:08:08. > :08:17.

:08:17. > :08:26.that was painful. The chill wind whipping the headlands 70 years on

:08:26. > :08:36.may stir memories of voyages during which warmth was a painful dream.

:08:36. > :08:39.

:08:39. > :08:44.Hymn to the Lost at Sea) But the old men blinking away the rain

:08:44. > :08:49.survived more than the Arctic's wintery grip. Hash with the going

:08:49. > :08:54.down with the sun an in the morning we will remember them We will

:08:54. > :09:00.remember them. Attacks by aircraft and submarines I watched really

:09:00. > :09:04.came in right down the columns in some cases sometimes even lower

:09:04. > :09:08.than whether I - where I was standing on board the shifplt it

:09:08. > :09:14.was nothing to see them go past - the ship. I could even see the

:09:14. > :09:24.helmets they were wearing. 2,000 miles the cargo ships and

:09:24. > :09:24.

:09:25. > :09:28.their naval escorts were shadowed by an enemy waiting to pounce.

:09:28. > :09:37.Exhausted look-outs scanning the waves and the skies but the tell-

:09:37. > :09:43.tail signs that could bring death in seconds. And second torpedo hip

:09:43. > :09:49.and people were shout sing, few were hurt, you just wanted to jump

:09:49. > :09:56.overboard because you thought the ship would sink any minute. I did

:09:56. > :10:03.see one ship go down. I came if starboard side and it was just

:10:03. > :10:06.landing down, no sign of debris, no sign of survivors and as it went

:10:06. > :10:16.down it just smoothed out, you would look back and there was

:10:16. > :10:29.

:10:29. > :10:33.nothing there. We never went down below from the time we started to

:10:33. > :10:43.the time we finished, never went below. We had stewards bringing us

:10:43. > :10:46.

:10:46. > :10:50.up food and drink. (Sirens) They came down one after another and

:10:50. > :10:55.there were five bombs aimed at us and certainly all hit the ship and

:10:55. > :11:00.one of the bombs went into the cargo hold because we were carrying

:11:00. > :11:10.car get as well, and there was ammunition there. And the ship just

:11:10. > :11:12.

:11:12. > :11:18.exploded. And I was gone. I don't know if you could imagine metal

:11:18. > :11:28.bombing but when the ship was hit and the steel was torn asunder it

:11:28. > :11:28.

:11:28. > :11:32.really made the most horrifying screech and made you sick inside

:11:32. > :11:38.(Screaming) Panic-stricken, I pulled something up hanging on my

:11:38. > :11:42.right arm and it was a body, a chap hanging onto my arm and he had a

:11:42. > :11:47.bit of shrapnel ride down the middle of his head. I looked at his

:11:47. > :11:53.head, there was nothing I could do for him an he just drifted away.

:11:53. > :11:57.You could see it was a large bomb. It was the survivors carried by the

:11:57. > :12:01.waves. You heard the crash and people crying for mother, they were

:12:01. > :12:07.crying out for their mothers, crying out for help. There was

:12:07. > :12:12.nothing else you could do but see the red lights popping up and down.

:12:12. > :12:17.I was swimming around and I looked, I could see the ship coming up the

:12:17. > :12:20.bend and it just went down like that. I want told the people were

:12:21. > :12:28.in the water but nobody answered me, you know? I could not get any

:12:28. > :12:36.answers. I looked out to see the outline of a ship, and it was very

:12:36. > :12:41.dark, there was a lot of smoke about. I swam towards the ship and

:12:41. > :12:45.shouted out - it was very dark, I don't think anybody could see me, I

:12:45. > :12:53.shouted out, threw a line over, I grabbed the line and slipped off

:12:53. > :12:59.the line and was covered in oil fuel. My hands, my eyes, in my face.

:12:59. > :13:03.And I was pushed away if the ship. I thought "Well, that's it". And

:13:03. > :13:12.for some reason a wave came along, took me up the side of the ship and

:13:12. > :13:16.he grabbed me.. The others were clinging to the rafts. The sea was

:13:16. > :13:20.so cold, you had ropes hanging down from these rafts which they would

:13:20. > :13:24.cling to and try to pull themselves onto the rafts. They could to do

:13:24. > :13:31.this because their hands would slip down the ice so they would slide

:13:31. > :13:41.back into the sea. It was undoubt think saddest day in my life. --

:13:41. > :13:53.

:13:53. > :14:01.Those who climb this rocky climbs with the veterans do so to honour

:14:01. > :14:06.the thousands who never returned to Loch Hugh. (The 'LAST POST' PLAYS)

:14:06. > :14:11.Yet, as the bugel sounds once more, there are nagging doubts over had

:14:11. > :14:17.the UK has done enough to acknowledge their courage and

:14:17. > :14:21.suffering. It is an extraordinary story and they were very, very

:14:21. > :14:29.young, and they found themselves in these horrific conditions where

:14:29. > :14:36.quite apart from the enemy they had to contend with the cold.

:14:36. > :14:46.# Amazing grace, how sweet the sound... They deserve every kind of

:14:46. > :15:08.

:15:08. > :15:12.respect, admiration and recognition. In the English port of Harrage a

:15:12. > :15:22.pilgramage begins. A friends ship born at a time when supplies from

:15:22. > :15:24.

:15:24. > :15:30.overseas helped to bring a nation back if the brink. (Bombing) (Shell

:15:30. > :15:35.fire). In 1941, threatened by the German advance Russian forces were

:15:35. > :15:39.running desperately short of supplies. The 78 Arctic convoys

:15:39. > :15:49.brought four million tonnes of food, munitions and fuel to Russia's

:15:49. > :15:51.

:15:51. > :16:01.northern ports. In Mansk where a huge memorial towers above to say

:16:01. > :16:02.

:16:02. > :16:09.no one has forgotten the 101 allied vessels which were lost. We cherish

:16:09. > :16:16.all the pages of this war. The page of Russian convoys is one of the

:16:16. > :16:20.major in the history in the schoolbooks. So our children know

:16:20. > :16:25.that and certainly have grown up - and gone-up people remember it or

:16:25. > :16:29.were told the stories by people -- grown-up people - were told the

:16:29. > :16:39.stories that were witnessed by people like that so I'm quite sure

:16:39. > :16:43.

:16:43. > :16:48.it will not be forgotten. Over the years it will be remembered.

:16:48. > :16:52.there is more to these reunions than the bands t smiles t flowers,

:16:52. > :17:01.the British veterans who bow their heads at the Flame of Remembrance

:17:01. > :17:06.wear the bright ribbons of Russian medals awarded by a grateful nation.

:17:06. > :17:12.What annoys me and what annoys many of my ship mates, many of the

:17:12. > :17:17.veterans is that albeit they thank us all the time, people in the West,

:17:17. > :17:22.countries in the West, relatively speaking never seem to appreciate

:17:22. > :17:28.that Russia lost 27 million men in the war. I mean, they were giving

:17:28. > :17:38.the Tuesday blessings and everything for -- giving us the

:17:38. > :17:43.

:17:43. > :17:49.blessings and everything for 3,000- Today on the River Thames in London

:17:49. > :17:55.visitors can tour one of the last survivors of the Arctic convoys t

:17:55. > :17:58.Light Cruiser HMS Belfast is a way of reminding new generations of hat

:17:58. > :18:02.these ships and their crews went through Annette those who have

:18:02. > :18:12.survived to tell the stories claim they are still waiting for formal

:18:12. > :18:16.recognition of their courage and their sacrifice. Every morning at

:18:17. > :18:20.his home overlooking Portsmouth's naval base commander Eddie Grenfell

:18:20. > :18:25.now 91 opens fresh emails from those who believe the British

:18:25. > :18:34.Government has failed in its duty to the men who served on the Arctic

:18:34. > :18:39.run. Commander green felling has spent 15 years leading the campaign

:18:39. > :18:44.-- Grenfell -- for a British medal to be awarded It is the only thing

:18:44. > :18:50.that has occupied my miefpbltd I can tell you that when I'm -- mind.

:18:50. > :18:53.I can tell you that when I'm given duty to carry out thin really

:18:53. > :19:03.devote myself to doing the job and that is what I have done with the

:19:03. > :19:13.

:19:13. > :19:19.Arctic campaign. I would love if the government saw fit to give us a

:19:19. > :19:29.medal. It would gladden my heart in a way. Really, that we had finally

:19:29. > :19:36.

:19:36. > :19:41.been recognised and they were awful The veterans who parade at this

:19:41. > :19:47.time of remembrance wear campaign medals marking service around the

:19:47. > :19:53.world past and present. Services in the Arctic is represented by a

:19:53. > :19:59.small badge awarded in 2005 which campaigners regard as inadequate.

:19:59. > :20:03.My goodness, we fought for four and a half long years in the Arctic and

:20:03. > :20:09.surely we deserve some sort of recognition, certainly not a clasp

:20:09. > :20:13.or a badge, a medal like every other campaign. The suffering they

:20:13. > :20:19.had was absolutely indescribable. They kept their heads, they kept

:20:19. > :20:24.themselves together, I think that as a Group D veterans of the

:20:24. > :20:27.convoys are probably more close- knit than you can find than any

:20:27. > :20:33.other group of people. The memories are very, very strong and they

:20:33. > :20:43.still want to push some of these ideas through. I think that the

:20:43. > :20:45.

:20:45. > :20:51.70th anniversary is the moments to do these things. The young men who

:20:51. > :20:55.sailed back past the guns at Loch Hugh had survived the froze city of

:20:55. > :21:00.Arctic weather, witnessed the destruction of ships, and had lost

:21:00. > :21:10.so many close friends. Small wonder that the experiences of their

:21:10. > :21:14.

:21:14. > :21:24.journey called them to this day. was on a rescue ship. I prepared

:21:24. > :21:25.

:21:25. > :21:29.the dead for burial because quite a few die on this ship. Difficult 200.

:21:29. > :21:39.When I joined up it was pride to do my duty and do something tore the

:21:39. > :21:48.country. Sometimes I think what I wise to do that, you know? If hi my

:21:48. > :21:54.time over, of course I would do it again, yes. Being at sea is not a

:21:54. > :22:04.nice thing. You satisfy flag and the service is nice, and there is a

:22:04. > :22:09.splash and somebody's life is gone. And I come up here to see this

:22:09. > :22:14.stone and I'm actually back there. Just standing at that stofpblt I do

:22:14. > :22:22.not see the stone, I see something else -- stone. I see that flag

:22:22. > :22:32.being held onto and a man disappearing. The MoD is reviewing

:22:32. > :22:39.the veterans request but time is short. Convoys mounted to smash

:22:39. > :22:47.their way to the coast. Homebound convoys limp back wounded deaths

:22:47. > :22:53.icy grip embraced them most. Europe's storm... Do As Eddie