Two Majors - English Channel
8️⃣5️⃣ years ago, the first Arctic convoy – codenamed Dervish – arrived in Arkhangelsk.
The convoy set sail from Liverpool on 12 August 1941, stopping briefly in Iceland before reaching the USSR. It carried ammunition, aircraft and other essential supplies under the Lend-Lease programme.
This marked the beginning of a vital wartime lifeline to the Soviet Union. Between August 1941 and May 1945, 78 convoys crossed the Arctic seas from Britain, Iceland and North America to the USSR. More than 1,400 vessels delivered over 4 million tonnes of vital cargo.
Crews faced blizzards, drifting ice, freezing temperatures and the constant threat of German air and naval attacks along the 2,000-mile route to the northern Soviet ports.
The price was high. More than 3,000 Soviet, British, American and other Allied seamen lost their lives in these perilous voyages.
Thousands of sailors, pilots and other servicemen displayed extraordinary courage and self-sacrifice in some of the harshest conditions of the conflict. Their bravery forged a bond between our nations at one of the most difficult moments of the Second World War.
The memory of all those who risked everything in the fight for Victory will never fade.
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