My latest regional visit took me to the historical city of Arkhangelsk, which lies on the banks of the Northern Dvina River in north west Russia. Arkhangelsk is a fascinating city which is full of rich British/Russian history and indeed is where the British/Russian relationship began following the arrival of the explorer and navigator Richard Chancellor in 1553. Chancellor went on to meet Ivan the Terrible in Moscow and trading relations began.
I was in Arkhangelsk on 31 August to participate in events to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the arrival of the first of the Arctic Convoys, the ‘Dervish’, in Arkhangelsk in August 1941. These convoys delivered vital British aid to Russia during World War II and remain a very important part of our shared history. Between August 1941 and May 1945, around 1,400 merchant vessels escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and US Navy delivered supplies. 85 merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy ships were lost during the convoys and over 3,000 British servicemen and their allies died. Winston Churchill described the convoys as the ‘worst journey in the world’.
Autumn is not far off in northern Russia but luckily it was beautiful, sunny day in Arkhangelsk for our events. The Ambassador, Sir Tim Barrow, led our delegation and spoke at the ceremony for the unveiling of a new monument to the Arctic Convoys, which depicts a ship breaking through the ice. He noted the importance of the convoys to our shared history and the need to continue to remember and honour those who participated. We were delighted that a British veteran of the convoys, and Chairman of the Russian Convoy Club in London, Ernie Davies, was able to represent British veterans in Arkhangelsk.
There was also a wreath-laying ceremony on the Northern Dvina River near the memorial to ‘those who died at sea’, and we laid a wreath at the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in honour of those who died during the Arctic Convoys and also during the earlier Allied intervention of 1918-19. Worth mentioning that the ship RRS Discovery, which took Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton to Antarctica in 1901-04, was also used to ship supplies to Russia during World War I, and indeed visited Arkhangelsk in November 1915. I recently visited Discovery in her home port of Dundee.
The Mayor of Arkhangelsk, Victor Pavlenko, and his team did an excellent job in delivering appropriate and dignified events to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the ‘Dervish’ convoy. The heroic role of the convoys in World War II remains extremely important to Russia and is a key part of our shared history agenda. We have already started working on arrangements for the 75th anniversary on 31 August 2016. This will be another opportunity to remember and honour those who took part in the ‘worst journey in the world’.