Arctic Convoys: UK veteran leaves his medals to a school in Murmansk

Russia celebrated Victory Day on 9 May. Commemorative events took place across the country. In St Petersburg, I joined the Governor and thousands of St Petersburg residents to lay flowers at Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, where half a million of the victims of the Leningrad Siege are buried. The following day I was in Murmansk, another city that suffered greatly during World War Two, and a city that has close shared history with the UK through the Arctic Convoys.

Murmansk was a key port for delivering essential supplies to the Soviet Union during World War II. Winston Churchill described the Arctic Convoys as the ‘worst journey in the world’. Between August 1941 and May 1945, around 1,400 merchant vessels escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and US Navy made the journey. 85 merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy ships were lost during the convoys and over 3,000 British servicemen and their allies died.

Lawyers representing a veteran of the Arctic Convoys, Peter Skinner, asked for our assistance in delivering medals and other items left to school number nine in Murmansk in his will. Peter Skinner, who was also Secretary of the North Russian Club, had visited school number nine on many occasions with other British veterans.

I was warmly received by the teachers and children of school number nine and enjoyed listening to the children singing songs and reading poetry about the convoys. The medals, including Peter’s MBE which he received in 2006, were put on display in the school museum to the convoys. In my remarks, I said that Peter Skinner had been a great friend of Russia and school number nine in Murmansk. As Secretary of the North Russia Club in the United Kingdom, Peter organised and participated in many visits to Russia by veterans of the Arctic Convoys. Remembering and honouring the heroic deeds of Peter and others who took part in the Arctic Convoys remained extremely important today.           

In a separate meeting, the Governor of Murmansk region told me that that the people of Murmansk greatly valued the shared history with the UK and contribution made by veterans of the Arctic Convoys. Peter Skinner’s wonderful gesture was a good example of the friendship and mutual appreciation. I also laid flowers at the World War Two cemetery for those who lost their lives during the Arctic Convoys. It was nice to see that someone had visited the cemetery on Victory Day and laid a wreath and individual red carnations on each grave.

The warmth of our welcome at the school and the gratitude expressed for Peter Skinner’s gesture was touching. Peter’s contribution both as a veteran of the convoys and as a key organiser of commemorative visits will be remembered by the people of Murmansk. We now look ahead to late August and events in Arkhangelsk to mark the 75^th anniversary of the arrival of the first of the Arctic Convoys, ‘Dervish’.