Artic ( Russian ) Convoys

#9. I was in Gdansk in the late 1960s Rodney and as you say the people had nothing a plastic biro pen bought in Woolworths was worth’s fortune to them , but the only thing you could buy was onion beer at the Seamen’s Club. The scowling Russian occupation troops. were dark skinned troops from the Russian Steppes and one was searched going ashore and coming back .My wife being a country dancer we used to get visitors from Chekoslovakia staying with us, however they could not bring their children with them , they were held as surety they would return home . There is a lot of evil in the world today and most of it is caused by evil people at the top with absolutely no morals . Ghengis Khan is still alive and doing well . JS

I should have added my book lists each merchant ship which sailed in a convoy to or from north Russia and gives details of the circumstances in which individual merchant ship and warship was lost.

Incidentally I found during my early research some books such a Convoy! did not fully describe every convoy and lacked a degree of detail.

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Originally Posted by Doc Vernon

See also my Post of earlier please! In another Sub Forum
Cheers

Forgotten Sacrifices (merchant-navy.net)

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Still copies for sale Vernon in Kindle, Hardback, Paperback and used-plus an excerpt! :)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forgotten-S...ustomerReviews

Jsw.

John.

The time I was there was a time of mass confusion, Communism got swept away almost overnight Poland had been racing towards democracy, the docks had formed a union by election, unheard of in a communist state and the Polish army had refused to interfere in a strike by the dock workers. Gorbachev had been swept in met with Regan who shouted in Berlin "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall" that wasn't only heard i around the free world, it was heard in East Germany and all the Communist satellite states and Russia itself. Mass confusion was going on, this was the time we went and how two yankee middleage hippie backpackers got visas to East Europe and Russa. and wandered around unescorted and free to go wherever we wanted.

A good friend of mine who was backpacking like us found a job as a nanny He was a male by the way. As a Nanny to a US embassy official's two children in Moscow. He too heard the wall was coming down, quit the nanny business, and backpacked all across Russia and the satellites and ended up in Iran and that's where we met up. There's no way before or today you could wonder around Russia unchaperoned and be unlimited to where you can or can't go. A once in a lifetime event.

Cheers, Rodney

It was a once only time.

Whenever I bumped into a Russian crew ashore, they always had a party-man with them. He would be making sure they toed the line, by sidling up if you tried to get into conversation, like offering ciggies, or playing pool or snooker. I was ashore somewhere, and saw a load of women crew, all dressed up like the men crew, flat caps the lot. I wouldn't want to get into a punch up with some of them.
I remember asking one bloke if he'd swap some Russian ciggies for some UK ones. This party-man walked over and stood between us with his back to me, said something to him, and just stayed there till the bloke walked away. I think it was in a mission somewhere, I've forgotten where.

My last port of call, on my last ship before i paid off in Hamburg, was in Rostock eastern Germany, a miserable place, our crew drying room was cleaned out of everything drying in there, they nicked the lot, old dungarees , shirts etc, we could go ashore, but not many did, we could shop in the duty free shop, that was about it. i was glad to get back through the Kiel canal and in to Hamburg. All paid off and the train down to hook of holland and the ferry home, and the end of my travels.

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Originally Posted by Fred Saunders

I have a friend, whose late Father served in The M.N on ships of the Russian Convoys.
Is there anyone out there that can suggest some factual books that has been written abut
the convoys.
Any suggestions much appreciated.
Fred Saunders

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Arctic Convoys 1941-45 by Richard Woodman. Recommended.