Arctic convoy - Bolton Castle

[Jackie Ritchie]

Hi, I’m doing some research for a friend, whose grandfather was on the ‘Bolton Castle’ she believes when it sunk during its convoy to Russia. She wants to try and get his Arctic medal. I’ve obtained the ships log book and crew list from the National Archives, but the log only goes up until May 1942 and the ship sank in July 1942, plus her grandfather is not listed as a crew member. Can anyone tell me if it’s possible to get the crew list or log at the time of sinking, or any other info that would help with this search? Thanks in advance

[Graham Shaw]

Much has been published ,of course,online about the 'infamous,-and controversial' -Arctic Convoy PQ17.

Bolton Castle O.N. 166285) was a 5,203 grt cargo ship built 12/39 for the Lancashire Shipping Co,Ltd,Liverpool.

From ConvoyWeb:

9/5/1942 on BB172 Belfast Lough -Milford Haven.
then on PW 159 Portsmouth-Milford Haven.
She then joined PQ17 in 6/42 from Glasgow to Murmansk.
The convoy was dispersed off Rijkjavik,Iceland on 4/7.
Next day on 5/7 she was aircraft bombed by Heinkel HE111 of the Staffen Kampfgeshwehr 30,Luftwaffe,in the Barents Sea in position 76-40N,36-30E.

All 58 survivors of Bolton Castle were rescued and survived.

Of the 35 merchant vessels in PQ17,only 11 made it to Murmansk/Archangelsk.

[Dennis Billaney]

Hi, I’m doing some research for a friend, whose grandfather was on the ‘Bolton Castle’ she believes when it sunk during its convoy to Russia. She wants to try and get his Arctic medal. I’ve obtained the ships log book and crew list from the National Archives, but the log only goes up until May 1942 and the ship sank in July 1942, plus her grandfather is not listed as a crew member. Can anyone tell me if it’s possible to get the crew list or log at the time of sinking, or any other info that would help with this search? Thanks in advance

Dear Jackie,

While I'm far from anything like an expert on these matters, I think that there seems to have been more search features or files/records added to the NA. Maybe I didn't search deep enough when I did (easily 5-10 years ago), but on a recent search I came up with a pile of NEW data I was looking for!

Have you tried searching here: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

if not, go there and key in the full name of your friends grandfather in the search field, and what I did, I entered "search time frame" from 1939-1945.

However, in case you end up empty handed, DON'T GIVE UP!!! gather clues and bits and pieces as you go along. Sooner or later, one clue will lead to the next, helping to connect the dots and step by step fill in more and more gaps.


That said, PQ17 is easy to find "search material", tons out there to find.

Related to your search and the PQ17, I found the following, just to give you an example about the clues, bits and pieces on which you can build on, see here (in case you haven't come across it yet)

QUOTE: Sixty-two years later, in 2004, I found one of the survivors of 'Bolton Castle', Albert Higgins from Bridlington


Anatoli Livshit
a 96 year-old Russian war veteran from St. Petersburg who visited Britain in December 2014

"I remember it was 13 July, 1942. That day I was asked to fulfil the duties of navigation officer. Our ship was on the outer patrol near Kola Bay - the main base of the Northern Fleet. The weather was extremely good, calm and sunny. Suddenly there was a telegram cipher on the bridge. Our commander Kondratyev read the telegram, handed it to me and gave an order to navigate on the set course. The telegram read 'To the commander of frigate SKR-32. Our submarine K-22 identified a rescue boat with sailors in distress [coordinates]. Locate the boat and save the men. Commander of the Fleet.'

The given coordinates were about 30 miles to the north of our position, and a little more than three hours later we found the rescue boat full of freezing men. Fifty sailors had spent several days in the Barents Sea. Some were unconscious. We took them aboard, gave them alcohol and dry clothes.

On our way back to Polyarnoye base we realised that six of the sailors were Russian, and they told us the story. The rescued survivors were from the British merchant ship 'Bolton Castle' that was part of PQ17 convoy. They had been sunk by air attack on 5 July.

Sixty-two years later, in 2004, I found one of the survivors of 'Bolton Castle', Albert Higgins from Bridlington."

https://www.rbth.com/longreads/arctic_convoys/

Good luck, keep up the search!

cheers

[Doc Vernon]

Hello Jacky
Could you please list his Full name and date and place of Birth, this way we can also try and help father.
Thank You

Not sure which Files you got from the Archives, but was one of them this one at all? I ask as in reading the info about it, states Dates from Jan to Dec 1942 ?
Cheers

Bolton Castle.JPG

BOLTON CASTLE


Catalogue description166271; 166273; 166274; 166276; 166281; 166285

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Reference:	BT 381/2122
Description:	166271; 166273; 166274; 166276; 166281; 166285
Date:	1942 Jan 01 - 1942 Dec 31
Held by:	The National Archives, Kew
Legal status:	Public Record(s)
Closure status:	Open Document, Open Description

[Matthew Childs]

It looks like you’ve made some good progress with the log and crew list. I’d suggest checking out war diaries or any post-sinking reports, as they might have updated crew details or additional info. You might also want to look into records from the Royal Navy or specific Arctic convoy archives, as sometimes they have more detailed lists or can point you toward other sources. I had a similar experience with a relative, and I found reaching out to veterans' groups or forums focused on Arctic convoys to be really helpful—they sometimes have personal accounts or more obscure records that aren’t easy to find in the official archives.

[Matthew Childs]

Hey! That sounds like a tough search, but it's great that you’ve got the ship's log and crew list already. For info post-May '42, you might wanna check with the Maritime Archives; they sometimes have records from that period. You could also try reaching out to naval history groups online—they often have resources or can point you in the right direction.