Russian Arctic Convoy veterans travelled to Wester Ross for the first – and last – time yesterday for a poignant visit to the starting point of so many of their perilous journeys.
The eight Russian naval veterans were joined by 12 of their British counterparts to mark the 75th anniversary of the first mission from Loch Ewe, as part of a Second World War festival on its shores.
Event organisers, the Russian Arctic Convoy Project, welcomed more than 1,800 people to the two-day weekend extravaganza of military and naval re-enactments.
Pride of place went to the newly re-housed Arctic Convoy exhibition at the former butcher’s shop in Aultbea, while a replica Spitfire flypast and remembrance service at the Rubh Nan Sasan memorial stone at the head of Loch Ewe added to the poignancy of the occasion.
This was the site of the emergency coastal battery that protected the gathering place for the convoys.
A public appeal was launched to help create a “snow garden” of 3,000 snowdrops beside the new museum, to represent the lives of every British sailor lost during the crucial missions.
The convoys were famously described by war-time leader Winston Churchill as the “worst journey in the world.”
Nineteen of the Russia-bound convoys departed from Loch Ewe in Wester Ross to deliver vital supplies. The operations left their mark on the landscape, with bunkers and gun emplacements still scattered around the loch.
Elizabeth Miles, RACP honorary secretary, reckoned the festival was a “wonderful success.”
She said: “It’s the last official gathering expected where the Russian veterans will be travelling over here.
“Our British veterans went across there at the end of last year and it will probably be their final visit. In the future, they will be travelling on their own steam.
“They (Russian veterans) had come to Inverness in December 2014, but the weather was inclement, and it was not worth bringing them here, because they could not have visited the memorial stone. It was very cold and windy and wet at the time.
“I would say the Spitfire has been everybody’s favourite. It was an exceptional fly-over display with some loop-to-loops.”
The full-size replica Spitfire and German Messerschmitt fighter planes were on show at the “Battle of Britain” camp outside Aultbea Hall.
A T-34 Russian tank was also on display, along with a range of re-enactments, from a field hospital and RAF operations room to the sound of Churchill’s speeches.
The crowds enjoyed wartime music from The D-Day Darlings and the Highland Swing Band.
Mrs Miles added that the convoys exhibition had also been well received. Artefacts included ship models, diaries, photographs and items picked up by sailors from sinking ships including compasses and a shoe brush.
A total of 28 Russian naval cadets and 15 crew also arrived on the Yunyi Baltiets ship which sailed from St Petersburg and, coincidentally, rescued a Bulgarian diver off the Caithness coast last week after he went missing off Orkney.
At 2.30pm yesterday, convoy veterans were conveyed to the memorial stone at Cove for a remembrance service.
That preceded a replica Spitfire flypast as part of the RAF Duxford historic aircraft collection, and flown by pilot Charlie Brown.
Mrs Miles added: “I think people have been very moved by the remembrance service.”
