by Dan Warren
RUSSIA has bestowed one of its highest military honours on local World War 2 Arctic Convoy veterans at a ceremony at Warrington Town Hall.
The borough council and Mayor Cllr Faisal Rashid hosted the mayors of Halton and St Helens and representatives from the Russian Embassy at the special ceremony.
Konstantin Shlykov, from the Russian Embassy in London, said: “These brave men have been awarded, by decree of the President, Ushakov Medals.
“This is Russia’s highest award for naval merit, second only to Hero of Russia. Being a high state award, these medals can only be presented in person, by an embassy diplomat or a high ranking British official.”
At the ceremony it was described as “the equivalent of one step below the Victoria Cross”.
As part of the ceremony, renowned Russian sculptor Leonty Usov also donated a wooden bust of Mikhail Sholokhov, the Russian Nobel prize laureate in literature, to Warrington Borough Council.
The donation was on behalf of the people of Tomsk and was received by Mayor Faisal Rashid.
Cllr Rashid said: “We are honoured to be presenting these courageous men with awards to mark their gallantry in serving their country in the Second World War.
“We are also delighted to be able to thank Mr Usov for his wonderful work of art that will be displayed in the Town Hall.”
The Arctic Convoys of the Second World War sailed from the UK, North America and Iceland to ports in northern Russia between August 1941 and May 1945. About 1,400 merchant ships delivered supplies to aid the Russian fight against Nazi Germany and were escorted by Royal Navy ships. The Navy lost 16 warships and 85 of the merchant vessels were sunk.
Receiving the award were veterans from Warrington, Runcorn, St Helens and Widnes.
Russian sculptor Leonty Usov donates a wooden bust of Mikhail Sholokhov to the Mayor Cllr Faisal Rashid
2 Comments
Looks like it was a great occasion glad to have played my part in setting it up 🙂
I watched a documentary about this subject very recently.It was absolutely horrific a version of hell on earth.
My Father in Law was on them and all the time I knew him he only mentioned it at Christmas when he recalled Christmas dinner on board ship,which consisted of corned beef sandwiches.