Russia honours veterans of wartime Arctic convoys with special medals

Twelve representatives of the armed forces and the Merchant Navy received the honours from a senior Kremlin official in a ceremony on board HMS Belfast in London.

Russian and British dignitaries paid tribute to the veterans' courage in braving dangerous icy seas to provide a vital lifeline for Britain's Soviet allies during the war.

Russia's ambassador to the UK, Yuri Fedotov, said no one could underestimate the contribution they made to the defeat of the Nazis.

He told the veterans: "Your dedication, your courage were remembered in our country. I believe that that was an event of friendship between our two peoples.

"It has happened quite often when we have real problems in Europe. All Britain and Russia's political differences go away and we unite our forces to fight a common enemy.

"That is what happened in the past and that should be an example for today's relations between Russia and the UK."

Between 1941 and 1945, some 40 convoys undertook the dangerous 1,500 to 2,000-mile run north of the Arctic Circle to Murmansk and Archangel in Russia, braving attacks from German U-boats and Luftwaffe bombers. They delivered four million tonnes of military equipment to the Soviet Union at a cost of hundreds of ships and thousands of lives.

Former head of the Royal Navy Lord West, who is now the Government's Security Minister, said: "There is no doubt at all now of how important the Arctic convoys were in terms of sustaining Russia.

"Let's face it, Russia fought the hardest of wars. They lost 20 million people and they ripped the guts out of the German army. We were very firmly their ally.

"There is no doubt at all that the Arctic convoys were crucially important."

It was not until 2006 – 60 years after the war – that the Arctic convoy veterans were finally presented with special British awards to mark their bravery.

The medals yesterday were awarded by visiting Kremlin official Vladimir Osipov, chief of Russia's presidential state decorations directorate, who paid tribute to the "enormous" contribution they made to the defeat of fascism.

Among those attending the ceremony were Sir John Scarlett, the former head of MI6, and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope.

The veterans included Gordon Long, 84, originally from Ilford, Essex, but now living in Bromyard, Herefordshire, who went on his first convoy in 1942 when he was just 16 and celebrated his 17th birthday in Russia.

He said receiving the Russian medal was a "great honour" that ranked alongside meeting the Queen.

Recalling the dangers of taking part in the convoys, he said: "You took it in your stride. In your mind it was not going to happen to you.

"You could say that we didn't realise the dangers. You didn't think about it because you had a job to do."

All surviving British Arctic convoy veterans will be eligible to

receive the Russian medal.