Icelands capital has hosted an inaugural conference of international organization The Brotherhood of the Arctic Allied Convoys
REYKJAVIK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2018) Icelands capital has hosted an inaugural conference of international organization The Brotherhood of the Arctic Allied Convoys, which unites the convoy's veterans and their descendants, and is aimed at preserving the memory of the Arctic convoys as an important part of the World War II history, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.
The organization was established at the initiative of St. Petersburg-based NGO Polar Convoy with support from the Russian embassy. The Russian side hopes that foreign organizations would join the association, however, some of them only sent welcoming video messages with historians, the convoys' veterans and their descendants attending the conference instead of the organizations' chiefs.
During World War II, the so-called Arctic convoys sailed from Iceland, North America, and the United Kingdom to northern ports in the Soviet Union with tonnes of military equipment and other cargo to help the country in its fight against Nazi Germany. There were a total of 78 Arctic convoys while Convoy PQ-17 is one of the most famous having lost 23 out of 34 ships in 1942.
A total of more than 3,000 British sailors perished during the convoys' operations along with 85 cargo ships and 16 warships. The Nazis, in turn, suffered heavy losses among their aircraft and submarines. The operation against Convoy PQ-18 turned out to be the most unsuccessful for the Nazis, who lost a total of 40 aircraft.
A number of organizations and museums in Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Iceland and other countries are preserving the memory of the Arctic convoys. Chairman of St. Peterburg's Polar Convoy Yuri Alexandrov told Sputnik that The Brotherhood of the Arctic Allied Convoys should facilitate the cooperation between these organizations and museums.
The inaugural conference was attended, among others, by 89-year-old convoy veteran Taras Goncharenko, who flew to Iceland from St. Petersburg, and by Jack Patterson from Scotland. The organizers told Sputnik that the tickets were provided to Patterson and several other UK delegates by HMS Belfast Association, while the association's leaders abstained from attending the inaugural conference sending a welcoming video message instead.
"Current political climate prevented certain organizations from coming," a member of Polar Convoy's panel, retired Capt. 1st Rank Sergey Aprelev said, adding that the "organization would be outside of politics and no one will accuse its members of promoting someone's political interests."
Polar Convoy chairman Alexandrov has been appointed acting chairman of The Brotherhood of the Arctic Allied Convoys. The organization is currently working on its charter with the copy of the draft already sent out to all its potential members.
The organization is planning to erect two memorials in honor of the Arctic convoys' veterans, one of which is set to appear in a bay in the north of Scotland and another one will be opened in London, near permanently-moored HMS Belfast, which took part in the Arctic convoys.
Moreover, in 2020, when the 75th anniversary of the victory over the Nazis will be celebrated, the "Immortal convoy" regatta will be held similar to "Immortal Regiment" parades organized across Russia and around the world on Victory Day with people marching in the streets carrying portraits of their relatives who took part in World War II.
Deputy chief of Polar Convoy Mikhail Soldatov told Sputnik that the regatta's route would lie through the sites of the major battles between the Arctic convoy and the Nazis. The yachtsmen, some of whom are descendants of the Arctic convoys veterans, will also take portraits of the convoys participants. The regatta is set to begin on May 9, 2020 and will last until the beginning of September the same year. The participants will retrace the convoys' routes heading from the Russian cities of Murmansk and St. Petersburg, the United Kingdom, and the United States for Reykjavik from where the regatta will depart for Murmansk in northwestern Russia on the Barents Sea.
The Icelandic authorities have demonstrated certain interest toward the conference, however, they mostly distanced themselves from the organization. The scientific conference on the Arctic convoys 10 years ago was held under the patronage of then Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, while the wife of the current president, Eliza Reid, was one of the organizers.
Now Reid attended only an embassy reception in honor of the conference while her spouse, President Gudni Johannesson, laid flowers to the memorial dedicated to the convoy's veterans. The Icelandic side did not invite any journalists to cover the event on their part and no press releases were published on the president's official website.
The relations between Russia and Iceland are currently rather tense because Reykjavik supports the European Union's sanctions against Russia and the country's political leaders boycotted the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
However, Grimsson listened to most of the reports at the inauguration conference and invited the participants to the annual Arctic Circle forum, where politicians, businessmen and experts from different countries discuss the challenges of the Arctic region.
Grimsson added that a special exhibition could be organized in order to commemorate the veterans of the Arctic convoys. Russian Ambassador to Iceland Anton Vasiliev supported the idea arguing that the convoys were one of the most important pages in the Arctic's history.
