The Arctic Convoys and the Kara Expeditions (news from the British Center)

Autumn-winter of 2016 passed under the sign "Dervish-75" in the British Center of the NArFU

Beginning from August 2016 the events related to the Arctic convoys involuntarily intertwine with the Kara expeditions of the Great Patriotic War. Just in August 1944 the German submarine U-365 shipwrecked the transport vessel “Marina Raskova”, and two minesweepers T-114 and T-118 from the escort of BD-5 convoy (White Sea — Dixon), the transport vessel went to the Arctic, to the islands in the Kara Sea with winterers and their families. 381 people died for a

Figure 1. Valentina Golysheva, Lynn Stopani and Robert Owen, participants of Dervish-75

few moments, mostly families from the Arkhangelsk region: winterers, their wives and children, military seamen of the Northern Fleet. A terrible tragedy even for wartime! This tragedy was mentioned in the film "Dervish. The Brotherhood of the Northern Convoys", which was shown at "Dervish-75" forum at the NArFU on August 30, 2016.

A large delegation from Great Britain came to Arkhangelsk to celebrate "Dervish-75".

The delegation consisted of people of different generations: the veterans of the Arctic convoys, relatives of veterans who already died and many public figures.

It was gratifying to see 96-year pilots-veterans of 151 wing Victor Bashford and John Elkington. Our common friend, 92-year-old veteran, the Scotch David Craig was present at this anniversary, we meet each other regularly on Skype at English classes with the students of the international department.

At "Dervish-75" forum, a large diplomatic corps of the countries, members of the allied forces were represented in the NArFU: ambassadors, consuls, military attaches. And finally, we should mention the visit of a special guest from the Great Britain, princess Anna. Her Royal Highness visited the NArFU exhibition and talked to many students and teachers of the Northern Arctic Federal University. As the director of the British Center, I was honored to present Princess Anna my book "A Flashback to the Arctic Convoys". Specifically, for the Forum, 100 copies of the book "Memoirs on the Arctic convoys" were published, and it was presented to all participants of the Forum, as well as to the participants of the University Conference "Lend-Lease and the Northern Convoys: from the Regional Cooperation to the Global Coalition". Sometime later, in my name, the Director of the British Center, the letter from the Buckingham Palace was received, with gratitude from Princess Anna for the presented book.

Continuing the topic "Dervish-75" it is necessary to mention the December conference on the Kara Expeditions, which was held in Salekhard with the support of the Governor of the Yamal-Nenets District, Dmitry Nikolayevich Kobylkin. As the director of the British Center and author of the book about convoys, I was also invited to the conference "Kara Expeditions". I had to make the presentation of the book and to make a report on topic "the history of the Arctic Convoys in 1941– 1945 in the memoirs of the veterans of the Allied forces." A distinctive feature of this conference was the personal interest of the Governor of the Yamal-Nenets region, D.N. Kobylkin in the results of research conducted by search teams in the Arctic to search for wrecks in the Kara Sea during the Great Patriotic War; in the search and reburial at the island Bely of remains of the sailors of the Northern Fleet from convoy BD-5, died in August 1944.

Particular attention, warmth and concern from the Governor and his friendly team was felt by the family members of the deceased sailors, invited to the conference. For example, as soon as we arrived in Salekhard, the organizers of the Kara Expeditions project immediately took from me, the daughter of the deceased sailor of the Northern

Fleet, DNA in order to compare with DNA of one of     Figure 2. Communication with Princess Anna the remains reburied on the Island Bely.

Figure 3. The capsule with sea water from the Kara Sea, from the site of the death of the vessel "Marina Raskova"

For us, the members of the families of the deceased sailors, the official reception was held in the regional administration of the governor, where a hearty conversation took place, when each guest shared the military history of the departed ancestors.

All the members of the deceased families were handed, as a memorable gift, the capsules with the sea water taken from the bottom of the Kara Sea, at the site of the death of the vessels "Marina Raskova"

and "Alexander Sibiryakov", as well as photo albums and the set of CDs about the Kara Expeditions.

My students of the International Department watched the film "the island of hope" in one breath. The relatives of the dead seamen and participants of the "Kara expeditions" Conference could not but appreciate the sincere warmth and sensitivity of the regional administration of the Yamal-Nenets region.

In general, the Conference "Kara Expeditions" was a great success, since it featured speakers from many regions of Russia, starting from Sevastopol, St. Petersburg and ending with Yakutia. Looking at the cadets and schoolchildren invited to the conference "Kara Expeditions", we involuntarily felt a sense of pride for Russia, where the younger generation is brought up in the spirit of patriotism and respect for their land, where they honor the memory of fathers and grandfathers, heroes of the war.

The unique exhibition with exhibits raised from the bottom of the Kara Sea, from the dead ships "Alexander Sibiryakov" and "Marina Raskova" was introduced to the guests of the Conference in the lobby of the conference hall. The conference was attended by both daughters of captains from the dead ships. We found interesting the idea of creating the Kacharava-Demidov fund (in honor of the two captains), expressed by the moderator of the conference, journalist S.V. Shulinin. We fully support this patriotic idea, as the country should know the names of the heroes of the Arctic during the Great Patriotic War.

I would like to express our deep gratitude on behalf of all the residents of the Arkhangelsk region to all organizers for the excellent organization of the Conference "Kara Expeditions" in Salekhard, as well as to the government of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, which carries out such bold and difficult projects in the Kara Sea after 70 years since the end of the Great Patriotic War, perpetuating the names of fallen war heroes in the waters of the Arctic.

Valentina Golysheva, Candidate of Philology, associate professor of the English language Department at the Higher School of Socio-Humanitarian sciences and international communications, the director of the British Center of the NArFU has been studying the history of the Arctic during the Great Patriotic War for many years. Valentina is the author of two books about the Arctic convoys, in which amazing memories and stories are collected about the heroic exploits of the sailors-veterans of the navy and merchant fleet of the Allied forces who took the active part in the Arctic convoys for the delivery of military and food cargoes under Lend-Lease to the northern Ports of Russia in 1941–1945.

In June 2012, by the invitation of the British company SAGA Valentina Golysheva participated in the cruise "On the way of the Arctic Convoys" together with the veterans of the Allied forces, which enabled her to collect invaluable material in the form of memoirs of live witnesses of military events in the Arctic and subsequently to publish their stories in the book "A Flashback to the Arctic Convoys". The book also contains numerous letters, diary entries and verses of veterans, extracts from the British newspapers, which significantly complement the historical picture of military events in the Arctic and the Russian North.

In February 2015, by the initiative of the British Belfast Association, Valentina Golysheva's book " A Flashback of the Arctic Convoys" was presented to the British veterans, the members of the Russian Convoys Club in London and the relatives of the departed veterans, aboard Her Majesty's ship "Belfast". The veterans and relatives were happy and grateful to receive as a gift from the university from the hands of the author a book in which the names of their fathers, many participants of the Arctic convoys, are immortalized.

Figure 4. Military Attaché of the Canadian Embassy at Forum in NArFU

Figure 5. Peter Tash, the Australian Ambassador, at Forum in NArFU

7th September 2016

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The Princess Royal has asked me to thank you very much indeed for the gift of your book 'A Flashback to the Arctic Convoys' which you so kindly gave to Her Royal Highness during the recent visit to the Northern (Arctic) Federal University in Arkhangelsk.

Her Royal Highness and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence were delighted to have had the opportunity to tour the exhibition stands showcasing the wide range of innovative research programmes of the University, and to meet so many staff and students. The Princess was also interested to read your account of meeting Her Royal Highness at the British Ambassador’s Reception in 2014, which you describe in your book.

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Captain Nick Wright, CVO, Royal Navy Private Secretary to HRH The Princess Royal

Dr. Valentina Golysheva

Figure 7. The British participants of Forum with students of NArFU

Figure 8. Daughters of two captains (Gyulnar Viktorovna and Nadezhda Anatolievna)

Figure 9. Handing over the capsule by the Governor of YaNAD, D.N. Kobylkin

Figure 10. Underwater surveys of the vessel "Marina Raskova" at depth of 47 m

Figure 11. Underwater surveys of the vessel "Marina Raskova" at depth of 47 m

Figure 12. General photo at the reception of the Governor of YaNAO