On eve of the tribute at Loch Ewe, Arctic convoy veteran predicts this Cenotaph march will be their last

As we reported earlier, describing the work of the convoys and the conditions in which they operated, the Loch Ewe Arctic convoy veterans have been invited to a one-off tribute event being held in their honour at Pool House Hotel, Poolewe, next Thursday, 9th October. The average age of the Scottish survivors of the unimaginable Arctic convoys of World War II is 86. Eighty year-old Jack Dempster, survivor of the convoys and a Lothian man, feels that this year’s Cenotaph service will be the last that he and his fellow survivors march together.

Geoffrey Shelton, an 83 year-old Glaswegian veteran of the Arctic convoys, serving on the aircraft carrier HMS Vindex, describes the conditions in which these men worked. ‘It was so cold. You came off watch and went down into the mess deck to get some sleep, but there was no heating down there and you could break the icicles off the deck head. But sometimes you wanted the terrible cold and the weather because it kept the U-boats down below and the aircraft couldn’t fly. In the summer there was almost 24-hour daylight – that was when you were most vulnerable to attack.

He has noticed that, for him, the reality and the loss of those times is harder to bear now than then. ‘Back in those days if you lost anybody you would say a quiet prayer for him. There wouldn’t be any tears. His possessions would be sold off at inflated prices and the proceeds sent back to his relatives. Now I am more emotional when I think of all those young lads who never experienced the love of a lady, missed the moon landings and laughing at the Two Ronnies. All the things I’ve enjoyed. That makes me feel guilty.

Jack Dempster says: ‘People keep referring to us as heroes. There were heroes among the merchantmen, but my very, very strong feeling is the real heroes were the pilots who flew the Hurricane fighters. Because they were launched off there was no way of the pilots going back to the ship and they had to pitch the aircraft in the sea and hope to be picked up. They were all volunteers and it was marvellous they were prepared to do that’.

Geoffrey Shelton also remembers the bravery of the pilots. He says: ‘The Fleet Air Arm pilots were the bravest of the brave taking off and then trying to land an old string bag (Swordfish biplane) on a deck rising and falling 10-20-30ft. I watched one guy come in to land and end up in the sea alongside the carrier. The plane went straight down. The pilot had his lifejacket on and the captain put a blue search light on him, which was very dangerous because it could show us to the enemy. The admiral wasn’t very pleased about this. I watched that lad calling out for help and the arm he was waving get lower and lower. By the time he was picked up 15 minutes later he was dead.’

These stories will never die. They let the rest of us – safely – into a life we can hardly even imagine and one those who lived it can hardly bear to remember. On Thursday 9th October these men will receive their latest tribute at Pool House, up near Loch Ewe where, for many of them, their convoys left for the Arctic. We cannot enter their world but we can wrap them round with the warmth of our enduring love, respect and gratitude.

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