Roy Elwood: Loch Ewe celebration of Arctic Convoy Operation Dervish

I had been invited to a Memorial Service on 20th August 2011 to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of Operation Dervish, the sailing of the first Russian Arctic Convoy from Loch Ewe on 21st August 1941.

It was to be held at Cove, a tiny hamlet near the mouth of the loch where a Memorial Stone (below) had been unveiled in 1999 in memory of ‘over 3,000 shipmates who perished in the icy waters on forty subsequent convoys’.

Most of those who survived have now ‘crossed the bar’ but I was one of at least a couple of dozen ‘veterans’.

I woke early and the day looked promising but there were white horses on the Loch and it soon greyed over.

VIPs and veterans were to gather at Poolewe at 10.30, dress code ‘business suits’ if not in uniform, from where we were to be bussed the eight miles to Cove along a single track road. The invitation, from the Russian Arctic Convoy Museum Project Group, had come via the Lord Lieutenant for Ross & Cromarty and all seemed well organized with cadets everywhere to direct and help us.

I was in the first coach and the rain started before we left.

We sheltered in the coach before a break came and we made our way onto the headland where a good crowd was already gathered, some sheltering in a derelict wartime structure.

Members of the Russian Convoy Clubs with their white berets and other veterans were gathered around the stone, some with flags which would be raised and then dipped during the silence. There were representatives of Russia, Canada and the USA among others.

Perhaps the best dressed for the weather, were the three clergymen and women in their long warm capes almost reaching the ground.

Prince Michael of Kent arrived escorted by Janet Bowen, the Lord Lieutenant and the show got underway.

We were welcomed by the Rev Tim Daplyn (above left), whose father was on the convoys. Bearded and with a soft blue cap he would have passed as an old style sea captain.

Then we were addressed by HRH, equally bearded and in fine uniform, before the service got underway amid flurries of driving rain.

After the opening hymn we had ‘The Act of Remembrance’, ‘The Exhortation’ They shall grow not old as we who are left grow old; age shall not weary them …………..’,  before the bugler sounded the Last Post and after two minutes silence, Reveille.

I thought of the man we had swept overboard fro Zambesi in trying to secure depth charges in a storm. This may seem trivial compared to the massive loss in the  many sinkings but it is a sharp personal memory.

Following another hymn there was the formal wreath laying (the USA wreath laid, above), with others who had brought a wreath invited to lay it during the closing hymn.

As if it was not wet enough, a Coast Guard vessel off the headland had hoses playing (below) – but it all added to the atmosphere.

Bearing in mind what we were commemorating, somehow the blustery headland with the Stone amid derelict military structures seemed to add to what was a memorable and moving experience.

A buffet lunch for veterans and VIPs with a chance to meet with HRH was laid on at Poole House – Admiralty HQ during the war and now an up-market private hotel run by the Harrison family who have been very supportive of all efforts to commemorate the role of Loch Ewe during the war.

Later we joined a large crowd who had been fed in the Village Hall (below) where there were speeches and presentations. The back of the hall is a wartime nissan hut that was built to serve as a cinema.

I was 300 miles from home and had not been to such an event before, but knew quite quickly that I had made the right choice in coming and met others who had travelled much further. I also met with Steve Chadwick (email SLIOCH980@HOTMAIL.CO.UK) who is revising a book he has already published on the role of Loch Ewe during the war and is looking for personal experiences – but they have to involve the Loch not just the convoys.

Poolewe

Poolewe is at the head of the loch and my stay was enhanced by the comfort of the Poolewe Hotel and the warm welcome by manager, Gary Marshall. A young women working there, who had returned to the area, told me she was raised at Cove and the derelict Admiralty building formed their play ground. She was also among a number who expressed the view that more about the war should be taught in schools. It seemed Russian children learn more about the part our country played in supporting them in the war than British children learn about the war.

The Russian Arctic Convoy Museum

There is now an established project group working to create a permanent museum at Aultbea, a few miles from Poolewe and they have already had some memorabilia donated.

They are now organising fund raising and establishing a Friends Group – so help will be welcomed.

Check out their website here.

There is a small scale Service of Remembrance at Loch Ewe every September, perhaps a dozen or two people, but this was something special and if I am still fit enough for the 75th, I shall be there and hopefully visit the museum.

Roy Elwood, ex HMS Zambesi.

The photographs accompanying this article are by copyright holder, Roy Elwood.

Editor’s Note: Roy Elwood  has written articles for For Argyll on his experiences on the Arctic Convoys, of the dramatic evacuation of the Norwegian Island of Soroy, when he served on HMS Zambesi, one of the naval escorts for the convoys. Then there was his time doing torpedo training in Loch Long in Argyll – and dancing in Arrochar.

Roy Elwood also acts as Arctic Convoys Editor for us in the collection of articles we are progressively publishing on these historic and heroic operations in the second World War.

In his life after the Royal Navy he has become an eminent and exhibited photographer and, through contacts our articles have attracted, he has been supportive of  Derek Hirst’s collecting and scanning photographs from Arctic Convoy veterans and their descendants, working with the Imperial War Museum in London to have this invaluable historical material preserved for the future.