Forgotten Sacrifice: The Arctic Convoys of World War II

by Michael G. Walling

Hitler called Norway the “Zone of Destiny” for Nazi Germany because convoys from Churchill's Britain and Roosevelt's United States supplied Stalin’s Soviet Russia with critical equipment and foodstuffs during the darkest days of the German invasion. The words "Murmansk Run" conjure visions of ice-laden ships and thoughts of freezing to death in seconds. For five long years, thousands of men and women fought ferociously in the coldest corner of hell on earth. Some fought for survival, some struggled to help others survive, and some sought to crush their enemies. If man-made death didn't get you, the Arctic's weapons of ice and cold would. These natural weapons killed regardless of whose side you were on or how just was your cause. No one escaped unscathed. Author Mike Walling captures the Arctic convoys’ bitter essence in Forgotten Sacrifice .

The story launches in October 1939, when Germany and the Soviet Union began diplomatic maneuvering. The action accelerates with Winston Churchill's decision in 1941 to provide supplies to Soviet forces battling the German invasion. From this point until the closing days of WWII in spring 1945, an unremitting sea battle raged within the confines of the always-lethal, ever-shifting Arctic ice pack and the savage Scandinavian coastline. Nearly 4.5 million tons of supplies were moved in 77 convoys over the course of 5 years in order to help the Soviet war effort. The Allies fought to keep the sea lanes open to Murmansk while the Germans were determined to slaughter every ship which dared to make the attempt. By the end of the convoys, 98 ships had been lost. Forgotten Sacrifice reveals a timeless tale of determination, heroism, sacrifice, and the strength of the human spirit.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Military Fiction, Russian History, European History, Military History

284 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Rowan MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Forgotten Sacrifice” was the first book I saw when walking into a bookshop. I picked it up, flicked to the index, saw my Grandfather’s ship (HMS Foresight) mentioned numerous times, and bought the book.

Soon I was wading through the information-heavy “Briefing”. Questionable way to commence the book? Perhaps. Though I did learn a lot about the context of the Arctic Convoys and the geopolitical situation at the time. Strong points of the book are when Michael Walling explains how the Arctic Convoys fit in with the overall shape of WWII – including how the Arctic Convoys helped the Russians hold out in Stalingrad, thereby resulting in the German High Command decision to intensify attacks on Convoys.

Michael’s sometimes dry writing style truly comes alive when it’s connected with first-hand accounts from brave survivors and those who were there. These are what make you feel like you are there too, giving extra meaning to battles and events depicted throughout the book. They are often harrowing and impossible to forget. It’s a testament to Michael Walling in sourcing all these experiences and incorporating them in the book.

In previous Arctic Convoy readings (Last Call for HMS Edinburgh – Frank Pearce), I was blown away by learning of the primitive conditions and lack of supplies in the Murmansk military hospitals. “Forgotten Sacrifice” takes this to a whole new level of stomach-churning realism with first-hand accounts. Bill Shorts’ story will be forever etched in my mind – so too the donation of blood by the unidentified Soviet soldier.

I loved the first-hand accounts from the Russian side – a unique and important aspect to the book, so often overlooked in others. It helped create well-balanced coverage and perspective of events regarding the Convoys. I got goosebumps reading the Russian wireless message describing the bravery of my Grandfather’s ship:

“SOVIETS SEAMEN HAS WITNESS OF HEROIC BATTLE ENGLISH SEAMEN WITH PREDOMINANT POWERS OF ENEMY. ENGLISH SEAMEN DID OBSERVE THEIR SACRED DUTY BEFORE FATHERLAND. WE ARE PROUD OF STAUNCHNESS AND COURSE ENGLISH SEAMEN – OUR ALLIES.”

Some other personal favourite events in the book also featured the Russians:

- During an intense Murmansk air raid, Soviet soldiers huddled in a shelter with wounded Allied soldiers, singing inspirational Russian songs, eventually drowning out the air raid itself, followed by wishing double amputee, Morris Mills, good luck with a balalaika 'souvenir'.

- The bravery of Soviet fighter ace, Boris Safonov and two fellow comrades, heroically defending one of the convoys by taking on over 50 German planes

Events covered in Frank Pearce’s “Last Call for HMS Edinburgh” were also featured in “Forgotten Sacrifice”, including the sinking of HMS Trinidad, complete with testimony from Frank himself. Despite the overwhelming detail Michael Walling writes with, he still manages to occasionally neglect more interesting details. For example, exclusion of HMS Edinburgh being scuttled with the very last torpedo HMS Foresight had left, preventing the gold bullion she was carrying falling into enemy hands. The 1980s treasure-hunting salvage mission of the gold would have been a worthy mention too. Despite this, I’ll always get chills when reading about HMS Edinburgh’s gold “dripping in Russian blood” while being loaded aboard in Murmansk.

I was often reminded just how young these brave men were; either by 14 and 16 year old survivors or through John Haynes celebrating his 19th birthday via German junker torpedo planes. This book isn’t just about brave men – it’s about brave women too. The heroic actions of Soviet women during these events never ceased to amaze me. The bravery of young men and women in face of tremendous adversity is an ongoing theme of the book.

Michael Walling excellently describes the exhaustion, insanity and stress of what it felt like during Convoy runs, that at times you can’t help but feel a little of it yourself. There are so many incredible tales of survival here; sailors fighting off polar bears, people stranded for 11 months on desolate Arctic islands, survival of evil German strafing runs or the experience of a sublieutenant aboard SS Mary Luckenbach:

“He was walking along the deck carrying a cup of coffee for the Captain when the ship exploded. Next thing he knew, he was in the water half a mile away.”

64 out of 65 died on his ship.

For every story of survival, there were tragedies too, such as; victims of friendly fire (HMS Punjabi, ORP Jastrzab), Empire Howard survivors being killed in water by Lord Middleton’s depth charges, the HMS Niger minefield loss and many more.

Michael Walling does a great job exhaustively covering each Arctic Convoy that took place during the war. It is fantastic we have such works by Michael, that ensure the sacrifices made by so many men and women in this arena of war are never forgotten. “Forgotten Sacrifice” made me feel proud.

“So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us, as we remember them.” – R.B. Gittelsohn

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgotten Sacrifice: The Arctic Convoys of World War II gets 4 Stars for bringing a little known arena of conflict to life. Probably not the best written war history, it is a great collection of first person accounts but cries out for someone to put the events into context. (Can someone call Sir Max or Mr Beevor and interest them in this story?) I recommend this book highly but also suggest you go watch a few episodes of "Deadliest Catch" to put you in the mood for this unforgiving theater of war.

The route, which was open to U-boat attack throughout its entire length, was limited to the west and north by ice and to the east and south by an enemy-occupied coast, well provided with anchorages whence surface forces could operate at will, and airfields from which aircraft could dominate 1,400 miles of its furthest east, and therefore most vulnerable, waters. The whole route, including the terminal ports at each end, lay within range of enemy reconnaissance and at two points was crossed by German routine meteorological flights. British shore-based air support was confined to what could be given from Iceland and Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands.

The British seamen and the first of the American merchant seamen learned bitterly in the winter of 1941-42 about Arctic weather. The gales blew across the 900-mile-widespace between Greenland and Norway and swept northeastward. The wind struck the slowly laboring columns of a convoy with an unbroken fury. The crews lived in almost perpetual darkness for 115 days during the dark winter when the sun barely rose. It was so dark that a lookout stationed on a ship’s bridge could not even see the bow of his own vessel. The positions of the ships ahead, on each side and astern were unknown; all were under complete blackout regulation. Convoy machine-gunners had orders to fire directly at any light shown. But another ship might be detected by a veering wind gust that held a tang of stack smoke, or her engine sounds, the thud of her propeller, the waves hammering her hull.

Men strained to hear and to smell as well as to see. They explored the caverns of the wind in the lulls between gusts with extremely sensitized perception. Buffeting wind blurred their vision, and the unwilled tears froze on their cheeks. The eyebrows and eyelashes were frozen. Their lashes would fall off later, painfully, in the heated quarters of the ship. Breath was agony if taken fully before the wind; a man turned aside, breathed, swung back and examined the reaching dark again.

A good accounting of the entire series of Artic convoys, as well as individual battles. Survival, if you had to go in the water, was measured in minutes. Many stories of heroism are told. Here is a story from one crew torpedoed on the run to Murmansk:

On arrival in Murmansk, the survivors were transferred to Chaser for the passage home. I talked to a group of Mahratta ratings—none of the officers had survived—who told me of the heroism of their doctor. Having managed to climb onto one of the few Carley floats to have come through the sinking, he set about hauling the others aboard. The float soon became overcrowded. Remarking almost casually, “There’s not enough room for us all," the doctor slipped over the side into the sea and was never seen again.

The straightforward manner in which the survivors recounted this event, and the admiration and affection with which they spoke of their doctor—whose name (oddly enough) none of them knew—made a deep impression upon me.

Not until months later, and then quite by chance, did I discover that Mahratta’s doctor was none other than Peter McRae, a contemporary of mine at school. As a boy he had been one of the most delightful and gifted of people. A good all-rounder, successful in all he undertook, yet completely unassuming …Several years after the war, a proposal was mde that his self-sacrifice should be recognized by a suitable award but, sadly, the Admiralty did not concur.

So sad that the references for the Russian part of this operation date from the 1990's or 2000's. I bet there are many incredible tales lost forever because the secrecy demands of the USSR outlived the participants.

[Jonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Arctic convoys were proportionately the deadliest for ships and crews of any in the war. Yet the sacrifices brought on by those these convoys have been largely ignored or forgotten in Europe and America, except for a few isolated locations in England and Scotland. The Russians remember and have raised monument honouring all those who fought regardless of nationality. Even there, though, memories are fading as veterans of the war die. So it remains for us in later generations to remember their sacrifices.”
Michael Walling has provided an excellent history of the PQ/QP convoys to Northern Russia in 1942 and 1943, told partly through the words of the participants of these epics of endurance. Though the early convoys were able to slip past the German controlled North Cape without serious opposition, the German High Command soon resolved to shut down this maritime lifeline and anti- shipping forces, comprising aircraft and surface and sub-surface vessels were quickly massed in Northern Norway.
The books strength lies in its lively tone and the reverence shown to the Allied sailors involved. While the agony of PQ-17 is covered, the rest of the convoys are given equal attention. The point is well made that even the most rigidly controlled convoy met with serious (and in the worst cases, coordinated) attacks. However, the real killer on these convoys was the environment (as I was once told “the Atlantic didn't really care if you lived or died, but the Arctic Ocean was out to get you from the start”) and the problems of survival in the water and the need for constant environmental vigilance (not only will a ship toploaded with iced spray capsize and sink in short order, but it stays almost permanently dark during an Arctic winter, making station keeping in a blacked out convoy doubly difficult) is also hammered home. There are also some quite wonderful stories of survival which counterbalance the general grimness of the general story.
A few aspects of the book were a surprise to me - the poor standard of Kreigsmarine gunnery (the Tirpitz battlegroup taking an hour and a half to sink the Soviet tramp steamer Izhora being particularly mentioned) and the fact that experiments were undertaken in running unescorted single ships through Arctic waters being examples, and the book wraps up with a description of the Battle of the North Cape which resulted in the sinking of the Scharnhorst.
Overall Mr Walling has admirably succeeded in his provision of a memorial to the Navy and Merchant crews. It's a fine place to start (or have memories refreshed) and the relatively few eyewitness accounts from German sources doesn't detract from the story in the least. Recommended.

[John Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Added to my knowledge of WW2 convoy activity in the North Atlantic Theatre and the harshness of the Arctic winter. Another example of the stoicism of the Russian people in resisting the Germans.

[Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at a part of WWII that is largely unknown. I couldn't help but think about Alister MacLean's "HMS Ulysses"

[Ken Sampson · Rating 3 out of 5]

[18 Aug 2024] This extremely detailed and comprehensive account of the Artic convoys is an interesting and informative read. This little known aspect of World War II deserves to be better known and this author succeeds in setting the record straight. It is incredible now to read that so many died in horrific conditions and all suffered exceptional distress and pain. In retrospect the whole idea of supplying Russia by merchant ships through the artic ocean, defended by the British, American and Russian Navies seems suicidal.

The mark of a good read is if it engenders in the reader the emotional state described in the content and this book does just that. I began to feel the futility and despair as description after description of torpedos, U-boats, explosions, sinking, mutilations, drownings, and death on an industrial scale were laid out. This book was written by a military historian and that comes across in the focus on the mechanics and attributes of the ships. The details of the various engagements and aspects of naval procedure and planning. The day-to-day experience of the men and the social experience gets less exploration, although many witness testimonies are given the social-history is lacking. It seems a comprehensive account of the artic convoys and sets the record straight. I was particularly shocked that despite all the sacrifice Russia did not use the opportunity to build a better country and they descended into tyranny and continue to flounder. My only other comment was - a bug-bear of mine - a good map would have been useful, but the half-page one provided - with grey print on a grey background is almost entirely useless. It is unreadable and a waste of space.

Generally a interesting, well written and informative account of a little known aspect of World War II. If you had relatives involved in the artic convoys it is a must-read, otherwise a generally good read for anyone with an interest in war history.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a laudable job in telling a little known story of World War II. Its central tale of the ruinous losses suffered by Anglo-American convoys sailing past Nazi-occupied Norway to the Soviet Union's coldwater ports is a harrowing one. Stranded men drown after short spells in the water. Lifeboats turn away rescue for fear of boarding a ship doomed to be sunk. Stowaways reach land and habitable shelter only to slowly starve to death during the long Arctic winter. While the book's structure is a bit chronologically rigid, its subject is a fascinating one and duly well-told.

[Leo Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a good book. I liked the human interest stories. The one drawback was the maps. There was one map, and that was it. I would've liked more maps, showing each of the major convoy engagements. For instance, there was none for PQ-17 nor for the sinking of Scharnhorst. Hence, it was difficult trying to sort out what was going on. The style was exceptional and easy to read. All in all, it's still a good book.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very interesting topic, but the book read like a school report. There is lots of detail, and quotes from diaries and letters of those involved, but I found it a bit flat. I prefer "popular history" that's written in a style closer to fiction, so this just wasn't my cup of tea. But if you're looking for a thorough and detailed look at the arctic convoys and don't mind reading textbook-type writing, this one is for you!

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read that details the dangerous convoys taken during WW2. While sometimes bogged down by endless lists of ship names and other necessary but far too many details, plus hampered by editorial mistakes, the tales of bravery, loss and survival strongly come alive.

[Kazimiera pendrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

imjust did not get on with this at all

[WILLIAM SMITH · Rating 2 out of 5]

initially I thought this to be a useful historical resource to support my research into the convoys to north Russia but as tie passed and that work progressed I increasingly found discrepancies in Michael Walling's account of events.
Although the Publishers blurb states Forgotten Sacrifice “tells the complete story of the allied forces arctic convoys and vital role they played…” the narrative for some reason covers only 35 out of 78 Convoy Identification Codes (see Index)
The lack of citations in Notes to Chapters, Bibliography or a Reference list is disappointing as it leaves the reader unable to identify/track down the sources used. Linked to this a number of the oral histories/anecdotes listed do not identify the ship or convoy to which they refer. There is also some disconnect between narrative and the Index with not all the major events, people, ships and places described in the former listed in the latter.
It is not clear whether those elements of the narrative including for example references to Kreigsmarine operations Wunderland 1 and 11, and the BD series Russian convoys, whilst interesting, have relevance to the principal subject matters
There are also a significant number of misattributions, inconsistencies and errors throughout the text.
An interesting read and tribute but not to be relied upon as an accurate historical record of events.

[Tres Herndon · Rating 3 out of 5]

After some basic vocab lessons, the book is essentially a chronological description of the various convoys that sailed between Iceland/UK and Russia during the war. Would have been a bit dry if not for the first-person accounts of the survivors. Some very harrowing stories. A lot of men (and women & children) died hard deaths in that theater.

The biggest surprise to me was that the Germans used Ju-88s and He-111s to bomb/torpedo ships. I wasn't aware of that usage. The book said an unknown number of planes and crews were lost on these missions. No hope of rescue even if you survived the crash.

[Trevor Schoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall the book was very good but some parts were dreadfully boring. However the stories of survival against the odds were really fascinating.

[paul ellmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captures the Tragedy of War

A very good read, fast paced, giving a raw account of the tragedy of war against the freezing sea, and the various personal battles peyote fought

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chilling account of determination and heroism.

[paul losiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The forgotten Naval war

An eye opener. The Russian sources are a wonderful addition. I wish more German sources were available. Scharnhorst's last stand was gripping. I do wish more discussion of the technical aspects had been given. The German Naval torpedo developments deserved more coverage. But then I am an old ship's engineer.

[Brian Merrill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the story of the Arctic Convoys, a part of World War II I knew nothing about. Some of the most moving parts of this book are the first-hand accounts. One that comes to mind tells of some people who were rescued from the ice cold water after a German attack. As the men were pulled from the water, one older soldier remained. But the captain of the ship ordered the ship to depart as the Germans were once again closing in. The older soldier was left behind in the water. Reading the description of this account, from someone who was there, and having him describe watching the older man slowly sink out of sight gave me goosebumps. And there are many other similar stories as well.

[Kent Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of a vital part of WW2 that I hadn't known anything about.
My father was in the merchant marine during WW2 but in the Pacific.
these are impressive stories of courage and disaster but after awhile it was exhausting reading about another ship sinking with half the crew dead and the other have mostly died of hypothermia before being rescued.
So I recommend it but you might want to skim parts of it.

[Geraldine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very dry reading as in a history book. It is very heroic and sad about the Arctic convoys transporting goods to Russia during WWII. The Nazis sunk many ships and killed many allied troops and civilian merchant seamen. The author describes encounter after encounter of the convoys with the Nazis.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

a truly astonishing recount of the courage and tragedy of this part of WW2.. well written and totally entralling, but sometimes i had to put it down and take a break, the real life recountings of what these people went through in the northern convoys was that tragic.

[Frederic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a 'bad' book, as histories go. Used Arctic Convoys 1941-1945 by Richard Woodman as a source, which was the better of the two.

[Nishant Pappireddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive account of the Arctic convoys (not just the famous PQ-17 and 18), including a lot of personal anecdotes from participants. I was surprised to learn about German naval raids against the Siberian coast, which I did not know about before.