ARKHANGELSK, July 15. /TASS/. The Dervish. Brotherhood of Northern Convoys book was presented in Arkhangelsk. The book’s author Georgy Gudim-Levkovich, a member of the Brotherhood of Northern Convoys Club told TASS the book was published to mark the 80th anniversary of the first convoy’s arrival in Arkhangelsk, which will be celebrated on August 31, 2021. The book is published in two languages — Russian and English.
"The book Dervish. Brotherhood of Northern Convoys has been published shortly before the 80th anniversary of the first convoy’s arrival in Arkhangelsk," the author said. "It is devoted to the important event in the history of World War II and the Great Patriotic War. The book describes how the convoy left the port and then arrived in Arkhangelsk, and additionally — a story about how the memory of that event is preserved. The book is published in two languages: Russian and English. It is important. Though we do not expect many foreign guests this year, anyway, they will be able to read this book and take it with them."
The first convoy arrived in Arkhangelsk on August 31, 1941 — seven vessels were escorted by the UK military ships. The convoy delivered from the UK planes, mines, antitank guns, and various equipment, as well as footwear for the military, rubber, and many other items. At that time, the Soviet Union did not yet have formal lend-lease agreements.
Reports and memoirs
The book contains documents, which had not been published earlier. Out of 12 official papers, a half is from Soviet archives, and the rest — from the UK, plus memoirs of the convoy’s participants. The book presents fragments from reports by the Arkhangelsk Trade Port’s deputy head Georgy Dikiy, who was responsible for servicing foreign vessels. The initial plan was the cargo will be handled by the military, but there was a clear shortage of the military force. Nor were sufficient boats to deliver port workers to the ships or barges to bring water and food to the vessels.
The Llanstephan Castle, the caravan’s biggest transport liner, had to booth in downtown Arkhangelsk. "It turned out, the vessel could not get to the booth closer than 18 meters. Over four days, a new wooden booth was built for it," the author said. "The Llanstephan Castle was built as a tourist liner for trips from London to Cape Town and Mombasa. John Wallace Carroll, a US reporter at United Press International in London, whose memoirs are in the book, said every 1st-class cabin still had an ice maker. Carrol was a reporter in England at war, and when he learned about the first convoy to Russia, he insisted to join it. When an official handed a ticket to him, he said, here’s Liverpool, and what’s next — I can’t make out, the reporter wrote."
Another published memoir is by a Polish reporter and diplomat, Frantisek Prusinski. "He was appointed the Polish Embassy’s attache de presse in Moscow. He could have taken a flight via Tehran, for example, but he chose to sail with the convoy," the book’s author said. "While Carroll as an American wrote more about every-day details, which are interesting for the American audience: for example, about how people on board sang in different languages, Prushinski wrote more philosophically, saying about a new entrance into Russia via Arkhangelsk."
The book presents for the first time in Russian a report by Llanstephan Castle’s Captain Walter Roach. His duty was to fill in a special survey. He described entering the North Dvina, wrote about navigators, saying his ship was the biggest vessel the Arkhangelsk port had ever seen. The captain wrote some of the navigation signs had been removed because of the war, and adds the ship had to use own cranes to unload the cargo.
Another passage is extracts from a diary of sailor Ken Allen onboard the New Westminster City. "He wrote they could not berth as sailors were banned to go ashore," the book’s author said. "Whenever they were allowed, practically immediately they were sent back. He wrote that three in four workers at the port were women."
The book presents information about the Dervish operation and about what happened in Arkhangelsk and around it. At that time, nearby began constructions of six airfields for planes, brought in by Dervish and expected by following convoys.
Historical and modern images in the book
Publishers have paid special attention to pictures. There are no pictures of Dervish, or of the caravan’s handling in Arkhangelsk, but there are pictures of those vessels sailing from Arkhangelsk to the UK. There was a well-known photographer, Life’s correspondent Margaret Bourke-White, and she made a few pictures. "She is a very important photographer — the first woman photographer at Life, she was the only foreign photographer to take images of Moscow in 1941," he continued. "In September, 1941, she and her husband returned to the UK via Arkhangelsk on QP-1 return trip, and at that time she made the convoy’s pictures."
The publishers have filed a request with an archive in Maryland (USA), which keeps the Luftwaffe files. During the work on the book, the publishers found out that "the archive’s catalogues are open, and the Nazi made first reconnaissance flights above Arkhangelsk back in February, 1941. Later on, they made another flights in June and July," the author said. "Those pictures may be ordered, but the US archive is presently closed due to the pandemic. Anyway, we hope to receive them."
The book’s author stressed the most important pictures in the book are images of the veterans, made in the 1980s-2000s. Images of both Russian veterans and participants in the convoys from the UK and the USA, who have visited Arkhangelsk. "We wanted to show maximum faces, both our and foreign," he said. "To have them remembered."
History of convoys
Between August 1941 and May 1945, there were 78 return trips, involving 1,507 vessels and tankers (128 were sunken or damaged). To Murmansk and Arkhangelsk were delivered more than 22,000 planes, more than 13,000 tanks, 13,000 guns, 639 ships and other vital cargo, including food — all that worth more than $2 billion. The cargo satisfied about 12% of the front’s and rear’s demands.
The convoys’ Arctic route (other available routes were across the Pacific Ocean and via Iran) was the shortest, though most dangerous. It was used for more than 90% of lend-lease deliveries, though as much as 15% of the cargo on that route were lost on sunken ships.