History

Representatives from the UK, United States, Canada and Russia Fill in the blank 1 of 15 in St Nicholas’ Parish Church to Fill in the blank 2 of 15 nearly 3,000 sailors who Fill in the blank 3 of 15 their lives to Fill in the blank 4 of 15 vital aid to the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945.

They Fill in the blank 5 of 15 the gauntlet of Nazi sea and air power and Fill in the blank 6 of 15 horrendous weather conditions – snow, ice, sub-zero temperatures, weeks of perpetual darkness in winter and little hope of rescue if they went in the water – to Fill in the blank 7 of 15 the ports of Murmansk and Archangel.

The mission – which began on August 12 1941 with the first convoy, Operation Dervish, Fill in the blank 8 of 15 from the Mersey – was Fill in the blank 9 of 15 ‘the worst journey in the world’ by Winston Churchill.

The heavily-guarded Dervish convoy reached northern Russia without incident – it Fill in the blank 10 of 15 the Germans by surprise and they Fill in the blank 11 of 15 no efforts to attack it.

But they did attack many of the subsequent 77 convoys which Fill in the blank 12 of 15 within range of U-boats and German bombers based in occupied Norway.

Sixteen Royal Navy warships were lost and 1,944 Senior Service personnel were killed, while 85 of the 1,400 merchant ships which Fill in the blank 13 of 15 part in the Arctic runs were Fill in the blank 14 of 15 , a loss rate 17 times higher than in the Atlantic campaign. More than 800 merchant sailors died.

Their sacrifice was not in vain. Over four years, they delivered four million tonnes of supplies to the Soviet war effort – about one quarter of the total aid they provided to the USSR between 1941 and 1945.

The 7,000 aircraft and 5,000 tanks, plus trucks, cars, fuel, medicines, metals and other raw materials helped the Soviets to Fill in the blank 15 of 15 the Germans on the Eastern Front.