Arctic Convoy medal fight takes a big step forward after report says their case was 'impressive'
By Ian Drury
PUBLISHED: 01:59, 18 July 2012 | UPDATED: 01:59, 18 July 2012
Hopes that the Arctic Convoy heroes will at last receive war medals increased last night after a Government-commissioned report concluded their case was ‘impressive’.
Former diplomat Sir John Holmes, who carried out an inquiry into the rules on military decorations, said a fresh review of the Second World War veterans’ claim for proper recognition should be a ‘top priority’.
Independent experts should ‘look again rapidly at the long-standing controversy’ in a bid to tackle ‘significant injustice or inconsistency’ in awarding honours for outstanding bravery, he said.
'Impressive': Veterans of the Arctic Convoy, pictured last year, came a step closer to being honoured with war medals after a report backed their case
He said that medals should be awarded retrospectively in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who ordered the report, ‘welcomed’ the findings - raising the prospect of an Arctic Star medal being struck nearly 70 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany.
It is a massive step forward for the Daily Mail’s campaign to reward 200 of the convoy survivors.
Commander Eddie Grenfell, 92, the elected leader of the Arctic Medal Campaign, said: ‘I’m very pleased about how things are developing. Sir John is doing a great job.
Heroic: More than 66,000 British sailors and merchant seamen braved sub-zero temperatures and a gauntlet of U-boats, battleships and warplanes to keep supply lines to Russia open during the war
‘We are looking forward to an early decision on this now because more and more of our dwindling members are passing away with every single month that passes.’
More than 66,000 British sailors and merchant seamen braved sub-zero temperatures and a gauntlet of U-boats, battleships and warplanes to keep supply lines to Russia open during the war. More than 3,000 perished on what Churchill called the “worst journey in the world”.
When the conflict ended, those on the convoys were controversially given the Atlantic Star - even though the honour was awarded for a separate campaign 800 miles away.
Ministry of Defence bureaucrats have repeatedly used this excuse to deny Arctic veterans their own award.
Last year, Mr Cameron was blasted for ‘betraying’ the veterans after reneging on a Tory promise to award Arctic Medals to the veterans if the party won power.
To counter the anger, he asked Sir John to review the rules on military decorations. Yesterday TUES he published his interim findings.
Sir John said membership of the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals [HD Committee] should be broadened ‘to reflect outside views’.
He said: ‘Top priority should be given to looking at those involving veterans from the Second World War, such as the campaign over the Arctic Convoys, for obvious reasons of the age of those concerned.’
He said the committee should have the flexibility to revisit decisions on medals ‘which seem to have been badly made and if appropriate to try to right wrongs’.