1–2 May 1942, Militärachiv Freiburg RM 94/111

  KTB des Zerstörers Z 29

  16-31 December 1943, Militärarchiv Freiburg RM 94/123

  War Diary for Luftflotte 5 (in English)

  Extracts from war diaries of Luftflotte 5 dated May–September 1942, document V11/60, Translations Vol. III Second World War, NA London AIR 20/7702

  AMERICAN MERCHANT VESSEL REPORTS

  The following underlined abbreviations which are used in the Notes and elsewhere in this book refer to the sections of NA Washington and NA Maryland specified below beside the abbreviations.

  US Armed Guard Reports: NA Maryland RG38 Records Of The Office Of The Chief Of Naval Operations, Naval Transportation Service, Armed Guard Files 1940–1945.

  US Casualty Records: NA Maryland RG24 Records Of The Bureau Of Naval Personnel: Casualty Branch: WWII Casualty Lists And Related Records.

  US Casualty Reports: NA Washington RG 26 Records Of The US Coast Guard, War Casualties Section, Casualty Reports 1941–1946.

  US Medical Reports: NA Maryland RG 52 Records Of The Bureau Of Medicine And Surgery, Records Relating To Rescued Survivors Of Wrecked Ships And Aircraft 1942–1945, Shipwreck Survivors Of S/S Vessels Box 2 Entry 40.

  US Merchant Ship Losses Reports: NA Maryland RG 38 Tenth Fleet, ASW Analysis & Stat. Section, Series XIII, Report And Analysis Of U.S. And Allied Merchant Ship Losses 1941–1945.

  US Merchant Vessels Sinking Reports: NA Washington RG 26 WW II Reports Concerning Merchant Vessels Sinking.

  US Naval Attaché Reports: NA Maryland RG 38 Records Of The Office Of The Chief Of Naval Operations, Office of Naval Intelligence, Naval Attaché – Moscow, USSR.

  Acknowledgements

  The seed that set off my interest in the attacks on Arctic convoys – and the Battle of the Arctic – was sewn over 25 years ago when I met Sir Harry Hinsley, a professor at England’s Cambridge University. It was in connection with a book I was hoping to write about the breaking of the German Enigma code. He told me about his personal participation, when working as an intelligence officer at Britain’s Bletchley Park codebreaking centre, in the attempt in July 1942 to use decrypts of German Enigma messages to protect Arctic convoy PQ17.

  Enthused by his dramatic telling of the PQ17 story, my next step along the long road that ended with my decision to write a book about the Battle of the Arctic was to visit the Maritime Museum at London’s Greenwich, where I read the account by Ned Denning, an officer who had during World War 2 worked at the British Admiralty, and who had also participated in the attempt to protect the convoy.

  The information I gleaned from these two men was to form the basis of the PQ17 chapter in the book I eventually had published under the title Enigma: The Battle For The Code. But it was only years later, after writing two other books, that I happened to read Alistair MacLean’s gripping novel HMS Ulysses about the adventures on a British anti-aircraft cruiser while escorting merchant ships to Murmansk, and my thoughts turned to writing about Arctic convoys again.

  My very first breakthrough when seeking to determine whether it would be possible to find vivid testimony that might match the kind of action described in Alistair MacLean’s novel was having the good fortune to be introduced to Alan Blyth, an Arctic convoy enthusiast. His uncle, Radio Officer Norman Blyth, had died when the merchant ship SS Induna was torpedoed during Arctic convoy PQ13. This family connection had prompted him to find out as much as he could not only about the Induna, but also about the other ships in the convoy. He had at one time intended to write a book about PQ13. But by the time I contacted him, he had changed his mind although he was sitting on a mass of valuable material. When I contacted him, he very generously immediately offered to let me use it. He also introduced me to Induna’s Austin Byrne, who by then was the doyen of the Arctic convoy survivors. Another helper I encountered thanks to Alan Blyth was Jos Odijk from Holland, whose uncle, Niek Odijk, died when SS Raceland was sunk during PQ13. Jos brought to my attention relevant Dutch books and documents, and helped me search for the families of veterans.

  Round about the same time, I was also introduced to Tim Lewin, whose late father, Lord (Terence) Lewin, had been Chief of the Defence Staff under Margaret Thatcher when the decision was taken to recapture the Falkland Islands. During the war Lieutenant Lewin, as he then was, had served in the destroyer Ashanti on various Arctic convoys. Tim, who had been asked by his father to do what he could to ensure that the contribution of Arctic convoy veterans to the war effort should be recognized, agreed to assist me, making available relevant documents, and introducing me firstly to his Russian colleague, Katya Fowler, who helped me communicate with museum staff in Archangel, and secondly to all his many Arctic convoy contacts.

  Tim Lewin’s most helpful Arctic convoy contacts included:

  - George Milne, the then chairman of what is now known as the Arctic Convoy Museum near Aultbea, north-west Scotland, who in his turn introduced me to Bruce Hudson, the then vice chairman. Bruce made sure I was able to access the museum’s extensive archives and journals.

  - Commander Eric Dietrich-Berryman, in America, who helped me contact the families of American merchant seamen, leading to the discovery of precious previously unpublished letters and diaries. When Eric tragically died before my research was completed, his wife Bobbie Berryman stepped into the breach, carrying on where Eric left off. She also introduced me to Brother Dunstan Robidoux, a Benedictine friar, who in his turn suggested that his friend Bob Urban, a coast guard veteran, might be willing to find relevant documents for me in the National Archives, Maryland. Bob readily agreed, and both with and without Brother Dunstan, he unearthed many relevant documents and photographs.

  - Colonel Wojciech Aksamit, based in Poland, who has helped me identify the most relevant books concerning Polish men who participated in the convoys, and who has translated the most important passages of those works written in Polish which he recommended.

  - Valentina Golysheva, based in Russia, a professor of English Philology who has worked at Archangel’s Northern Arctic Federal University, and who has written several books about the Arctic convoys. Her father, Georgy Golyshev, died following the abandoning of Marina Raskova. She not only told me about the sinking but helped me discover what happened. It is thanks to her that the sinking of this ship and its aftermath is covered in this book.

  Other Americans who have given invaluable assistance are:

  - Ian Millar, a retired lawyer in America, who as well as campaigning over many years to persuade the US authorities to give awards to American Arctic convoy veterans, has interviewed many veterans in order to enable him to write up and publish their experiences. He has generously shared with me not only the documents he has collected but also his photograph collection.

  - Dick Carter, the son of the American armed guard officer William Carter, who wrote a first hand account, published in a book entitled Why Me Lord?, describing his participation in dramatic events during two Arctic convoys. Dick, who had publishing experience and was instrumental in getting his father’s account published in an attractive format, as well as telling me about the book, sent me the edition of Life Magazine that covered Arctic convoy PQ17, and also introduced me to the American historian Bill Geroux (see below).

  - William (Bill) Geroux, one of whose books The Ghost Ships Of Archangel has vividly chronicled some of the most interesting aspects of PQ17, has generously shared with me all of his relevant sources and contacts both in America and even more significantly in Russia (see below).

  Russians to whom I was introduced by Bill Geroux include:

  - Mikhail Suprun, a history professor who has worked at Archangel’s Northern Arctic Federal University and who has written several books and articles about the Arctic convoys and lend-lease (America’s provision of aid to Russia during the war). It would not be exaggerating to describe him as the Russian guru when it comes to assessing the impact of the wartime aid to the Soviet Union. He has sent me copies of various relevant documents, answered my many questions, and equally importantly introduced me to his former student Katya Emelyanova, who has worked tirelessly on my behalf in Archangel, and in the process sent me copies of many relevant documents and books she found in Archangel archives and libraries.

  - Ivan Katyshev, who at the time worked at the Archangel Northern Maritime Museum. He sent me many relevant documents that came originally from the Archangel archives.

  Other assistance relating to Polish seamen has been provided by:

  - Wanda Troman. She not only supplied articles relating to the sunk submarine Jastrząb that I would never have found without her assistance but she also very kindly translated them. Very sadly she has not lived to see the publication of this book.

  - Anna Pacewicz, whose father served in the Polish ship Garland after the destroyer’s involvement in the Arctic convoys. Anna and her contact Barbara Lesisz-Dembinska, whose uncle served in Garland during the Arctic convoys, have helped me find a book and photographs relating to Garland’s participation in PQ16.

  Assistance from Norwegians has been provided by:

  Alf Jacobsen, whose own research as an investigative journalist and TV producer enabled him to help me in many ways. One of his many books describes the events leading up to the sinking of the German battlecruiser Scharnhorst, which is featured in this book. He also produced a Timewatch documentary for the BBC about the sinking of that ship during Arctic convoy JW55B. He brought to my attention documents concerning the Arctic convoy spy, and introduced me to Kjetil Korsnes, an associate professor at Nord University located in Bodø, Norway who is the lead administrator of Acta Norvegica Arkiv, a private archive which contains amongst other documents copies of most of the German war diaries which are relevant to the Battle of the Arctic. He has sent me copies of anything from the archive which I have requested.

  Assistance concerning Svalbard has come from:

  Håvard Hansen, who while working as a meteorological representative at the meteorological station on Hope Island, found the accounts by the shipwrecked captain and doctor from Dekabrist who were castaway on the island, as well as unearthing a privately published book that specifies the location of the huts they occupied. He also supplied photographs of the remains of one of the huts and of the monument on the island, erected after the war, commemorating the Dekabrist crew’s sacrifice.

  Per Kyrre Reymert, author of a book on trappers’ cabins on Svalbard, has confirmed where on Spitzbergen the Chulmleigh survivors, featured in this book, were rescued. He has also sent me photographs showing the mass burial of those who died that took place after the rescue.

  Other assistance from Russia has come from:

  Natalia Ershova, a Russian Murmansk resident who teaches English. She has supplied sources relating to Murmansk, including about the hospital. Some come from the archive relating to the Arctic convoys that are in a local gymnasium.

  Assistance from Germany has been provided by:

  Jürgen Meyer-Brenkhof, a retired German Fregattenkapitän, who I first came across thanks to an article he wrote in a German journal about the fighting during convoy PQ13, an action that had interested him because of his father Hans-Jürgen Meyer-Brenkhof’s involvement. He sent me his father’s account of the incident, and has answered my many questions about German vessels and nautical matters that I have sent to him.

  Dirk Sieg, from the Wertegemeinschaft Marine-Offizier-Vereinigung (the German marine association) in Bonn, brought to my attention relevant German sources some of which had appeared in the journal Marine Forum.

  Before mentioning the other main helpers with this book, I would like to credit the special contributions made by both Richard Kemp, a retired solicitor, and my son Saul Sebag-Montefiore. Their assistance with many aspects of the necessary research has been so intensive and rigorous that at times their contributions have been sufficient for them to be classified as co-authors, with Richard focusing in particular on searching for Arctic convoy veterans’ accounts, and Saul concentrating on information contained in documents in archives in America and Germany as well as in Britain, and in books and other publications, as well as on all matters Russian. He has also sought out the best available photographs.

  The following personnel assisted me considerably by helping me extract the most useful information from their collections:

  In Britain

  British Library:

  - Books: Andrew Gough, Srikanth Mattewada, Kathryn Mouncey and Jeremy Nagle.

  - Maps: Nicola Beech and Carlos Garcia-Minguillan.

  Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge: Allen Packwood, Director.

  Imperial War Museum:

  - Head of Documents and Sound: Anthony Richards.

  - Curator, Second World War: Robert Rumble.

  - Reading Room: Documents, Books and Sound: Jane Rosen.

  - Sound in course of digitization: Margaret Weller, Head of Visual Resources and Maria Castrillo, Head of Collections Access & Research.

  Ministry of Defence:

  - Air Historical Branch: Stuart Hadaway.

  - Naval Historical Branch: Aidan Butler.

  National Archives:

  - Production Co-Ordination Manager: David Priest.

  - Resource, Access & Advice Programme Manager: Debbie French.

  - Document services adviser: Greg Cole.

  National Maritime Museum:

  - Caird Library and Archive: Gareth Bellis, Senior Manager, and Magdalena Schedl, Library Assistant.

  - Curator, Historic Photographs and Ship Plans: Andrew Choong Han Lin.

  - Assistant Curator, Historic Photographs and Ship Plans: Alex Grover.

  Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum:

  - Archives director: Dr Andrzej Suchcitz.

  - Films and photographs: Wojtek Deluga.

  Second World War Experience Centre, Otley, West Yorkshire: Office Manager: Anne Wickes.

  In America

  Air Force Historical Research Agency, Alabama: Archivist Leslie Smith.

  Falvey Memorial Library, Villanova University, Pennsylvania: Director of Distinctive Collections and Digital Engagement: Michael Foight.

  Institute on World War II and the Human Experience, Florida: Administrative Assistant: Anne March.

  National Archives

  - Maryland: Archivist: Nathaniel Patch; and Textual Reference Operations: Richard Peuser and Amy Reytar.

  - Washington: Archivist: Chris Killillay.

  Naval History and Heritage Command: David Colamaria, Photo Archivist.

  US Navy Armed Guard World War 2 Veterans Association: Charles Lloyd.

  In Norway

  Centre for the History of Seafarers at War: Archivist: Bjørn Tore Rosendahl.

  In Svalbard

  The Svalbard Museum, Longyearbyen: Archivist and historian: Haakon Unhammer Kvaale.

  In Germany

  Bundesarchiv: Militärarchiv Freiburg: Christiane Botzet.

  U-boot Archiv, Cuxhaven: Annemarie Bredow, Rainer Stührenberg, and Kai Steenbuck.

  I have also been helped by the following advisers, researchers and translators:

  Tobias Barland, Merlijn Feenstra, Katharina Froelich, Polina Gern, Tobias Henriksen, Anna den Hollander, Josephine Hülsen, Paul Hünsche, Maria Jouravleva, Janina Klement, Daniel Konn-Vetterlein, Hauke Kottek, Lyuba Lukashenko, Ferdinand Mowinckel, Elizaveta Nidzelskaya, Tony Olszowski, Charlotte Pechau, Fred Powell, Frederik Risse, Luisa Rombach, Madita Schröder, Sebag-Montefiore family members: Abraham and Simon, Anna Springer, Brandon Tachco, Jill Van Duin, Valeriia Verbovaia, Anastasia Vikhanova, Kai Wittmacher, Clive Wolman, Garrett Wralstad, Theodore Xing, Mikael Zakharov.

  Although I have tried to use as many primary sources as possible, no book such as this can give a comprehensive airing to the available information without relying to some extent on what other historians have written. In this book’s introduction, I have already paid tribute to Richard Woodman’s book Arctic Convoys 1941–1945. When I met him he very generously shared with me all the relevant notes and source material he had retained.

  Other authors who have given me substantial assistance in addition to writing the books cited in the Bibliography include: Adam Claasen, author of Hitler’s Northern War: The Luftwaffe’s Ill-Fated Campaign, who shared with me various sources from Germany and America including a detailed account by a Luftwaffe commander; Christer Bergström, author of a series of books entitled Black Cross Red Star, who brought testimony by Luftwaffe personnel to my attention; John McKay, author of Surviving the Arctic Convoys: The Wartime Memoirs of Leading Seaman Charlie Erswell, who has shared with me the large collection of Northern Light journals Charlie Erswell gave him; and Peter Taghon, the author of many books about World War 2 including several about the Luftwaffe, who brought to my attention Luftwaffe daily reports available on the Deutsch-Russisches Projekt internet site.

  My agent, David Godwin, helped me pitch to HarperCollins the idea of writing a book about the Battle of the Arctic, and has played an active role during the writing of the book concerning its structure.

  Arabella Pike insisted the scope of the book should be ambitious, covering the whole period from 1941–5 rather than the more limited period that had featured in some previous works on this subject, and has given me the time to accomplish that goal.

  The complicated task of making both the text and sources reader friendly has been expertly managed by copy editor Tom Whiting and editor Alex Gingell who has also acted as project manager, and in such capacity has done everything possible to make sure all the different elements of the book have fallen into place on time. They include the corrections at the proof stage by proofreader Anne Rieley, which could not have been done more sensitively and efficiently, and the intricate maps designed by Martin Brown, which can only be described as an author’s dream. Sam Harding has made sure the selected photographs were delivered on time and laid out in the most attractive way possible.