"The British Arctic convoy heroes who risked their lives to help transport crucial supplies to Russia during World War II have been told they cannot accept a medal for valour from the country. The Russian Embassy wrote to survivors of the notoriously perilous sea campaign - who saw 3,000 of their comrades killed - to inform them it intended to award them with the Medal of Ushakov as a symbol of the country's gratitude. But the Foreign Office has blocked the Russian's government's plans to honour Britain's Arctic heroes, because it said it would break rules surrounding the acceptance of medals. Russia has already awarded the Ushakov medal to veterans from Australia, Canada and the U.S. for their role in the Arctic convoys, which ferried vital supplies and munitions to the Soviet Union to help fight off the advance of Hitler between 1941 and 1945. Commander Eddie Grenfell, 92, who has been lobbying the British government to introduce a specific Arctic medal for the past 15 years, expressed disbelief at this latest blow to the surviving sailors. 'I cannot believe the Foreign Office, William Hague, is doing this,' he told the Portsmouth News. 'This is not a campaign medal, this is a medal for valour. He's saying that what we did out there, what we went through, had no valour at all.' He said the Russian government should go ahead and award the Ushakov medal." Arctic convoys: Fury as veterans denied Russian bravery medal for their role in perilous World War II campaign | Mail Online
The thread title is corrected. On a further note, who does the f###ing British government think it is? These men deserve all the praise they can get, no matter where it comes from.
Got to love politics.... These brave men deserve these medals. For their own govt. to prevent such from occurring is.. well, quite unfortunate.
Hang on just a minute... Russia is a soverign government. They have the capacity and authourity to award medals and make citations at their own covenience. Why don't the Russians simply award the medals, and send them out no matter what Her Majesty's government has to say on the matter? Why are the Russians consulting ANYONE at all? HM Government could do nothing to prevent them recieving it, so why consult them at all? Her Majesty's sacred officials have got to learn to "mind their own business". The Russians should just make the announcement, send out the goodies, and then sit back and watch British officials make fools of themselves, not for the first time in history either.
