At Last - Arctic Convoy Veterans can begin applying for their World War Two Campaign Medals to recognise their service, as HM The Queen has approved the design for the Arctic Star – a full campaign medal, which is being cast this week.    It is a shame that it is thought that ONLY between 200 and 400 sailors – all now in their late 80s at their youngest – survive from the four year long campaign, a mission the Prime Minster Churchill acknowledged was “the worst journey in the world”.     The Arctic Star has been granted for operational service of any length north of the Arctic Circle (66 degrees, 32’N) from September 3 1939 to May 8 1945, inclusive and is intended to commemorate the Arctic Convoys and is designed primarily for the ships of the convoys to North Russia and their Escorts.

This is a wrong that has been righted – but why this injustice was ever allowed to arise is quite unfathomable.