USSR

The Story of the SS Dover Hill in Russia, 1943

When the Russian authorities heard what we were doing, although they had many unexploded bombs to deal with...

Life in the USSR

Martuk was a cosmopolitan place; there were Kazaks, Ukrainians, Russians, Tartars, Czechnians, Karmuks and...

To Murmansk and Back on the SS 'Atlantic'

The voyage from the UK to Iceland had been this officer's first taste of the sea, and apparently...

The Stories of my Grandfathers in the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS

In the winter of 1942/1943 his division dug in outside of Stalingrad, where the most memorable of his...

Jack's Kindertransport Story

Jack and his sister Chana travelled with a group of children that left by train in March 1939. Jack's...

Exiled from Poland by Helena Zylko

It was at this time, I believe, that many Polish officers were executed in a camp called Katyn. General...

The Yalta Aftermath

The penultimate meeting It was in February 1945 that the Big Three wartime leaders - Winston Churchill,...

A Bird’s Eye View of the Yalta Conference by A Wren

I was one of Churchill's cypher officers at the Yalta Conference. Three of us were to go to Yalta as...

Memories of Archangel

After the fog incident and leading the convoy to Archangel our first surprise was a Russian woman pilot to...

My Odyssey

The same thing happened some 4-5 months before, to most of the men of this town, my father and my uncle...

From Russia with Gloves

Having established that the repair was successful, I was walking away from the aircraft when I noticed, on...

How a Russian Family Survived a German Labour Camp

When my grandmother Matrjona and her two little sons, Eduard and Valerij, were taken prisoner, my...

Pechora Camp

The drivers could sell anything to Russians, especially if it came from the west, and get in exchange other...

PQ16 - Chapter 3

We left Murmansk to go down the river to the jetty near to the aerodrome and naval base on the evening of...

Escape from Poland

When we reached the town's suburbs the Russians who were quite well aware that prisoners were missing...

My Journey to become a Polish Paratrooper

We went on more manoeuvres and exercises at Salisbury and were placed under the command of 1st British...

Laimons Stals war diary: On the Russian Front

Battalion staff including Uztics and our "sirs" as well as our boys crowd themselves in, however...

PQ 16 - Chapter 1

Consequently three ships were constructed which were fitted with special heavy-lift derricks, and these...

From Chodel in Poland to Monte Cassino. PART 1

His long journey began on the 17th of September 1939 when the Russian Army crossed the Polish eastern...

PQ16 - Chapter 2

'Jerry' now thought it was time to visit this place, and for the first time since the beginning of...

PQ16 - Chapter 4

This was also the day that the Chief Officer was suspended from duty by the Ministry of War Transport, and...

Straws in the Wind

Determined not to allow my parents' sacrifices to fade away into the mists of time, I resolved to do...

John Gibson's War

From Basra we were asked to take a convoy of lorries on the 5 day journey to Khanaqin in order to make...

From Siberia to Arnhem via Scotland

In January ’42 Franek is accepted into the army and travels to Kraznodzk and then by oil tanker...

To Russia and Back

I was just sixteen years old when I joined Silver Lines SS Silverceder as a Peggy, as a deck boy I ran...

PQ16 _ Chapter 5

After two days at anchor we sailed away around the north of Scotland, through the Pentland Firth, and...