Arctic convoy medal campain. Tory minister puts foot in it

[Pesty]

I'm rather staggered by this man. He is a former soldier and now member of a government who said pre election that they would grant a seperate medal for the people who did this extremely hazardous job during the war ( who would have thought it conservatives going back on their word!! shocker). IMO there is no question that they deserve one it would not deminish in the slightest other medals.

especialy if true the guy denying they should get a medal got his for running a prison camp. (is this true I cant belive they would give one out for that?)

"Veterans Minister Mr Robathan, a former soldier who was awarded a medal for running a prisoner-of-war camp in the first Gulf War, faced a clamour of demands for his resignation after likening the Arctic medal campaign to notorious authoritarian regimes which handed out so many medals it diminished their worth.



He said: 'Medals in the UK mean something. Authoritarian regimes and dictators often throw around a lot of medals."


even if it is the mail being silly and he got a campaign medal like everybody who served in the gulf his words to me are deeply insulting 3000 British sailors died doing this.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2071419/To...

Edited by Pesty on Thursday 8th December 11:00

[DieselGriff]

I have no issue with groups having a medal awarded where justified but if this medal were awarded then it would be a further kick in the guts for the people of bomber command and for the memory of 55,000 people that died in that campaign.

[Pesty]

I'm not aware of that issue but it sounds a bit of two wrongs make a right.

If bomber comand were also over looked then they probably desvere one too.

[Derek Smith]

Pesty said:

He said: 'Medals in the UK mean something. Authoritarian regimes and dictators often throw around a lot of medals."

My uncle Bert was first mate on a coastal tramp at the outbreak of war. He told a story about having to lie on the front deck of his boat during a transit up the Channel into the Port of London whilst under attack from dive bombers. His job was to point in the most adventageous direction to steer when the plane let go its bomb.

He went on the Murmansk run, and was on QP16, the one before PQ17.

His skin was pockmarked, rather like survivors of smallpox. This was from the sea water spray getting onto his cheeks and giving the bit it touched frostbite.

He lost the tip of one finger when he tried to clear a seized gun - he was on a catapult armed merchant ship, not quite as old tech as it sounds. They had a fighter plane on board and also machine guns. He had taken his gauntlets off and his finger tip had frozen to the gun. He said that as he pulled the finger away he could see the exposed bone and knew he'd lost the tip.

He stayed on deck for a while, then took the glove off again before going below deck (to the cook!) to have the tip cut off. His hand was so cold he couldn't feel any pain. Until he warmed up of course.

He lost bits of his earlobes as well.

I was in awe of my uncle. A real hero. Mind you, I'm certain that running a prison camp can be very uncomfotable at times.

[ninja-lewis]

They were recognised at the time. The critera for the Altantic Star specifically mentioned the Russian Convoys.

Likewise Bomber Command would've received either the Air Crew Europe Star or the France and Germany Star (for post D-Day operations). Uniform regulations stated that if an recipitent of one of the medals qualified for one or both of the other two they would not receive the other Stars but instead would be awarded a clasp
('Atlantic', 'Air Crew Europe' or 'France and Germany') on the first Star they qualified for.

They would also receive the 1939-1945 Star and the War Medal 1939-1945.