The Russian Convoys [antikvár]

Preface Although much has been published concerning the convoys to and from Russia diuring the Second World War, the tendency has been either to concentrate on the naval aspect of the operations as a whole, or on one of the many stirring incidents which occurred during their passage. Excellent as are many of these accounts, the impact on events of political decisions as revealed by Sir Winston Churchill in The Second World War and by the record of the Führer Naval Confer ences^ together with other material now available, does not appear to have received sufficient attention. It seemed to the author that a more comprehensive narrative, amplifjdng that given by Captain S. W. Roskill, RN, in The War at Sea, 1939-194S3 and backed by personal knowledge of what took place, would help to clear up such controversial issues as that caused by the scattering of convoy PQ17, why the Arctic route to Russia was preferred to the safer one by the Persian Gulf, and whether Russia really needed the supplies sent to her at such great cost. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all those who, in one way or another, have assisted me in the preparation of the manuscript of this book. In particular I acknowledge my indebtedness to the Director of the Historical Section of the former Admiralty, Lieutenant-Commander P. K. Kemp, FRHists, RN (Retd), the Director of the Military Historical Research Bureau of the Federal German Navy, Captain Gerhard Bidlingmaier; the Right Honourable the Earl of Avon kg, pc, mc; Admiral of the Fleet the Lord Eraser of North Cape, ggb, kbe; Admiral Sir Henry Moore, ggb, gvo, Dso; Admiral Sir Geoffrey Miles, kgb, kcsi;