Post by Administrator on Apr 7, 2017 11:31:45 GMT
British Merchant Marine veteran received award for bravery in convoy
On March 25, native Scot and 95-year-old Sarasota retiree George Lindsay Graydon received a great honor for his bravery during World War II: The Russian Arctic Convoy tartan. This commemorative cloth (which cannot be woven or sold without permission from the Russian Consulate General in Edinburgh, Scotland) was unveiled at the Thistle Ball of the Caledonian Club of Florida West at Palm Aire Country Club. Graydon is also the recipient of the prestigious Ushakov Medal, which was given to 20 surviving British Merchant Navy veterans who served on supply/rescue ships to bring food and weapons to war-torn Russia. His book, “Peril at Sea, The Life of George Graydon” (The Peppertree Press, 2015), is available via Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
’I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1921. We, in the United Kingdom, were suffering from the 1929 depression and it was very difficult to get a job. I was hammering copper strips onto steel benches before I went on board a ship. I joined the British Merchant Navy in 1936 at age 15. By 1946, I was a chief officer.
I sailed on cargo ships that carried supplies from Portugal, Spain, Amsterdam and Germany to the United Kingdom until the early part of World War II. After that, I transferred to ocean-going ships and went to Singapore, New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania, Seattle, Vancouver Island, Nova Scotia, New York, the Faroe Islands, Cuba, Jamaica, Iceland and Russia in the Arctic Ocean.
During the war, cargo ships were in convoy, accompanied by Royal Navy escorts. They suffered devastating attacks by wolfpacks of German submarines, heavy bombing raids by Stukas and multi-engine bombers, and exploding mines. On one occasion, my ship was under such heavy attack that the crew had to abandon ship and take to lifeboats in the Arctic Ocean.
’I went to sea as a deck boy in June 1936 on the east coast of the United Kingdom, then changed to a ship that was trading from London to the European continent (France, Portugal, Holland and Germany). When war broke out, we traded mainly with Amsterdam.
Motoring up the London River during the heavy German bombing raids was a dreadful nightmare. Trading up and down the east coast of the United Kingdom was a horrendous experience, as we had to contend with raids by Stuka dive bombers, and mine fields where eternal rough seas had broken them loose from their moorings. We lived on the edge, never knowing if we were about to be strafed by dive bombers, blown up by loose mines or rammed by a following ship in the convoy.
... One of our many voyages was ‘The Voyage to Hell,’ to Murmansk in North Russia, which started in January 1942. It ended with the SS Harpalion being badly damaged by bombing and sunk in April 1942, approximately 120 miles off the North Cape in Norway.
After obtaining permission to attend nautical college, I passed my exams as a deck officer. My second trip to Murmansk was as a third officer on the convoy rescue ship Zamalek. She had the honor of having saved the lives of more than 600 seamen, and Captain Morris was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.′
On March 25, native Scot and 95-year-old Sarasota retiree George Lindsay Graydon received a great honor for his bravery during World War II: The Russian Arctic Convoy tartan. This commemorative cloth (which cannot be woven or sold without permission from the Russian Consulate General in Edinburgh, Scotland) was unveiled at the Thistle Ball of the Caledonian Club of Florida West at Palm Aire Country Club. Graydon is also the recipient of the prestigious Ushakov Medal, which was given to 20 surviving British Merchant Navy veterans who served on supply/rescue ships to bring food and weapons to war-torn Russia. His book, “Peril at Sea, The Life of George Graydon” (The Peppertree Press, 2015), is available via Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
’I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1921. We, in the United Kingdom, were suffering from the 1929 depression and it was very difficult to get a job. I was hammering copper strips onto steel benches before I went on board a ship. I joined the British Merchant Navy in 1936 at age 15. By 1946, I was a chief officer.
I sailed on cargo ships that carried supplies from Portugal, Spain, Amsterdam and Germany to the United Kingdom until the early part of World War II. After that, I transferred to ocean-going ships and went to Singapore, New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania, Seattle, Vancouver Island, Nova Scotia, New York, the Faroe Islands, Cuba, Jamaica, Iceland and Russia in the Arctic Ocean.
During the war, cargo ships were in convoy, accompanied by Royal Navy escorts. They suffered devastating attacks by wolfpacks of German submarines, heavy bombing raids by Stukas and multi-engine bombers, and exploding mines. On one occasion, my ship was under such heavy attack that the crew had to abandon ship and take to lifeboats in the Arctic Ocean.
’I went to sea as a deck boy in June 1936 on the east coast of the United Kingdom, then changed to a ship that was trading from London to the European continent (France, Portugal, Holland and Germany). When war broke out, we traded mainly with Amsterdam.
Motoring up the London River during the heavy German bombing raids was a dreadful nightmare. Trading up and down the east coast of the United Kingdom was a horrendous experience, as we had to contend with raids by Stuka dive bombers, and mine fields where eternal rough seas had broken them loose from their moorings. We lived on the edge, never knowing if we were about to be strafed by dive bombers, blown up by loose mines or rammed by a following ship in the convoy.
... One of our many voyages was ‘The Voyage to Hell,’ to Murmansk in North Russia, which started in January 1942. It ended with the SS Harpalion being badly damaged by bombing and sunk in April 1942, approximately 120 miles off the North Cape in Norway.
After obtaining permission to attend nautical college, I passed my exams as a deck officer. My second trip to Murmansk was as a third officer on the convoy rescue ship Zamalek. She had the honor of having saved the lives of more than 600 seamen, and Captain Morris was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.′