Courage in a crucial convoy

Author John McKay is already known to these review pages, having in 2021 published Surviving the Arctic Convoys, the story of convoy veteran Charlie Erswell, who shared his still-vivid memories with McKay towards the end of his long life.

Inspired by Erswell to find out more about the British supply missions to northern Russia, the author has now brought his focus to one particular convoy – PQ18 – which he describes as 'one of the most dangerous voyages for any mariner in any area of operations during the Second World War'.

Convoy PQ18 followed the disastrous PQ17, in which intelligence failures and other mistakes in command had led to a rout by the Germans. This made the next convoy especially difficult, argues McKay: 'Under constant attack from the air, U-boat wolf-packs and extreme weather, the twenty-five days it took to escort PQ18 to Archangelsk and the returning QP14 back to Iceland became the most important of the whole Arctic theatre.'

It's a powerful story, and the author tells it well in Arctic Convoy PQ18, a thoroughly-researched book that gives full credit to the Merchant Navy vessels and seafarers in the convoys.

Arctic Convoy PQ18: 25 Days That Changed the Course of the War
By John McKay
Pen & Sword, £22
ISBN: 978 13990 36603