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My father Noel Wildsmith joined his first ship the K554 HMS Redmill in 1943 aged 18. Redmill was a Captain Class Frigate, one of 78 US-built Destroyer Escorts, built for the Royal Navy under ‘lease-lend’, before they were re-designated as Frigates. The Captain Class ships were ordered for one purpose, to act as escorts for the convoys to Russia, known as ‘the worst journey in the World’. In June 1941 Hitler had attacked the Soviet Union and opened a massive second Nazi front. Operation Barbarossa, as it was known, was the largest ever invasion in the history of warfare and the casualty figures were beyond imagination. The fact that we hear so little about it is because Hollywood doesn’t make many movies about this monumental conflict. The battles raged over the next four years with each side unable to break the other due to the sheer logistics of war over such a vast area and both sides were caught in a stalemate where the best that could be hoped for was survival. The Germans had driven the Soviet Red Army to near collapse after several brutal sieges and the supplies of food and munitions were all but gone, unless a supply line could be opened to the Soviets, then the Eastern Front would fall to Hitler and the consequences for the Allies would be dire as the remains of his eastern army could turn west to join the fight. What followed was a truly remarkable Allied operation to supply the Soviet people by sea. But they had to run the gauntlet of the U-boat Wolf packs that patrolled with the sole intention of stopping the supplies getting through. Many hundreds of convoys left Britain to take the most dangerous journey imaginable in mountainous icy waters with the constant unseen menace beneath them. Each of these convoys was a sea battle in its own right and the selfless stoic seamen who took part from many nations were some of the greatest unsung heroes of the war. My Fathers ship belonged to the 21st Escort Group which comprised of six ships, HMS Conn, HMS Deane, HMS Fitzroy, HMS Rupert, HMS Byron and HMS Redmill. These six would largely operate together and link up with other Escort groups as needed depending on the size of the convoy. The 21st E/G held the dubious distinction of sailing into Belfast in front of the Admiral to a reception to celebrate sinking four U-boats with all six ships line astern and flying the ‘Jolly Roger’, a practice frowned upon within His Majesties Navy. On October 20 1944 the 21st Escort Group was joined by other Escorts totalling 28 warships in Loch Ewe on the Clyde to take Convoy JW61 to Murmansk, the Merchant vessels numbered 34 and was codenamed ‘Trial’. It is not known if this was a special convoy but it was very heavily defended, as amongst the 28 escort ships were three aircraft carriers and the Cruiser HMS Dido, it is this air cover and the excellent work of the submarine-hunting ships of the 21st and other E/G’s that led to Convoy JW61 arriving in Murmansk on October 28 without the loss of a single ship, this despite being met as they rounded the top of Norway by the wolf pack ‘Panther’. REMEMBERING THE Lincoln no.1 branch secretary Ade Wildsmith tells the story of his father’s role in supplying the Soviet Union during World War Two RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2013 :: RMTnews 20 Noel Wildsmith aged 17 The HMS Redmill in 1943