Revealing the "Ice Sea Route" of World War II: Allies supported the Soviet Union through the North Sea.

Although the battle for the Arctic has become increasingly fierce, looking back at history, the Arctic was once an important stage for close cooperation among major powers. One of the most typical cases is the "ice sea route" opened by the allied forces in the Arctic during World War II.

1941June After the German army invaded the Soviet Union on a large scale, then British Prime Minister Churchill immediately announced his support for the Soviet Red Army in fighting fascist aggression. The British Navy named the cargo escort fleet of China Eastern Airlines departing from Iceland PQ Fleet, and the air fleet returning from the Soviet Union to the west QP Fleet (after September 1942, the code names were changed to JW and RA respectively). After the "Pearl Harbor Incident" in February of the same year, the United States also began to assist the Soviet Union.

At that time, there were three routes to transport war materials to the Soviet Union: railways passing through the Persian Gulf and Iran; North Pacific route through Tsugaru Strait and Zonggu Strait in Japan; Arctic route. During the period of 194 1- 1943, the traffic volume of the first two lines was limited due to political and geographical conditions. The Arctic route has become the "artery" for the West to transport goods to the Soviet Union.

The Arctic route starts from Iceland and ends in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk of the Soviet Union. Murmansk is near, it is an all-year-round ice-free port, but it is vulnerable to the threat of the German navy and air force stationed in northern Norway; The Arkhangelsk route is about 2200 nautical miles long. It's a little safer, but it's frozen for half a year. Sailing in the daunting ice and snow is full of hardships, and the blockade of German planes, surface ships and submarines makes the route even more gruesome-100 More than 3,000 naval officers and crew members died. Churchill once called this route "the worst journey in the world".

Despite this, the western allies still transported a lot of arms and other materials to the Soviet Union through this route, which made great contributions to the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War. By the end of 194 1, seven British fleets had successfully transported 750 tanks, 800 fighter planes, 1400 trucks and 65,438+10,000 tons of ammunition, which gave great support to the Soviet Red Army struggling in Moscow and Leningrad. At the critical juncture of the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Caucasus Oilfield, the British and American fleets familiar with anti-submarine tactics in the Atlantic naval battle broke through the blockade of German submarines in time and shipped a large number of weapons and ammunition through the Arctic route.

According to statistics, the allied fleet transported 12755 tanks, 22200 planes, 375800 trucks, 4 million tons of ammunition and other materials to the Soviet Union in four years, accounting for more than 1/4 of the allied aid materials to the Soviet Union. The allied fleet * * * arrived at the Soviet Arctic port 4 1 time and returned 36 times; When the last fleet "RA-67" returned to Iceland, the flags of the Soviet Red Army and the Western Allied Forces were already flying over Berlin, the last bastion of German fascism.

After the end of World War II, every ten years, the Soviet Union and Russia will also award commemorative medals to the Soviet Union and allied officers and men who participated in the escort mission, and relevant people also set up the Arctic escort club. However, due to the changes in international relations, the surviving servicemen of Britain who participated in the Arctic escort fleet have not been praised for a long time, and the British Foreign Office even banned them from wearing medals awarded by Russia to participate in the World War II commemoration celebrations. Until June of 20 13, with the relaxation of Russian-British relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron awarded the ushakov Medal and Polaris Medal to 20 veterans who participated in the Arctic escort in London. After the Ukrainian crisis, relations between the two countries deteriorated again. On May 9 last year, Russia held a military parade in Red Square to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War. Three British veterans wearing medals on their chests and white berets of the Arctic escort fleet were invited to "replace" Cameron and sit next to Puddin. This "high-standard" treatment is also a clever "counterattack" against "humiliating" Britain.