A SECOND World War veteran from Kenley has finally been recognised for his wartime ordeals in the Arctic Convoy – after a 70-year wait.
David Pigott, who is approaching his 90th birthday, was honoured for his incredible bravery delivering life-saving supplies from Iceland to Russia over four months in 1942.
Mr Pigott has had to wait until this year to receive the Arctic Star medal after years of campaigning, supported by his local MP Richard Ottaway, for recognition of the Arctic Convoy's achievement. He is now one of only 200 survivors.
Despite the 70 years since his wartime voyage, the memories are very raw for Mr Pigott, who was drafted into the convoy without any choice.
"I can remember my 19th birthday so clearly. We were ashore on the Dvina River and it was minus 40 degrees. It turned midnight and one of my friends turned to me and said 'Happy birthday!'. But really it was just another day," he recalled.
The Church Road resident also remembers the terrible 80ft waves that the ships had to navigate.
He said: "I was almost more scared of them than I was of the air raids. But they were also terrible and the losses were considerable."
Once the convoy had landed in Arkhangelsk, the sailors even played a game of rugby on the hard-packed ice against soldiers in the Siberian army.
Mr Pigott was upset that the UK Government had prevented British nationals from receiving Russia's own version of the Arctic Star – the medal of Ushakov.
But last weekend, the Foreign Office lifted the restriction in time for President Putin of Russia's visit to London, during which he presented the medals to several veterans.
"It's very important to me to finally receive the medal," Mr Pigott said. "I have quite a few but there was nothing like the Arctic Convoy.
"We left with a terrible foreboding – the convoy before us, PQ 17, was one of the worst disasters of the war where 24 of the 35 merchant ships sunk."
Mr Pigott has a strong attachment to Russia after his war experiences and revisited Murmansk in 2004 for a 60th anniversary.
He said: "It was very moving. The locals treated us as returning heroes and would often stop us in the street to say we were responsible for saving their lives.
"We had a service at the memorial there called The Defender of the North. We sang Abide With Me and there were a lot of tears."
About 1,400 merchant ships made the Arctic voyage during the war, delivering more than 40 million tons of supplies More than 3,000 sailors died – 85 merchant vessels and 16 warships were sunk.
Mr Pigott sailed on HMS Bluebell, which was torpedoed in 1945 and sunk with only one survivor.
