Surviving the Arctic Convoys

by John R. McKay

First published 2021

Amazon

4.4(70)

Surviving the Arctic Convoys records the wartime experiences of Royal Navy veteran Charlie Erswell, born in 1923 and enlisted in December 1941. Serving aboard HMS Milne and HMS Savage, Erswell sailed on Arctic escort missions in which crews faced U-boats, Luftwaffe attack, surface-raider threats and extreme cold while protecting merchant ships carrying supplies to Murmansk and Archangel.

The memoir also places Erswell’s convoy service within a broader naval war that included Operation Torch, D-Day and the liberation of Norway. John R. McKay shaped the book from Erswell’s records, memories and interviews, presenting the story as first-hand testimony and a tribute to the sailors who did not return. It is nonfiction and should be read as a veteran memoir rather than a historical novel.