The International Center participated in the celebrations in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Northern Convoys

Events in honor of the 80th anniversary of the first convoy "Dervish" were held on September 2, 2021 by the Arctic Convoys Monument, located in front of the College of Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping.

The solemn meeting and the ceremony of laying flowers in front of the Arctic Convoys Monument took place with the participation of representatives of the St. Petersburg Administration and Committees, members of public and veteran organizations, educational institutions of the city, as well as relatives of veterans of the Northern Convoys. The honorary guests of the event were the Northern Convoys veterans - Mir Nigmatullin and Taras Goncharenko, the latter addressed the guests of the event with welcoming speech and shared his memories of participating in this outstanding operation of the Great Patriotic War.

After the laying of flowers, the guests of the event were invited the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the Northern Convoys. The exhibition was organized by the Northern Convoys International Centre at the College of Admiral Makarov State University. The ceremony of cutting the ribbon was attended by the State Duma MP Mikhail Romanov, Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Oleg Ergashev, Rector of Admiral Makarov State University Sergey Baryshnikov, as well as the son of a Northern Convoys veteran. The veteran's son, Viktor Patrushev, donated a model of destroyer Deyatelny, the Northern Convoys escort ship, to the funds of the future Memorial Museum of the Northern Convoys History.

The exhibition was organized by the Northern Convoys International Centre in cooperation with Admiral Makarov State University. At the exhibition were shown personal belongings of veterans of the convoys from Russia, Great Britain, the USA, documents, items related to the Northern convoys of 1941-1945. For the first time the public was shown the unique diary of the Northern convoys veteran Ivan Bobrov, donated to the museum by his family. The veteran kept a diary during his participation in the convoys PQ-8, PQ-9, PQ-15, PQ-16 on the steamer "Revolutsioner". The excursion for the guests of the exhibition was personally led by the director of the International Centre Vladimir Solomonov.

As part of the exhibition a collection of ribbons for caps was demonstrated, including those from military ships of the USSR that escorted the Northern convoys. The collection of ribbons was presented by the captain 2nd rank of the reserve Sergey Ladanov.

The bilingual information board "Heroes of the Northern Convoys" was displayed. The information board tells about the Northern Convoys participants from Russia, Great Britain, the USA and Ireland - Platon I. Patrushev, Charles Brodie, Whitson Lloyd and Peter Kavanagh. In addition to biographical information about veterans, their participation in convoys, awards and life in the post-war period, the stand tells about the ships on which the heroes participated in the Northern convoys. This stand was the result of the joint work of the International Centre with representatives of public organizations and families of veterans from abroad. Financial assistance for printing the information board was provided by the company MOBY SPL - a European ferry operator.

The events were held as part of the plan approved by the Governor of St. Petersburg of the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the first Allied convoy "Dervish" to the Soviet Union.

Photos courtesy of Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping, St. Petersburg Committee on Arctic Affairs.