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The Arctic Convoy Museum is in northwest
Scotland, 76 miles northwest of Inverness, 31
miles west of Corrieshalloch Gorge by the very
small village of Poolewe.
The Museum is open - April to October 10am -
4pm, Mon to Sat with a small entrance fee. Tel:
01445 731 137 . Postcode: IV22 2HZ.
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The Image top right is of the Museum from
the Car Park.
There is a Gift Shop at the entrance, then
there are many displays with information on the
Arctic Convoys that gathered here at Loch Ewe
during World Way Two 1939 - 1945.
There is also a guide that gives information
on the convoys.
The Convoys, up to 100 ships at a time,
cargo and warship escorts, departed Loch Ewe
from February 1942, went around German occupied
Norway, then on to the Soviet Union ports of
Mumansk and Archangel.
The Convoys carried aircraft, ammunition,
fuel, food, medicine, tanks, and trucks.
1939 - the Soviet Union signed a
nonaggression pact with Germany.
1941 June - German forces invaded the Soviet
Union in a huge surprise offensive named
Operation Barbarossa.
The Germans wanted to take the vast
agriculture lands and oil of the Soviet Union
to help run their war machine, expecting to
have conquered the Soviet Union in 10
weeks.
1941 December - the German forces had failed
to take over the Soviet Union, with around
200,000 killed, then the Soviets began a long
campaign to fight their way west to Berlin.
The Arctic Convoys were to help the Soviet
Union defeat Germany from the east, making it
easier for the UK and US to defeat Germany from
the west.
1945 May - Germany surrendered to the
Soviets and the western Allies in Berlin.
German Aircraft and Submarines sunk about 85
merchant ships and 16 warships on the Arctic
Convoys, with about 3,000 Allied seamen
killed.
The Soviet Union lost about 9 million
soldiers during the War, the western Allies
lost about 400,000 soldiers.
About 5 million German soldiers were lost
during the War.
Without the Soviet Union and the Arctic
Convoys, Germany would have been almost
impossible to defeated from the west.
There were about 3,000 servicemen and women
based at Loch Ewe during the war, mainly at the
villages of Poolewe and Gairloch, for
administration, and to protect the area from
aircraft and submarine attacks, also for
potential German land invasions.
There are Museums in Poolewe and Gairloch
that give more information on the effect on
those villages.
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