The Arctic Convoys

Regardless what Soviet leader Stalin believed (or admitted to), the Soviet Union did in fact receive tons of supplies and armaments from the Allied powers. The German invasion of the Soviet Union through Operation Barbarossa forced the Russians into a precarious position, for they were ill-prepared for the might of the German Army. As such, supplies from America and Britain flooded in to help sustain the Red Giant until help could be brought to bear.

The shipping lanes in the Arctic, from Iceland to Russia, provided the promise of hope but it was not without its dangers. Not only were the natural elements quite unforgiving in this part of the world - temperatures constantly below freezing, months of pure daylight with months of pure darkness - but the German foothold in both Norway and Finland provided the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe with many-a-base from which to operate from.

The Brits took their chances, however, as not even they could stand to see the Russians fall. Convoy upon convoy began their journeys in the West under the protection of the Royal Navy - a force already spread thin and committed along other fronts - ultimately to arrive at Russian docks. Despite the Royal Navy presence, air- and sea-based attacks became a common practice as German battleships, destroyers and other surface vessels along with U-Boat submarines and German Luftwaffe torpedo bombers all shellacked the convoys.

Better tactics, improved Royal Navy protection and a faltering German defense in Europe ultimately allowed these convoys to survive and, more importantly, allowed the Russians to continue to save their country from within thanks to these much-needed supplies. In the action, many-an-unsung hero emerged in this mostly forgotten part of the war. The Germans lost the important battleship KMS Scharnhorst in the process, making for one helluva "all in a days work" assessment of the works of the British Royal Navy.

These convoys supplied the Soviet Union throughout the war years with the last convoy arriving in Russia just days after the official German surrender.