Care of World War II convoy casualties in the Kola area of North Russia. Part 1 – Initial arrangements

• Published in: Journal of The Royal Naval Medical Service
• Main Author: McMillan, G. H. G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMJ 1995
• Subjects: General Medicine; Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jrnms-81-221; https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1136/jrnms-81-221

Abstract During much of World War II, the Allied Arctic Convoy Route to North Russia was a vital lifeline to sustain the Russian contribution to the defeat of Germany. Initial convoys were unopposed by enemy forces but it was not long before these joined the fearful elemental forces of the northern seas to reap a rich harvest of war material and human life. Survivors who reached North Russia frequently required skilled hospital care but, sadly, this was not available to any in the initial year or so of the operation. Conditions in host country hospitals are described in this part of the paper. The contribution of the Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital which was eventually established in the autumn of 1942 under the charge of Temporary Surgeon Lieutenant Commander James Murray McEwan RNVR will be described in Part 2 of this paper which is to be published in the Spring 1996 issue.