ARCTIC CONVOYS

ARCTIC CONVOYS 
by David Kenyon.


David Kenyon is the research historian at Bletchley Park. This book came about as a result of his research carried out for a planned exhibition planned for Bletchley. 

The book provides a fascinating insight into the years preceding second world war & how little thought was given to gathering 
naval intelligence. With virtually no staff working on the matter, there can be no wonder as to why German naval signals went unbroken for twenty years.
As war became inevitable, we learn how the priorities quickly changed & how the story of Bletchley Park itself, began.
One interesting arrival at this time was that of the British film actor Frank Birch. In the next six years he would go on to become Head of Naval Section.

How the Enigma machine worked. How it was used & how the Allies went about trying to decrypt & translate the messages, isn't an easy subject to grasp. Thankfully David does an excellent job of explaining it all in a way that certainly helped keep this reader onboard. 

As we know, Bletchley expanded into a huge network of huts with hundreds of people carrying out many different tasks.
It is estimated that by the war's end, the staff of naval section had handled over two million messages!

The book's main focus is the Artic convoys & we are provided with a comprehensive account of the different convoys that sailed to and from Russia. Revealed is how both the German intelligence worked in trying to locate & then attack the convoys & how Bletchley attempted to decrypt the German messages quickly enough, so as to alert the Admiralty & consequently the convoys.
The most surprising fact to learn was that it was the German torpedo bombers & not the U-boats, that inflicted the most losses.
The author's conclusions also make for interesting reading. While many at the time & since, thought the convoys to Russia should have stopped due to the losses. The figures reveal that over 90% of the goods sent, arrived safely.
No pun intended, but this book certainly blows a few myths out of the water.
 
This book has provided an enlightening read, revealing many details that earlier books would have no doubt benefited from.
The front cover has the quote, 'an essential addition to any World War II library'. This sums up my own thoughts perfectly.  

The hardback version on this book is available now, published by Yale University Press, who I thank for this review copy.

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