The Arctic Star

Later this year will see the 100th anniversary of my father's birth.  he was determined to follow his father's example and go to sea.  Although once rejected by the Royal Navy, he re-applied after a couple of years and was accepted.  His 22 years of service took him to most other parts of the world and, during the 1939-45 war he earned the Atlantic Star, the Africa Star and the Pacific Star for service in those theatres.

Although he was not involved (as far as I am aware) in any of the Russian convoys, he did serve in the Arctic and was on HMS Sheffield during the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck.  It was only towards the end of 2012 that the Government announced the inauguration of a new award for personnel who served in the Arctic during the Second World War, almost 70 years after the end of the war and long after many of those eligible for the award had died - my father included.  Nonetheless, as his surviving next of kin (my mother had also died by then) I applied for the medal on his behalf.

It arrived yesterday, 23 years and nearly one month after his death.