WW2 100 - 17 January 1942 - A casualty of the Arctic Convoys: Petty Officer Sidney Gerald Hayward, Royal Navy, HMS Matabele (1919-42)
Continued from 19 Dec 1941 Sacrificed for the sake of Enigma? ABLE SEAMAN FRANKLIN BRISTOW (1913-41) https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2020/12/ww2-75-19-december-1941-sacrificed-for.html In May 2013, Sidney Hayward’s niece Maria Hatt applied for the Arctic Star on behalf of her uncle, having heard about a new medal which was being issued posthumously for those who had lost their lives during WW2 in the Arctic Convoys. Well over a year later, she received the medal. She researched Sidney’s story, and presented a copy of her work to Fairlynch Museum. What follows is largely based on Maria’s research It was, wrote British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in his book The Second World War, ‘the worst journey in the world’. Two years into the Second World War, the Soviet Union was under enormous pressure and in need of supplies. When Germany invaded on 22 June 1941, the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, asked for help ...