1914
Ken Veitch reflects on the follies of war
A television documentary screened earlier this year told the story of the ill-fated convoy PQ 17 carrying tanks, planes and ammunition from Iceland to Russia. The protective naval escort having been withdrawn to deal with possible attack by German warships, the convoy was attacked for five days by aircraft and submarines. Only a handful of the forty or so ships reached port. The full horror of this event hit home to me in reports of the screams of a sixteen-year-old cabin boy who was trapped as his torpedoed ship began to sink. War is hell, and very personal.
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