Veterans of the Second World War Arctic convoys gathered yesterday to pay tribute to the thousands who perished on the treacherous trips to Russia.

Loch Ewe, in Wester Ross, was the port from which merchant ships departed carrying supplies to Archangel in Murmansk and the Kola Inlet between 1942 and 1944. Many vessels were lost in attacks from German aircraft and U-boats. Winston Churchill called the Russian run “the worst journey in the world”.

Jock Dempster, 80, one of the veterans who make the annual visit to the Highland sea loch to remember their comrades, said that 2,800 men died on the convoys, which were vital to the Russian war effort. He believes the Remembrance Day march in London in November could be the final time the convoy veterans march together. Like other Second World War veteran groups, the numbers who served on the British, American and Canadian merchant ships and their navy escorts have dwindled.

Mr Dempster, far right in the picture, of Lothian, is the youngest of the Scottish survivors, whose average age is 86. He said: “Over the last six years 60 to 70 veterans from all over the UK marched at the Cenotaph. Last year there were 13. I don't think we will march again after this year. That's my gut feeling.”

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