" SIR - Now that the Government has recognised the bravery of the servicemen who served in the Arctic convoys with the award of the Arctic Star, will it not put the icing on the cake for the few survivors by relaxing its ban on the award of the Russian convoy (or Ushakov) medal?
This has been offered by the Russian government and accepted by Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and American veterans of this theatre of war, but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will not permit it for quite spurious reasons.
Andrew Mortimer
Watford, Hertfordshire
SIR - As the daughter of a Pathfinder Wing Commander on Lancaster bombers during the war, I stood with some pride this week at the magnificent memorial to Bomber Command in Piccadilly, financed by private subscription.
Then I saw how the Government had decided to recognise the air crews: no medal, just a clasp. I wonder whether it's even worth bothering to claim for something that looks as if it was designed in a school competition. The injustice persists.
Jacqueline Moger
East Preston, West Sussex
SIR - In the summer of 1942, aged 14, I joined the Merchant Service. By the time I was 16, I'd taken part in two invasions and been involved in four convoy battles, including a Mediterranean Luftwaffe engagement resulting in the loss of more than 1,000 lives.
In remembrance, during the first week in May, Battle of the Atlantic Week, and the first week in September, Merchant Navy Week, I always run up the Red Ensign on my property.
George Simpson
Clifton, West Yorkshire
SIR - No wonder our defence procurement procedures are in such a parlous state if a simple decision to award a well-deserved medal has taken the Ministry of Defence nearly 75 years. I take it that over the years none of the officials struggling to come to a decision ever faced the Arctic storms or flew in a bomber over Germany.
Alan Radlett
Pinner, Middlesex
SIR - My father-in-law served in the Royal Navy on four Arctic convoys. Sadly he died last month, aged 90. I hope that the Royal and Merchant Navies can mobilise their resources quickly to distribute the Arctic Star medal to the 200 surviving veterans.
Charles Coulson
Quarrington, Lincolnshire
SIR - Sometimes I wonder at just how stingy we can be as a nation. We national servicemen who were enlisted at 18 years of age for 4 shillings per day are left to buy our own memento of that service to wear on Remembrance Sunday.
Philip L Owens
Tring, Hertfordshire "
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9898510/The-Arctic-Star-is-not-the-only-medal-that-has-been-disgracefully-delayed.htmlIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
