Isle of Wight – October

JamesBranch News

October

The 24 October Meeting welcomed back the grand old gentleman and Arctic Convoy Veteran, Alec Penstone. Alec joined up as a 20 year old in 1943 and drafted to a WW1 submarine which was past its best. He survived 10 and a half Arctic convoys  on the sub and later HMS Campania. A bad scene he witnessed at Murmansk when the troopships Empress of Australia and Scythia disembarked Russian PoWs. Following this he was posted to the Pacific theatre on HMS Amethyst, He did not continue his narrative as the Asian experience was too painful. Alec will be 100 next April and he was looking forward to receiving a telegram/card from the King. And so were we.