Monday 1st July 2013 +3hr BST Archangel (Arkhangelsk) Russia: The Durham Light Infantry Connection

After making our way through the ‘snow’ we had a short panoramic tour of the city, which has a great deal more of interest to see than Murmansk.  The local authorities are undertaking renovation work on some of the more notable buildings and constructing a new Orthodox Cathedral. The first photo is of ‘The Monument to Defenders of the Soviet Union’ and the second is of a Seal Sculpture on the shoreline opposite this monument.  Archangel was the point of departure for many polar research expeditions in the 18^th & 19^th Centuries.  Sorry I’m not quite sure if this seal sculpture is related to these expeditions but it makes for a good photo.

Our last visit this afternoon was to the World War II cemetery, which as the photo shows is “In memory of the 191 officers and men of the North Russian Expeditionary Force’ who helped to defend, as I have explained elsewhere in he Blog, this part of Russia against German invasion.  It was in this cemetery that I found a number of tombstones commemorating men from the Durham Light Infantry who fought and fell as part of this Expeditionary Force.  Some of you will know that I taught at the University of Durham in the 1980s and visited the magnificent DLI Museum, which depicts the horrors of both World Wars and records the bravery of its soldiers who have been awarded a number of VCs.

This cemetery was also a primary reason for many fellow guests taking this cruise to pay their respects to relatives who had fought in this campaign.  The roses shown on the central Monument were laid by a lady on my table, who’s Father had fought in Archangel.

So ended an interesting day in Archangel, a city full of optimism, which is trying to overcome economic adversity and the ghosts of the Soviet Era.  I think the Captain was rather relieved to slip our moorings and make way down the Dvina River to the White Sea, bound for Bergen our last port of call in 5 days time.  If the Russian Immigration Authorities could just try to match the warm and friendly welcome of the guides and people that we met then Archangel will become an interesting and rewarding cruise destination.