{"id":6134,"date":"2017-12-02T15:35:53","date_gmt":"2017-12-02T15:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.camruss.com\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=6134"},"modified":"2017-12-15T09:46:31","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T09:46:31","slug":"arctic-convoys-in-cambridge","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/events\/arctic-convoys-in-cambridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic Convoys weekend in Cambridge Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Memorial Evening of James (Jimmy) Pitts and the Club of Arctic Convoys<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are delighted to welcome a group of Arctic Convoy veterans from all over the UK and even two from Canada, who are now over 90 years old and have many fascinating stories to tell.<\/p>\n

Diana Pitts, Jimmy\u2019s widow, will talk about her late husband\u2019s journeys to Russia and wartime experience. She used to be the Secretary of the Arctic Convoy Club for the last four years, before its closure earlier in 2017, after Jimmy\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

About Jimmy Pitts:<\/u><\/strong> Over 75 years ago, on the day before his 18th birthday, Jimmy walked into a recruiting office and signed on as a Telegraphist Air-Gunner in the Fleet Air Arm\u2026 He survived three plane crashes, lost his best friend in a tragic wartime accident and fought the Nazis in the skies over the Norwegian fjords. Then Jimmy was sent on what Winston Churchill described as the \u201cworst journey in the world\u201d<\/em> \u2013 through the unforgiving Arctic waters on the Russian Convoys. These convoys delivering vital supplies to the Soviet Union were relentlessly attacked by U-boats and planes, causing immense loss of life, and Jimmy took part in the final sea battle of the Second World War.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jimmy Pitts wrote an incredible book about his war experience: \u201cTo Russia \u2026 and Back: An Ordinary Man’s Extraordinary Journey\u201d<\/strong>. With self-depreciation, modesty and humour, it gives a fascinating account of how a naive young man faced up to extraordinary circumstances beyond the comprehension of most people at a pivotal time in the world’s history. In recent years, Jimmy, at the age of 89, returned to Russia to carry the Olympic Flame for the Sochi Winter Olympics and to present the Arctic Star Medal that he had campaigned for to a major war museum in Moscow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.\u201d
\n<\/em>– Winston Churchill<\/p>\n

Read more about the book here: https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Russia-Back-Ordinary-Extraordinary-Journey-ebook\/dp\/B00X2GXVPA<\/a> )<\/p>\n

Language: English<\/strong><\/p>\n

Entrance: Free<\/strong><\/p>\n

Followed by a wine reception<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We are delighted to welcome a group of Arctic Convoy veterans from all over the UK and even two from Canada, who are now over 90 years old and have many fascinating stories to tell. In English Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[],"class_list":["post-6134","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/6134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/6134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6134"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camruss.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=6134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}