Burnham-On-Sea pensioner Tony Winterburn, who was one of the last survivors of a dangerous expedition to transport aid to Russia during the Second World War, is to appear in a TV documentary about his role this week.
Tony, 86, from Brue Crescent, will appear on the history TV channel Yesterday on Thursday (February 16th) at 10pm.
He will appear in an episode of Arctic Convoys to mark the 70th anniversary of the first convoys to leave for Russia.
Tony served in the convoys in 1943 when he was aged just seventeen. He received an Arctic Star from the government in 2006 to recognise his bravery, as we featured here, and in 2007 he received a Burnham and Highbridge Civic Award, as we covered here.
He told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “As a 17 year-old I was one of the youngest crewmembers, but at that age you don’t understand the risks.”
“It was all an adventure for me. I appreciate that I was fortunate not have been hurt at all.”
“Our ship got to Murmansk in one piece but came under attack in an inlet. We came under and had to abandon the ship and take to the lifeboats, but fortunately I escaped injury.”
Tony added: “I am honoured to be appearing in this week’s programme and will be interested to see the finish programme on Thursday.”
Arctic Convoys is featuring the courageous stories of the Allied seamen who risked death against the German U-boats and Luftwaffe on a mission to provide supplies to a beleaguered Soviet army during WWII.
