The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tayside veteran is given Russia’s highest honour
Former sailor to receive medal for role on Arctic Convoys in Second World War
A Tayside veteran is to be given Russia’s highest military honour.
Edwin Leadbetter, 94, is to receive the Admiral Ushakov Medal from the Russian government for his work on the Arctic Convoys in the Second World War.
After joining the Royal Navy at 18, Mr Leadbetter was tasked with helping to defend the shipment of supplies and troops to the Russian military in the freezing Arctic Ocean as a quartermaster.
His daughter Elizabeth McKenna wrote to President Vladimir Putin from her home in Dundee in her quest to get the honour bestowed upon her dad.
She said: “This is the best award you can get from the Russians.
“They closed the door on anyone getting the Admiral Ushakov Medal in 2013, but we spoke with the Russian Consulate in Edinburgh and they decided to open it up for us.
“The letter came out of the blue to say it is on its way.”
Elizabeth says her dad, who suffers from Alzheimer’s and until recently had lived all his days in Perth, had managed to pick up a number of military honours in the past few years, including the Arctic Star and the Great Patriotic War Medal.
She continued: “We have met with the Russians many times over the last three years and they have been very good to us. They treat my dad like a king.
“We were even due to go to Russia in May to be in Red Square on Victory Day, but that had to be cancelled.
“It has been a long time coming – I wrote to Vladimir Putin at one stage explaining my dad’s condition and said if we delay any longer he will lose his memories and it will mean nothing to him, so it was pushed forward.
“Dad is over the moon, he can’t quite take it in that he is finally getting this medal.”
Previously, Mr Leadbetter recalled his time in the military and said: “We were always on the defence, protecting the convoys.
“At times I, along with many other crew members, had to be out on the deck of the ship in freezing cold weather.
“It was thick ice and you could barely stand on it. We had to keep the decks clear for the planes to take off and land.
“At times aircraft would crash land on to the deck or flip over – the conditions were treacherous.
“We slept in all our clothes because it was too cold to take anything off. You’d literally freeze. Those were some days.”
Following on from his time in the Arctic, dad-of-seven Mr Leadbetter also served in Australia, Ceylon, Burma and South Africa.
He will be presented with the medal once lockdown eases.