I made the Murmansk run in Dec. of 1944. It was brutally cold, and the waves were so high all our guns were covered with ice. We had to thaw them every day to be ready for an attack by the German's. In Murmansk itself it was very desolate. All the Men were fighting on the front in Stalingrad and the Women did all the work at the Docks, unloading ships etc: There was one large Bldg. with a Soup Kitchen and these people would get one bowl of soup a day, there were no food supplies to make a meal at home. We were not allowed to give these women any of our food, and they could often be seen taking food we had throwen in the Garbage cans. There was one center in town for the Sailers where liquor was served, Vodka with Tea or water for a wash. Dances were held certain nights of the week but we could not dance with the Russian Women. We were attacked by German UBoats and Torpedo Bombers on our trip up and it was in the most Northern part of the trip just before we entered the river that went to Murmansk. Very scarey and we lost some English Airplanes and men. but no ship was sunk. I admired the strength and attitude of these women doing all the work.