Jock Dempster - Telegraph As a prime target, the San Venancio was ordered to "run for it," and Dempster recalled the ship trembling as the engines went full throttle in an effort to escape. At the same time, the sloop Lapwing, well off to starboard, was torpedoed. The bow shot up in the air then sank in minutes, the stern went down 10 to 15 minutes later. The stench of burning metal, the screeching as it was torn apart, the screams of the wounded, filled the air. Words cannot describe the havoc of the emotions which racked my mind. As his ship steamed to safety, Dempster recalled watching helplessly as men clinging desperately to lifeboats and rafts succumbed to the cold and slipped back into the sea; 158 seamen were lost out of a complement of 229. On Dempster's second trip six weeks later, on convoy RA66, the frigate Goodall was torpedoed at the entrance to Kola Inlet and again there was heavy loss of life. The convoy returned to the Clyde on V-E Day, May 8 1945. After the war British veterans of the Arctic convoys felt more appreciated in Russia than at home. Every 10 years a Russian commemorative medal was struck for veterans of the conflict, including foreign veterans of the Arctic convoys. But in Britain not only were they not awarded a special medal, but veterans were also forbidden from wearing their Russian medals at the annual Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph. Instead, those who served in the Arctic were included in the Atlantic Star, a medal created for a separate campaign, and a six-month qualification period meant that many Arctic veterans could not receive it. The veterans waited until the Cold War was over before making their feelings known. Then, in 1997, they launched a campaign in which Dempster, as chairman of the Scottish-Russian Arctic Convoy Club, played a leading role. Though the campaign gained enormous backing from the public and from MPs, it bore full fruit only earlier this year when the Ministry of Defence announced the award of a new medal, the Arctic Star, to those who had served on what Winston Churchill called "the worst journey in the world." In March Dempster travelled to 10 Downing Street to be given his medal by David Cameron. The Prime Minister acknowledged that, along with Cdr Eddie Grenfell and Lt-Cdr Dick Dykes of the Royal Navy, Dempster deserved "special recognition" for waging such a dignified campaign. One of seven children, Henry McIntosh Dempster, always known as Jock, was born at Montrose, Scotland, on April 20 1928. He left school aged 16 with no qualifications and joined the Merchant Navy. After basic training he joined the merchant vessel San Venancio, in which he crossed the Atlantic twice before taking part in the Arctic convoys. After the end of the war in Europe he transferred to the Empire Chieftain, which became the first ship to enter the liberated Hong Kong with supplies. In 1947 Dempster joined the RAF, and subsequently volunteered to be trained as a Russian speaker for intelligence work. Though his lack of academic qualifications was held against him, he had picked up enough Russian on his trips to Murmansk to impress his interviewers. He served as an intelligence officer until his retirement in 1975, after which he ran his own management company. Although much of his intelligence work involved working against the Soviet Union, he had great affection for the Russians and, after the end of the Cold War, visited the country several times, making many friends. Jock Dempster died just days before he was to wear his new medal in public for the first time. He had been due to travel to Wester Ross on May 8 to mark Arctic Convoys Week. He is survived by his wife, Maggie, and their daughter and by three daughters from an earlier marriage. Jock Dempster, born April 20 1928, died May 5 2013