Tam's Tall Tales
- Bullion Doon the Watter?
Arctic Convoy in Kola Inlet, north Russia, graphic via Wikimedia Commons
Bullion Doon the Watter?
A new book claims that there might be gold bullion in the Clyde. During the Second World War gold and silver was transported from Russia to Scotland and then on to the United States. The bullion was payment for weapons supplied by the Americans. (Graphic of gold bullion © Andrzej Barabasz via Wikimedia Commons).
An account of the Murmansk convoys: Through Ice and Fire: A Russian Arctic Convoy Diary 1942 has been published. The book was initially written in code by a Leonard Thomas, a Scottish sailor.
His daughter Leona has decoded the diary and part of it describes how one of the crates slipped overboard when it was being transported between ships, just off Greenock.
The whole operation was covered by a veil of secrecy and it has never been revealed if the bullion was ever recovered.
Leona Thomas, 61, a retired school teacher, said: "The story about the Russian bullion is fascinating but I have never been able to find out what happened afterwards. It may still be there."
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Tam O'Ranter
April 2015Return to Tam O'Ranter Index
