Herring for Churchill
The rapid advance of German troops to the east in the summer and autumn of 1941 led to the loss of fisheries in Transnistria, Crimea, on the coast of the Baltic and the Black Sea Caucasus.
The population of the Soviet Union was not pampered with fish delicacies even in peacetime. But the British, under the conditions of the underwater blockade of the island, suffered without their usual fish cuisine. Since 1939, the "Fuhrer's corsairs" controlled British sea communications and mercilessly sank not only ocean liners, but also fishing trawlers.
On June 22, 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed "to provide Russia and the Russian people with all the assistance we can." According to the protocol of October 1, 1941, only by the northern route, through Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, 10 British and American convoys were delivered on Lend-Lease terms, that is, on credit, 3 052 aircraft, 4 048 tanks, 520 thousand cars and much more.
They had to pay for military supplies with natural resources, furs and fish. In the local history museum of the village of Berezovo, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra, there are barrels made of cedar dies. In such a container (for 5-10 kg) tugun fish was salted, large stocks of which were in the Ob-Severnaya Sosva tributary (hence the second name of tugun - Sosva herring). This fish delicacy was highly appreciated by Churchill as an appetizer to the equally beloved Armenian brandy.
The population of the Soviet Union was not pampered with fish delicacies even in peacetime. But the British, under the conditions of the underwater blockade of the island, suffered without their usual fish cuisine. Since 1939, the "Fuhrer's corsairs" controlled British sea communications and mercilessly sank not only ocean liners, but also fishing trawlers.
On June 22, 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed "to provide Russia and the Russian people with all the assistance we can." According to the protocol of October 1, 1941, only by the northern route, through Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, 10 British and American convoys were delivered on Lend-Lease terms, that is, on credit, 3 052 aircraft, 4 048 tanks, 520 thousand cars and much more.
They had to pay for military supplies with natural resources, furs and fish. In the local history museum of the village of Berezovo, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra, there are barrels made of cedar dies. In such a container (for 5-10 kg) tugun fish was salted, large stocks of which were in the Ob-Severnaya Sosva tributary (hence the second name of tugun - Sosva herring). This fish delicacy was highly appreciated by Churchill as an appetizer to the equally beloved Armenian brandy.