Soldier, Sail North (1987)
by Pattinson, James
The gunners on the Golden Ray were a strangely assorted bunch. The
seamen were more of a type, but the soldiers seconded to the job could
hardly have differed more from one another. There was the professional,
Sergeant Willis, in love with his job, Vernon the intellectual, and
Miller the tragic communistic misfit who found his Russian Mecca not
quite what he expected. The background and past of each character in the
book are skilfully woven into the narrative of the ordeal at sea in
both directions, and experiences on Russian soil at Murmansk.
seamen were more of a type, but the soldiers seconded to the job could
hardly have differed more from one another. There was the professional,
Sergeant Willis, in love with his job, Vernon the intellectual, and
Miller the tragic communistic misfit who found his Russian Mecca not
quite what he expected. The background and past of each character in the
book are skilfully woven into the narrative of the ordeal at sea in
both directions, and experiences on Russian soil at Murmansk.