ON JULY 4, 1942, at a crisis moment for PQ 17, an Arctic merchant convoyen route to resupply the Soviet Union, John Broome received a fateful order direct from British First Sea Lord Dudley Pound: “Most Immediate… Convoy is to scatter.” Broome, PQ 17’s close escort group commander, complied, in effect condemning his f lock to piecemeal slaughter by German U-boats
