IT'S nearly two years since I wrote in this column about the little-known story of the shabbily treated Arctic Convoy veterans.

They were the men of the Royal and Merchant Navies who helped the Allies to win the Second World War through sheer bravery and endeavour, which we can barely imagine.

They ran the gauntlet of U-boats and sub-zero seas to make sure vital aid got through to the Eastern front, so that Russian forces could continue their offensive against the Germans.

The chances of survival on these most perilous missions were slim to say the least. But without them we would not have won the war.

Yet when the war ended, the sacrifices these men made were snubbed by the King and his government.

The Cold War had started and the Soviets were now seen more as enemies than friends - it was not the done thing to honour those who had helped the Russians.

So the men who gave so much didn't get the medals they deserved. Men in offices with rubber stamps decided that.

For the past decade, the 2,000 or so surviving Convoy veterans have made it their business to win recognition for their superhuman efforts, which played a major role in toppling Hitler.

After all, they reasoned, the Cold War was over so why would the government of the day need to keep on refusing requests for recognition?

But all they met was opposition from government stooges in Whitehall. Minister after Minister told them it was impossible to coin new medals - the decision not to award medals was taken in 1946 and that was final!

If you had seen so many pals die, and if you still had nightmares about the suffering you had endured 60 years ago, you would have thought achieving a little recognition from your own government would have been a piece of cake.

Not so.

But I'm happy to report that after eight years they've finally won. In the past few weeks, the bureaucrats have relented. What they insisted was impossible to do for eight long years has now turned out to be possible - so the veterans will be getting their medals after all.

It's just a shame many of the men who fought this second campaign have passed away while the fight went on. All it ever needed was a Minister brave enough to say: "You're right, it's about time we thanked these heroes for all they went through."

But a tide of Ministers and civil servants tried every trick in the book to make sure the veterans were ignored.

Thankfully when Dr John Reid became Defence Secretary, he agreed the issue had gone on too long. So he helped to push through a compromise deal to get the men their specially-commissioned Arctic Star.

Some might say it's a scandal that a compromise needed to be ironed out. Apparently we have a government that can pass new laws to detain suspects for weeks at a time without charge, but can't get a new medal commissioned.

But ultimately it's a story with a happy ending. The elderly gentlemen who helped win the war are finally, finally getting the honour they so richly deserve. What a Christmas present that is!

And I'd like to think it can show us all that no matter how frustrating things might get, we can defeat the over-officious pen pushing jobsworths who try their best to ruin it for the rest of us. Happy New Year!