Cathedral of St. George of Baltic Fleet Cathedral

KRONSTADT - the Soviet naval base - ROGER GEORGE CLARK photos

The English broadcaster and photographer ROGER GEORGE CLARK visited the island fortress and home base of the Baltic Fleet in September 1990.

'The Communists were still in power in Russia and the island was off-limits to most foreigners. I was the first BBC broadcaster to go there and record a feature for the BBC World Service. I also took my cameras. Time was short - just three afternoons - and the broadcast had priority. So I had to grab what photos I could between recordings. I know of no other Western photographer who visited Kronstadt in Soviet times, let alone tried to produce a photo essay there.

'Kronstadt, one naval officer told me, was the cradle of the Russian navy, the holy of holies. Situated in the Gulf of Finland the fortress was founded in 1704-04 by Peter the Great to protect his new city St Petersburg.

'Later the island became a hotbed of revolution. In 1905 and 1906 Kronstadt sailors mutinied, avenging years of maltreatment by throwing their officers into the ships' furnaces. They played a key role during the 1917 Revolution and revolted again in 1921 when Lenin failed to fulfil the democratic expectations of the revolution.

'What did the Kronstadt sailors want? - freedom of speech and assembly, free trade unions, the re-election of soviets by secret ballot, equal rations for all and for peasants to be able to do what they liked with their land. Lenin was enraged. Trotsky brutally suppressed the uprising, thousands of sailors were killed, executed and sent to concentration camps and the island's population deported. Many executions took place in the wooded ravine crossed by a suspension bridge. This charming-looking area was the scene of mass murder. And Anchor Square, which is dominated by the Sea Cathedral, contains mass graves.

'The crushing of the Kronstadt revolt was a key moment in the Bolshevik revolution. It destroyed all hope that Communism would lead to a more humane and democratic society. Dictatorship now became permanent and spread to other Communist regimes throughout the world. Russians had to wait until the 1980s to loosen its grip.

'I also photographed the former officers' club which still retained it's carved wooden staircase and a beautifully decorated theatre visited by the tsar. In fact, a surprising number of 18th- and 19th-century buildings survive despite revolutions and terrible damage during WWII, including vast warehouses stretching along the canals and a wooden lighthouse. Before 1917 Englishmen were a familiar sight in Kronstadt. One expert claimed half the Russian officers connected with the island's early days were English.

'Coming more up to date ... President Vladimir Putin's father was in the navy and must have known the island well. There were the usual Communist slogans and - a sign of the times - one that declared:- Submariners - what have you done for perestroika?

'A melancholy air hangs over Kronstadt. All that misery has seeped into the atmosphere. But, as you will see, I was greeted warmly by the modern inhabitants. The island was sealed off to outsiders during Communist times. I was one of the first Englishmen made welcome at the naval base since before the First World War in 1914 when Admiral Beatty arrived with a squadron of battle-cruisers. I, however, arrived in less style. A Russian friend drove me there in his Lada.

Now that Kronstadt is open to foreigners I would like to return and spend more time photographing island life in detail. I just scratched the surface in the three afternoons I was there. But whether I shall ever go back remains to be seen.

'Here on YouTube you can find more photos I took in Soviet Moscow and Leningrad/St Petersburg in the 1980s and early 1990s by typing my name - ROGER GEORGE CLARK - into the search box. If you're interested in naval matters you might like my video entitled Soviet sailors in Leningrad. They're just some of the 12,000 photos I took on my visits to Russia. Many more lurk in my archives! You can find more details on my website.'