Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality
In January-February 1939, a secret German expedition visited Dronning (or Queen) Maud Land, Antarctica, apparently with the intention inter alia of establishing a base there. Between 1943 and 1945 the British launched a secret wartime Antarctic operation, code-named Tabarin. Men from the Special Air...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s003224740600578x 2024-09-30T14:23:44+00:00 Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality Summerhayes, Colin Beeching, Peter 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600578x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740600578X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Polar Record volume 43, issue 1, page 1-21 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 journal-article 2007 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600578x 2024-09-18T04:04:12Z In January-February 1939, a secret German expedition visited Dronning (or Queen) Maud Land, Antarctica, apparently with the intention inter alia of establishing a base there. Between 1943 and 1945 the British launched a secret wartime Antarctic operation, code-named Tabarin. Men from the Special Air Services Regiment (SAS), Britain's covert forces for operating behind the lines, appeared to be involved. In July and August 1945, after the German surrender, two U-boats arrived in Argentina. Had they been to Antarctica to land Nazi treasure or officials? In the southern summer of 1946–1947, the US Navy appeared to ‘invade’ Antarctica using a large force. The operation, code-named Highjump, was classified confidential. In 1958, three nuclear weapons were exploded in the region, as part of another classified US operation, code-named Argus. Given the initial lack of information about these various activities, it is not, perhaps, surprising that some people would connect them to produce a pattern in which governments would be accused of suppressing information about ‘what really happened’, and would use these pieces of information to construct a myth of a large German base existing in Antarctica and of allied efforts to destroy it. Using background knowledge of Antarctica and information concerning these activities that has been published since the early 1940s, it is demonstrated: that the two U-Boats could not have reached Antarctica; that there was no secret wartime German base in Dronning Maud Land; that SAS troops did not attack the alleged German base; that the SAS men in the region at the time had civilian jobs; that Operation Highjump was designed to train the US Navy for a possible war with the Soviet Union in the Arctic, and not to attack an alleged German base in Antarctica; and that Operation Argus took place over the ocean more than 2000 km north of Dronning Maud Land. Activities that were classified have subsequently been declassified and it is no longer difficult to separate fact from fancy, despite the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Dronning Maud Land Polar Record Queen Maud Land Cambridge University Press Arctic Antarctic Dronning Maud Land Argentina Queen Maud Land ENVELOPE(12.000,12.000,-72.500,-72.500) Polar Record 43 1 1 21 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
In January-February 1939, a secret German expedition visited Dronning (or Queen) Maud Land, Antarctica, apparently with the intention inter alia of establishing a base there. Between 1943 and 1945 the British launched a secret wartime Antarctic operation, code-named Tabarin. Men from the Special Air Services Regiment (SAS), Britain's covert forces for operating behind the lines, appeared to be involved. In July and August 1945, after the German surrender, two U-boats arrived in Argentina. Had they been to Antarctica to land Nazi treasure or officials? In the southern summer of 1946–1947, the US Navy appeared to ‘invade’ Antarctica using a large force. The operation, code-named Highjump, was classified confidential. In 1958, three nuclear weapons were exploded in the region, as part of another classified US operation, code-named Argus. Given the initial lack of information about these various activities, it is not, perhaps, surprising that some people would connect them to produce a pattern in which governments would be accused of suppressing information about ‘what really happened’, and would use these pieces of information to construct a myth of a large German base existing in Antarctica and of allied efforts to destroy it. Using background knowledge of Antarctica and information concerning these activities that has been published since the early 1940s, it is demonstrated: that the two U-Boats could not have reached Antarctica; that there was no secret wartime German base in Dronning Maud Land; that SAS troops did not attack the alleged German base; that the SAS men in the region at the time had civilian jobs; that Operation Highjump was designed to train the US Navy for a possible war with the Soviet Union in the Arctic, and not to attack an alleged German base in Antarctica; and that Operation Argus took place over the ocean more than 2000 km north of Dronning Maud Land. Activities that were classified have subsequently been declassified and it is no longer difficult to separate fact from fancy, despite the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Summerhayes, Colin Beeching, Peter |
spellingShingle |
Summerhayes, Colin Beeching, Peter Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality |
author_facet |
Summerhayes, Colin Beeching, Peter |
author_sort |
Summerhayes, Colin |
title |
Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality |
title_short |
Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality |
title_full |
Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality |
title_fullStr |
Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality |
title_full_unstemmed |
Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality |
title_sort |
hitler's antarctic base: the myth and the reality |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600578x https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S003224740600578X |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(12.000,12.000,-72.500,-72.500) |
geographic |
Arctic Antarctic Dronning Maud Land Argentina Queen Maud Land |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Antarctic Dronning Maud Land Argentina Queen Maud Land |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Dronning Maud Land Polar Record Queen Maud Land |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Arctic Dronning Maud Land Polar Record Queen Maud Land |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 43, issue 1, page 1-21 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s003224740600578x |
container_title |
Polar Record |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
21 |
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1811638409686417408 |