Extracted from Nexus Magazine, Volume 13, Number 1 (December 2005 - January 2006)
PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560 Australia. editor@nexusmagazine.com
Telephone: +61 (0)7 5442 9280; Fax: +61 (0)7 5442 9381
From our web page at: www.nexusmagazine.com
by James Robert © 2005
Email: james-robert@hotmail.co.uk
Did Britain Really "Miss the Bus" in Norway?
We
are standing here in Norway, undefeated, strong as before. No enemy has
dared attack us. And yet we, too, shall have to bow to the dictate of
our enemy for the benefit of the whole German cause. We trust we shall
from now on deal with men who respect a soldier's honour.
— General Böhme, German Commander-in-Chief in Norway, 7 May 1945
The primary reasons for Norway's importance to Germany were that its
coastlines made exceptional U-boat bases, the Germans needed to secure
shipments of Swedish iron ore, and the Vermok hydro-electric plant,
which produced deuterium oxide (heavy water), was essential to their
atomic research, in which they were leading the world at that juncture.
However, there were other reasons—reasons that caused Hitler to review
and reverse his stance on preserving Norwegian neutrality.
On 14
January 1939, Norway formalised its claim to Queen Maud Land in
Antarctica, its course of action forced on it by the imminent German
discoveries. Adversely, for Norway, its attempt at pre-empting any
German claims failed, and so began a political crisis that led to
invasion. The Deutsche Antarktische Expedition, using Norwegian maps,
soon realised that the wily Norwegians had omitted the vast, dry areas
that it rediscovered on 20 January 1939. The Norwegians, and also the
British, had long been aware of ice-free areas but had purposely
omitted them on their maps so as to avoid additional claimant countries
appearing and the conceivable diplomatic crises that would ensue.
When the Germans reported the ice-free areas, they were told to
claim the whole area in the name of Nazi Germany. They were ordered to
drop stakes with swastikas on them to state their intent for
sovereignty: this, the Nazis hoped, would be enough to formalise their
claim. Nazi Germany and Hitler cared little about what the world
thought: they had already gained Austria and Czechoslovakia, and
Antarctica was to be a further extension of the Third Reich. Norway
valiantly protested about the German claim and the renaming of Queen
Maud Land to Neuschwabenland but, with European nations gearing up for
war and the world's attention turning to Poland, Antarctica was
forgotten.
When war finally broke out in September 1939, most of
Germany's eventual conquests declared neutrality. Norway was no
exception. Hitler wanted Norway to remain neutral but his War Cabinet,
whose opinions he trusted until the tide turned against Germany,
persuaded him otherwise.
On 20 February 1940, Hitler ordered General von Falkenhorst to lead an
expedition force to Norway. Hitler claimed: "I am informed that the
English intend to land there [Norway] and I want to be there before
them."32
The British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, famously boasted
when he announced that British forces had also landed in Norway that
Hitler had "missed the bus"33. His folly caused his
government to collapse, his resignation to be forced and his reputation
to be destroyed. Furthermore, by committing troops to Norway,
Chamberlain had played into the hands of Hitler and all those inside
the German War Cabinet. But had the British mission been a total
failure?
Operation Weserübung was launched by
Germany on 9 April 1940 and Norway was invaded (Denmark was also
invaded that same day). And though the British and Allied forces had to
be evacuated in June, they had slowed the unstoppable Wehrmacht enough
to help the monarchy, the government and the national treasure be
evacuated on board the British cruiser, HMS Devonshire. King
Haakon VII represented Norway in exile, and the vast treasures and
documents saved were beneficial not just to the preservation of Norway
but to British Intelligence.
Hitler was furious with Vidkun Quisling, whom he had hoped would
aid the Nazis more comprehensively. Quisling ultimately would have no
power, and his inability to stop the evacuation of the monarchy, the
government and not least the vast treasures and documentation caused
Hitler to lose faith in him and declare him a Norwegian traitor. Those
who failed Hitler lost their standing—Hitler made sure of that. Even
so, Quisling claimed publicly that he had been offered "safe refuge".
Whether the statement was that of a madman or was an honest admission,
it echoed the claims of others.
Though Hitler had only wished to
beat the British to Norway, his War Cabinet knew that Norway was vital
to virtually all the branches of Germany's armed forces and was more
beneficial to its war effort than any other conquest. Nazi Germany's
occupation of Norway brought immense benefits to the Reich. There were
thousands of miles of protected fjords for the German U-boats, and
there was the possibility of the Nazis exerting pressure on neutral
Sweden.34 The Third Reich now had a border closer to the Arctic,35 and there was also the chance to train its soldiers in polar conditions, especially after the acquisition of Spitzbergen,36
much to the pleasure of Himmler and his Ahnenerbe. Best of all, Norway
was within striking distance of all Nazi Germany's enemies. Norway and
its ports also made marshalling the Arctic Sea and the North Atlantic
far more profitable. These benefits, allied with the primary reasons,
made Norway a highly prized conquest.
However, Germany's occupation was not without problems. Britain
heavily financed the Norwegian Resistance and it was due to their
cooperation that the Vermok hydro-electric plant was targeted and
sabotaged so successfully.
Information was passed on a two-way
basis and the SOE and SIS were privy to any revelation uncovered.
British Intelligence also had access to all the Norwegian Government's
files, no matter how "sensitive" the information. Britain at that point
stood alone: any information, no matter how trivial, was indispensable.
Many Poles had gone to the UK after the start of the German occupation
with intelligence on the Germans as well as with one of the first
prototypes of the Enigma
code-making device. Similarly, with the invasion and occupation of
Norway, many fleeing Norwegians brought secrets of the Reich to England.
After Britain frustrated Germany in the Battle of Britain and, as a
result, instilled hope in the numerous governments in exile, in 1940–41
it could only fight the Germans in Africa or bomb their cities. But
news was soon filtering through about a new front, and one that both
the British and Norwegian governments had hoped would never be opened—a
front for which there was little in the way of contingency plans.
On 13 January 1941, German commandos under the leadership of Captain Ernst-Felix Kruder from the commerce raider, the Pinguin,
stormed and violently captured two Norwegian whaling ships. If that had
happened around European coastlines, there would have been no mystery
because the Germans allowed none of its conquered peoples to sail too
far from land; but because the captures took place in the Southern
Ocean off Neuschwabenland, the news when it filtered through could only
have sent shock waves through both the British and Norwegian
governments. However, the mystery deepened further because the
subsequent night the German commandos resurfaced and captured three
more whaling ships and also 11 catchers.
The German Antarctic
Fleet was active and prospering—mines they had laid around Australian
ports sank the first US vessel lost to enemy action—but it was the
Antarctic coast and islands where they mainly loitered. The Atlantis,37 the Pinguin,38 the Stier39 and the Komet40
were just four of the documented ships that had anomalous reasons for
being so far south. All four were eventually sunk by the British Navy,
far from Antarctica in various parts of the world from France to the
Ascension Islands.
Now that the Antarctic Front had been truly opened, Britain
increased its Antarctic bases and personnel numbers and even issued a
postmark. However, possibly the most important area that demanded a
base was in Neuschwabenland, officially known as Queen Maud Land.
Through Norway's assistance with information and maps, Britain
envisaged Maudheim as the most viable place for a base because it was
close enough to be able to spy on German activities and also was within
striking distance for a highly trained and disciplined military unit.
The seeds for the Neuschwabenland campaign had been sown.
From
1941 until the start of the British–Swedish–Norwegian Expedition of
1949–52, Britain sent at least 12 official missions to Antarctica—half
of them between the end of the war and the beginning of Operation Highjump,
led by Admiral Byrd, starting in December 1946. Even more intriguingly,
Britain sent no missions from the commencement of Highjump until 1948,
during which time the US had Antarctica all to itself. Britain
nonetheless was more active in Antarctica during the 1940s than any
other nation, yet the only Antarctic mission mentioned in depth by
historians is Admiral Byrd's. His mission still overshadows every other
mission and is the main focus of attention for many conspiracy
theorists. Britain's exertions were and still are totally overlooked;
and with Admiral Byrd spreading misinformation, the true conspiracy
concerning Antarctica as a Nazi haven was forgotten.
After the German surrender, Norway still needed to be mopped up,
the possible Nazi exodus needed to be ascertained and the secrets that
Norway held still needed more investigation. The discoveries further
confirmed that the war had ended just in time, but suspicions were
still aroused about the estimated 250,000 missing German
personnel—including Martin Bormann and thousands of other wanted Nazi
war criminals. The enigma of the submarines that were presumed to have
been utilised in their escape also required consideration. However,
even though a percentage of Germany's U-boats may have fled Norway,
what was uncovered was still intriguing and certainly proved that the
Germans had made great technological strides.
In June 1945, the
Washington Post published an article stating that the RAF had found,
near Oslo, 40 giant Heinkel bombers—aircraft with a 7,000-mile range.
The article stated that the captured German ground crews had claimed
that "the planes were held in readiness for a mission to New York".41
The British also requisitioned some of the U-boats held in Norway at
the end of the war, including the new Type XXI. Captain Mervyn
Wingfield was placed in charge of taking these 25 salvaged U-boats to
Scapa Flow and, interestingly, chose the new Type XXI to sail in. Upon
returning, he stated that "the Allies had won the submarine war just in
time"42—a statement reiterated by all the Allies when speaking about the Nazis' new weapons.
In the UK, British Intelligence unearthed more of Norway's secrets
but suppressed them; Antarctica was no exception. When the Norwegian
Government returned to a liberated Norway, Antarctica soon returned to
their consciousness, though the Norwegians would have to wait several
years to go back there, lest the rumours of a Nazi base were true.
On the other hand, Britain decided it had collated enough knowledge
about Antarctica to initiate an intense investigation—one that had to
dispel all fears and hide all evidence—for it could not tolerate any
more technology or personnel being acquired by the wrong hands, namely,
the USSR and the USA.
Britain had helped liberate Norway and, as 1945 was drawing to a close,
was in the process of "liberating" Queen Maud Land (the new atlas of
the post-war world no longer recognised Neuschwabenland). However, the
mysterious wartime expeditions conducted by all the combatant
countries, especially Germany, were not entered into the World War II
history books. A travesty of history had occurred.
Postwar Power Plays
In the immediate aftermath
of World War II, suspicions surfaced and rumours spread, and the new
enemy—one that Hitler had hoped to annihilate—was communism. Allies
became enemies, whilst former enemies became allies in the battle
against communism. And whilst the USA was offering huge financial
subsidies to Western governments to keep them communism-free, Britain
was left alone to clean up the last remaining Nazi outposts.
When German forces surrendered in May 1945, peace should have broken
out but, alas, the world was thrown into a turmoil that was every bit
as volatile as it had been before the most violent war in humanity's
history began. The year 1945 was not just the year that World War II
ended but also the year that the Cold War started in earnest; and
whilst the USSR and the USA had fears about each other's intentions,
they also had differing ideas for how Germany was to be administered.
The problems started at the Yalta Conference of 4–11 February 1945, but
were heightened by the end of the war in Europe when the misinformation
and secrecy about the Allies' discoveries made the partnership that had
destroyed Nazism no longer tenable.
The atmosphere that surrounded Germany in May 1945 following the Nazi
surrender was one of exhaustion; but whilst the Western Allies were so
fatigued by the war effort, Stalin was not going to give up his
territorial gains and was prepared for war and, indeed, fully expected
it. The Soviets did nothing to allay the fears that a Nazi haven had
been built or that Hitler might not have committed suicide but,
instead, had escaped.43
Just before Berlin fell to the Soviets, it was reported that Martin
Bormann had discussed Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, with Grand Admiral
Dönitz. This conversation that emanated from Hitler's Berlin bunker was
one of the last to be intercepted in the war in Europe. Argentina had
long been perceived as a haven for many escaping Nazis, but this
possibility was long denied by the sympathetic Perons. Yet, with the
Soviet General Zhukov and Stalin disagreeing as to whether Hitler was
dead or had fled, the Nazi survival myth gained momentum.
Britain, in the unique position of holding the strategically important
Falkland Islands, was the only country in the immediate months after
the war that was in a position to investigate the leading Nazis' claims
about an Antarctic haven and the rise of a Fourth Reich in South
America.
The USA, distracted by the war against Japan and the brewing Cold
War, had been caught short by Britain's Antarctic exertions and humbled
by its aggressive stance. So the Americans soon adopted a policy,
dreamt up during the war, that would destroy Britain's imperial
aspirations, hinder every attempt by Britain to exert any influence
around the world and make the country an "ally" in name only. However,
as early as 1942, Britain and British identity were suffering as a
result of the United States' globalisation agenda. It must be
remembered that Britain was denied its own atomic bomb, despite the
fact that the bomb could have not been created without British
expertise. Furthermore, the British people faced worse rationing than
any other Western nation, lasting direfully until the 1950s, and
Britain was also pressured into giving full independence or
self-government to most of the territories in its Empire.
So,
whilst Britain went into World War II a superpower, by the end of the
war and by the actions of American foreign policy, especially Operation
Highjump, it had been put firmly in its place. The United States became
the only country that could successfully influence Britain—as the 1956
Suez crisis proved. Even now, 60 years after the end of World War II,
British blood is still being shed on behalf of US foreign policy.
Exploring Queen Maud Land
As discussed in part
one, the Nazi "Shangri-La" did exist. Of unknown size, it was set up
during the 1938–39 Deutsche Antarktische Expedition. The existence of a
Nazi Antarctic base hidden in vast caverns was considered feasible
enough for the British to set up bases in many parts of Antarctica
during the war in response to the threat. And whilst the officially
recorded British expeditions mainly concentrated around the Antarctic
Peninsula, those not recorded were those that concentrated on
investigating Queen Maud Land—so named by Norwegian whalers prior to
1939 in honour of Queen Maud of Norway (1869–1938), consort of King
Haakon VII and formerly Princess Maud of the United Kingdom, a
granddaughter of Queen Victoria.
The Norwegians began exploring Queen Maud Land intensively in 1930, and
using planes for the first time they photographed and sketched the
area. In subsequent flights in 1931 and 1936, they uncovered areas
unknown and identified anomalies that would attract worldwide interest.
On 4 February 1936, Lars Christensen dropped the Norwegian flag from
his plane, thus claiming the land informally. The maps produced from
the photographs omitted the dry areas and lakes that had been
identified, but the discoveries led to private discussions between the
Norwegian Government and the Monarchy as to whether Norway should annex
the area.
After much deliberation, on 14 January 1939—six days before the
first Deutsche Antarktische Expedition flight over Queen Maud Land—the
Norwegian Government passed a royal decree annexing the region between
Enderby Land and Coates Land as Queen Maud Land.
The Deutsche
Antarktische Expedition discoveries were well publicised. Captain
Ritscher and his two Dornier Wal flying boats (Boreas and Passat)
flew extensively and produced in excess of 1,500 photographs that
covered an area of over 250,000 square kilometres. However, as with the
strange case of the suppressed Norwegian maps, most of the films,
records and research materials were destroyed in the war, though some
have since resurfaced.
During the war and up till the end of the
Antarctic summer of 1945–46, Britain's RAF was also flying over
Antarctica to map the area and search for suitable places to establish
bases. It discovered more dry areas and possibly even the intelligence
that provoked Britain's Neuschwabenland campaign.
Britain's arrogance in committing troops to Antarctica, independent of
the United States, and in celebrating the feat with the release in
February 1946 of a provocative stamp set, would inevitably lead to
Britain's claims on Antarctica being contested, even though the stamps
commemorated Britain's final fight with Nazism rather than being a
statement of its Antarctic claims. And even though Britain expressed
outrage publicly when Highjump
was launched, it was just a pretence: privately, Britain knew that the
USA's newfound superpower status meant that it would not permit
Antarctica to be utilised by other nations for financial gain.
Britain halted its Antarctic flights and operations for two years,
giving the United States a free hand in Antarctica with the
commencement of Operation Highjump. With the Nazi haven
destroyed, there was little need for the British to return: the
Americans would not discover anything that had not already been
discovered. Or would they?
In the two years they had to discover
as much about Antarctica as possible, the Americans found dry areas and
warm-water lakes that provoked immense media interest, but Operation
Highjump, which they'd planned to last for six months, ended after just
eight weeks. They received a hostile reaction from other nations, but
it was only after the mission's return that the rumours and theories
began to abound and the enigma surrounding Highjump really began. The US conducted another expedition, Operation Windmill, in the Antarctic summer of 1947–48 and mapped additional areas of special interest.
The RAF returned in 1948–49 and flew extensively in search of a viable
base in Queen Maud Land for the joint Norwegian– British–Swedish
Expedition (NBSE) that was going to last from 1949 to 1952 and whose
objective was to investigate and verify the 1938 German discoveries.
Britain and Norway knew that the area of Queen Maud Land which the
Nazis had utilised would be vastly different from that which was mapped
in the 1930s and early 1940s. An explosion of sufficient magnitude
could have created a warm front. The ground could have warmed enough
for rising heat to have created precipitation—how much could only be
gauged by the velocity of the explosion. In all probability, snow would
have fallen on areas that had not seen water for thousands if not
millions of years and the landscape would have changed significantly.
When NBSE team members inspected the area, they found the largest land
animal (bar penguins) on the continent: tiny mites. That discovery was
an irregularity in itself. The expedition also discovered unusual
lichens and mosses in certain areas. However, the lakes that had been
so prevalent in reports from previous expeditions were largely not
noted; nor were the vast, dry areas. Could the lakes have frozen and
the majority of the dry areas have disappeared under a blanket of snow?
Meantime, more and more countries wanted their own bases in
Antarctica, and soon skirmishes started. In November 1948, Britain's
Hope Base on the Antarctic Peninsula was suspiciously destroyed by
fire; in 1952, Argentinian forces shot at the British returning from
the joint expedition. Details of other skirmishes unfortunately have
been suppressed for diplomatic reasons.
However, in 1982, Britain
went to war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands (the Malvinas).
Its defeat of the Argentinian forces led to the collapse of the fascist
military junta that had dominated Argentina for several years.
Argentina also had more than a passing interest in Antarctica but, with
the deaths of over 2,000 personnel in the Malvinas campaign and facing
the possibility of Buenos Aires being bombed, Argentina had no choice
but to admit defeat. Yet, whilst admitting the battle was lost,
Argentina insisted the war was not over. The Malvinas are Argentinian
possessions according to South American atlases, and who is to say that
war will not erupt again one day? If that were to happen, Britain would
again send an armada to fight because, quite patently, the Falkland
Islands are still one of Britain's most prized dependencies and the
reason is quite simple: their close proximity to Antarctica and all its
treasures and mysteries that one day will be allowed to be utilised and
accessed.44
Military Interest in Antarctica
Before the
Antarctic Treaty was ratified on the 23 June 1961, the International
Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1958 brought immense international attention
and cooperation to the frozen continent. The Americans returned in
numbers, as did the British, but the Soviets also began their own
experiments.
The aim of the IGY was to enable nations to put aside their claims
whilst sharing resources and scientific information. The success of the
IGY allowed the Antarctic Treaty to be enacted—but with the USSR
stating that it had no intention of leaving Antarctica and that it
would keep all its bases when the IGY ended. However, all claimants
deemed that "Antarctica is to be used for peaceful purposes only",
although military personnel and equipment may be utilised but not for
military reasons.
In the years prior to the June 1961 ratification, the USA, UK and USSR
had all used Antarctica for military purposes and all three nations
were rumoured to have tested nuclear bombs on the continent. On 27 and
30 August and 6 September 1958, at least three such bombs were
detonated in Antarctica, allegedly by the Americans. Rumour has it that
they were set off in the area of Queen Maud Land and were triggered 300
metres above the target, with the initial aim being to "recover" frozen
areas. The locations of other bomb detonation sites have been firmly
suppressed, but it is believed that the areas reconnoitred by the
Germans in 1939 and 1940 were targeted.45
With the Germans and Americans officially claiming to have found
warm-water lakes on their expeditions, it was only a matter of time
before more were discovered. One such lake, discovered by the Russians,
is Lake Vostok, which is 4,000 metres below the surface and curiously
is located under the Russian base camp of Vostok. News of the discovery
was not released to the world until 1989, so had the Soviets found the
subterranean lake years earlier and was this their main reason for
refusing to leave its base? The lake has still not been investigated,
mainly out of fear of what could be unleashed and to avoid
contamination of the lake, although a huge magnetic anomaly has been
identified.46
With so many lakes being
discovered and with satellites proving that the Antarctic is made up of
huge, ice-encased archipelagos, is it unimaginable to believe that a
subterranean trench, wide enough for U-boats to pass through, actually
runs through Antarctica, as claimed by author Christof Friedrich and on
the Piri Reis map?
If the Nazis had built a hidden base in Neuschwabenland and that base had been destroyed in 1945, leaving only a few German Antarctic outposts, then any evidence of a Nazi incursion on Antarctica would have been destroyed comprehensively by the nuclear exertions of the USA, USSR and UK. Nevertheless, rumours persist that the Nazis were not totally destroyed in Antarctica but fled to secret bases in South America.47
Britain's Neuschwabenland Campaign Revisited
If British forces had indeed destroyed the Nazi outpost that was
rumoured to have existed amid the Mühlig-Hoffmann Mountains, this would
never be made public nor be given much credence by mainstream
historians. Even so, Britain was the nation most active in Antarctica
during the 1940s, which is intriguing if not suspicious. Furthermore,
Britain was privileged enough to have collated a mass of evidence on
German Antarctic intentions via the leading Nazis it apprehended and
via its efficient intelligence network and its own field
investigations. All of this leads one to the conclusion that something
significant must have occurred there, and it appears only time will
tell. Postwar scientific revelations suggest that Antarctica was
disrupted by human activity at some time in its near past—a finding
that may add credence to the likelihood of Britain's Neuschwabenland
campaign.
In 1999, a research expedition discovered a virus to which neither
animals nor humans are immune. Specialists were unable to explain the
source of the virus, though some tried. According to some scientists,
the virus could have been a prehistoric life-form that had been
preserved in the ice. However, other specialists speculated that the
virus could have been a secret biological weapon that had been
delivered to Antarctica during the 1938–39 Deutsche Antarktische
Expedition. If a biological weapon or virus had been taken to
Antarctica, it is doubtful that it would have been unleashed onto the
continent intentionally, but, instead, stored with extreme care. If the
Germans really had been the architects of the Antarctic virus and they
had taken studious care of their weapon, would it be too adventurous to
think that the virus could have been released by an attack of some
degree on the very place where it was stored?
Another mystery may be central to Queen Maud Land and what may have
happened in 1945. In 1984 the British Antarctic Survey, based at Halley
Station,48 noticed a hole in the ozone layer for the
first time; it was located over Queen Maud Land. Scientists, after much
speculation, claimed that the hole was due to CFCs and in time would
increase global warming. Could the hole, like the virus release, have
been caused by a huge explosion of nuclear proportions? With three
known atomic tests and a considerable number undisclosed associated
with the likely destruction of the Nazi base, it appears that the hole
was caused by more than just CFCs.
Subterranean lakes with signs of
life, geothermally warmed lakes in dry valleys in a supposed frozen
wasteland, viruses that threaten mankind, mysterious holes in the
atmosphere allied with suppressed military ventures may seem the work
of fiction, and yet they are all fact! Antarctica is a truly mysterious
place, and that is why it is inconceivable that the Nazis would claim
an area and leave it unoccupied and undefended, especially when the
Channel Islands, for instance, a strategically unimportant Nazi gain,
utilised for its defences more than 10 per cent of all the concrete and
iron that was used in the construction of the Atlantic Wall—a wall that
stretched from the Pyrenées to the North Cape of Norway!
However, trying to validate the story of the British Neuschwabenland
campaign is slightly tougher to ascertain. Tales of Polar Men, ancient
tunnels and a decisive battle against remnants of the Third Reich
appear fanciful. Even so, it is widely known that Nazi scientists were
experimenting on men to simulate the freezing conditions of the Eastern
Front and to help their forces better deal with them.49 Could the heinous experiments have been a success of sorts, allowing certain soldiers to combat the cold more efficiently?
Tales of ancient tunnels, even tunnels leading through the
Mühlig-Hoffmann Mountains, appear at first far-fetched, but would a
cavern network, glacially eroded enough, appear unnatural and thus be
explained as a tunnel? Soldiers are not scientists and see things as
they are—though whether it was a tunnel or a long cavern network that
the British had discovered, it ultimately led to a Nazi base. The base
could have been similar to the U-boat base that appeared in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark,
but that's highly unlikely—but what isn't is the possibility that a
base had been constructed and was being manned by German forces. The
British had secret wartime bases, so why not the Nazis? It also must be
remembered that some Japanese soldiers fought on, not accepting defeat,
for over 20 years,50 so why not pockets of Germans?
In fact, Nazi Werewolves were active after the May surrender, and
isolated attacks occurred for a few years after the war was deemed over
and Nazism was thwarted.51
Whether the
Neuschwabenland base was eradicated by Britain's Special Forces in
1945–46 or not, it is more than feasible that Britain could have pulled
off the feat. During the war, Britain had some of the finest special
forces personnel in the world, and still does today, and they were
expertly trained in sabotage and destruction, using limited manpower in
covert and inexpensive operations. They were so successful that, even
after the Dieppe fiasco, Hitler ordered that any of them captured were
to be summarily executed.
Britain, unlike the United States, believed that success is more
attainable with limited resources; however, with the US philosophy of
"might is right", it is no wonder that most attention paid to Antarctic
expeditions has been firmly focused on Operation Highjump.52
Admiral Byrd's statements and supposed discoveries, which have spawned
a multitude of conspiracy theories, overshadowed Britain's exertions
comprehensively.
Whether the British mission did destroy the Nazi
base, with any remaining Nazis finally being expunged by the atomic
force of the wartime allies, is not the question that needs asking.
What is, though, is just how much of Antarctica's past, present and,
indeed, its future has been, is being and will be suppressed. ∞
Postscript: 1966 British Antarctic Survey Mystery
After the first part of Britain's Secret War in Antarctica
was published in the August–September edition of NEXUS (vol. 12, no.
5), I was inundated with people and specialists in their field with
more substantiating information. However, by far the most intriguing
and exciting was an email sent to me by Miles Johnston who investigated
a strange story about Antarctica with Danny Wilson whilst with the
Irish UFO Research Centre. The centre was contacted by an Eric
Wilkinson in 1975, who had reported a strange incident in 1966 when he
was with the British Antarctic Survey. An even stranger photo backs up
the story (see above). In Miles Johnston's own words, he explains:
"In 1975 I investigated a UFO/Strange Black Ray Cloud formation, taken
by a Belfast member of the British Antarctic Survey. He gave me some
images of a pulsing cloud formation firing a black ray into the ice,
which bounced off and reflected further away from him. Who
knows...maybe someone down there is using negative energy beam weapons?
Or was...since the images were taken in 1966."
The photo [above] is indeed enigmatic and substantiates the fact that
Antarctica and Britain's role there are shrouded in mystery.
About the Author:
James Robert is a civil
servant with an agency of the UK Ministry of Defence, as well as a
World War II historian and writer. He has travelled extensively
throughout North Africa and Europe to investigate mysteries of
Britain's secret wars.
With a family from a military background and with German sources giving
many so-called "myths" credence, he has set a personal mission to delve
deeper into the strange, suppressed, little-known and anomalous
activities that were conducted before, during and after the war against
Germany. "Britain's Secret War in Antarctica" has been excerpted from
his forthcoming book that will document some of his investigations.
James Robert can be contacted by email at james-robert@hotmail.co.uk.
Endnotes
32. Hart, Basil Liddell, History of the Second World War, Cassell, London, 1970, p. 411.
33. Neville Chamberlain, Parliamentary Speech, 2 April 1940.
34.
A total of 2,140,00 German soldiers and more then 100,000 German
military railway carriages crossed Sweden until the traverse was
officially suspended on 20 August 1943.
35. The
Nazis were fascinated by polar myths, and with the USSR and the USA
more accessible via the frozen Arctic Ocean and Murmansk the only port
available in Europe for the Soviet Union, the Arctic convoys were
constantly harassed, whilst scientific studies increased in the Arctic.
36.
Spitzbergen has numerous mysteries surrounding it, from anomalous plant
and animal fossils to ancient ruins. Many believed it to be ancient
Thule. Also, Spitzbergen cannot be mentioned without the rumour
concerning a UFO crash there in the 1950s; British scientists were
supposedly involved in the retrieval.
37. Atlantis had a name-change to Tamesis before being sunk by HMS Devonshire near the Ascension Islands on 22 November 1941.
38. The Pinguin was sunk off the Persian Gulf by HMS Cornwall on 8 May 1941.
39. The Stier visited Antarctica and Kerguelen in 1942.
40. The Komet was sunk off Cherbourg in 1942 by a British destroyer.
41. The Washington Post, 29 June 1945.
42. The Times, London, June 1945 (exact date not available).
43.
An official Soviet statement released in September 1945 claimed that
"mysterious persons were on board the submarine, among them a woman..."
With Stalin going on record with his view that Hitler was alive, and
contradictions coming from his own generals, the USSR only added to the
mystery.
44. A 50-year extension on the mining ban was agreed in 1998; it runs until the year 2048.
45. Stevens, Henry, The Last Battalion and German Arctic, Antarctic, and Andean Bases, The German Research Project, Gorman, California, 1997.
46.
Scientists, with NASA's assistance, have drilled to within 500 metres
of the lake. Russia recently declared that during the Antarctic 2006–07
summer season it will drill into the lake.
47.
Rumours that the Nazis built bases in the Andes and/or the Amazon
rainforest go hand in hand with stories that the Nazis were in league
with alien races and are definitely TBTBs (Too Bizarre to Believe), yet
there may be some truth in the rumours.
48.
Halley, Britain's premier Antarctic station, is named after the British
astronomer Sir Edmund Halley, who extraordinarily was the first person
to state that the Earth is hollow, consisting of four concentric
spheres. Another Antarctic enigma?
49. The
experiments involved freezing the victim until unconscious, then
rapidly plunging the victim into hot water. Other experiments, heinous
in their morality and beneficial to the Nazi cause, meant that all the
results and documentation detailing the experiments were amongst the
information most sought by the Allies. It is well known that without
Nazi human experiments, the United States would not have gone to the
Moon in 1969.
50. "The Final Surrender: For Lt Onoda, the shooting stops 29 years late", Daily Mirror, UK, 11 March 1974. Lt Onoda killed 39 people between the end of the war and his capture in 1974.
51.
In June 1945, a Werewolf bomb exploded in Bremen Police Headquarters,
killing five Americans and 39 Germans. The Werewolves were created by
Himmler in 1944 and went on to fight against the occupying forces until
at least late 1947.
52. "Operation Highjump", typed into Google, produces 46,700 results, far exceeding any other Antarctic mission mentions by thousands!