Personnel of Operation Tabarin unload supplies at Port Lockroy, 1944.
International competition extended to the continent of Antarctica during the World War II era, though the region saw no combat. During the prelude to war, Nazi Germany organised the 1938 Third German Antarctic Expedition to preempt Norway's claim to Queen Maud Land.[1] The expedition served as the basis for a new German claim, called New Swabia.[2] A year later, the United States Antarctic Service Expedition established two bases, which operated for two years before being abandoned.[3] Responding to these encroachments, and taking advantage of Europe's wartime turmoil, the nearby nations of Chile and Argentina made their own claims. In 1940 Chile proclaimed the Chilean Antarctic Territory in areas already claimed by Britain, while Argentina proclaimed Argentine Antarctica in 1943 in an overlapping area.
In response to the activities of Germany, Chile, Argentina, and the United States, Britain launched Operation Tabarin in 1943. Its objective was to establish a permanent presence and assert Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands Dependencies,[4] as well as to deny use of the area to the Kriegsmarine, which was known to use remote islands as rendezvous points. There was also a fear that Japan might attempt to seize the Falkland Islands. The expedition under Lieutenant James Marr[5] left the Falklands on 29 January 1944. Bases were established on Deception Island, the coast of Graham Land, and at Hope Bay. The research begun by Operation Tabarin continued in subsequent years, ultimately becoming the British Antarctic Survey.[6]
In the postwar period, competition continued among Antarctica's claimant powers, as well as the United States and Soviet Union. In the late 1950s, this competition would gave way to a cooperative international framework with the International Geophysical Year and the Antarctic Treaty.
^Widerøe, Turi (2008). "Annekteringen av Dronning Maud Land". Norsk Polarhistorie (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^D. T. Murphy, German exploration of the polar world. A history, 1870–1940 (Nebraska 2002), p. 204.
^Bertrand, Kenneth J. (1971). Americans in Antarctica 1775–1948. New York: American Geographical Society.
^"About – British Antarctic Survey". www.antarctica.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
^"Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge » Picture Library catalogue". www.spri.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
^"Operation Tabarin overview". British Antarctic Survey – Polar Science for Planet Earth. British Antarctic Survey. 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
and 25 Related for: Antarctica during World War II information
extended to the continent of Antarcticaduring the WorldWarII era, though the region saw no combat. During the prelude to war, Nazi Germany organised the...
Mexico's participation in WorldWarII had its first antecedent in the diplomatic efforts made by the government before the League of Nations as a result...
extended to the continent of Antarcticaduring the WorldWarII era, though the region saw no combat. During the prelude to war, Nazi Germany organised the...
List of theatres and campaigns of WorldWarII subdivides military operations of WorldWarII and contemporary wars by war, then by theater and then by campaign...
When the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939 at the start of WorldWarII, it controlled to varying degrees numerous crown colonies...
A total of 59 men, divided initially into three groups, wintered in Antarctica. The objectives of the expedition were outlined in an order from President...
Brazil was on the Allied side in WorldWarII (1939–1945) despite the fascist sympathies of its ruling Estado Novo regime. German and Italian submarines...
militarily involved in WorldWarII until January 1944, with the election of William Tubman, at which time the country declared war on Germany and Japan...
Richard E. Byrd to Antarctica, and again to the southernmost continent in 1941 to evacuate Americans at the beginning of WorldWarII. She later served...
During the Second WorldWar (1939–1945), the Gambia was part of the British Empire as the Gambia Colony and Protectorate. At the outbreak of war between...
expedition members. During the First WorldWar, Ritscher made reconnaissance flights in support of Marine units in Flanders. After the war he worked as an...
The USCGC North Star was a United States Coast Guard Cutter during the Second WorldWar. It was originally built for the U.S. Interior Department and...
outbreak of the Second WorldWar, having been under French administration since 1885. It played an important role in the war due to the presence of critically...
the world's freshwater reserves are frozen in Antarctica, which, if melted, would raise global sea levels by almost 60 metres (200 ft). Antarctica holds...
spacecraft prior to and duringWorldWarII, further asserting the post-war survival of these craft in secret underground bases in Antarctica, South America,...
from individuals from different walks of life and all over the world, including Antarctica and outer space. The "interviews" detail the experiences of the...
Base on Stonington Island is the oldest American research station in Antarctica, having been commissioned by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. The station...
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the...
to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. It was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War, designating...
After WorldWarII, some military expeditions explored the region. The International Geophysical Year (1957–1958) marked the end of a long period during the...
atlas labelled Antarctica as a continent but few atlases did so until after WorldWarII. Over time, the western concept of dividing the world into continents...
Multiple governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set...
raider in WorldWarII. The Pinguin was known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 33, and designated HSK 5. The most successful commerce raider of the war, she was...
Mariner is a twin-engine American patrol bomber flying boat of WorldWarII and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina...
Global Information