The Arctic and the Antarctic are privileged locations for observers interested in understanding how our world is shaped by the forces of nature and the workings of history. These areas have inspired countless humans to undertake epic expeditions of discovery and have witnessed both great triumphs and miserable defeats. As a planetary litmus paper it is at the poles we can detect the effects of natural oscillations and human activities on the global ecosystems.
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109 The Last Surrender
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In summer 1944 one of the last manned stations (code-named Haudegen) was established on Svalbard at Wordiebukta, Rijpfjorden, Nordaustlandet. A party of 11, led by geographer Dr Wilhelm Dege, collected and transmitted weather data from 14 September 1944 to 5 September 1945; the party also explored and mapped the ice-free corridor extending south across Nordaustlandet to the head of Wahlenbergfjorden and much of the north coast from Kapp Loven east to Finn Malmgrenfjorden. World War Two ended in Europe with the unconditional surrender of the German high command on May 7th, 1945 in Reims. What no one realises is that a tiny, forgotten outpost of the Third Reich was holding out in the eternal daylight of the Arctic summer, over 3200 kilometres (2000 miles) away from the ruins of Berlin. Wilhelm Dege later wrote the book "War North of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station of World War II."