Although theyve discovered some interesting facts, theyve come up empty-handed when it comes to what Byrd had written in his diary. Us Antarctic Expedition (1947) - YouTube Many people died during the eight weeks that the Byrd expedition lasted. Farrington - senior wireless operator mechanic, Andrew Taylor expedition commander, base leader, surveyor, Thomas Donnachie wireless operator mechanic, This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 15:27. Delve into a world shrouded in mystery as a team of dedicated researchers share their experiences and expertise . Because of harsh conditions, extreme weather, and a lack of permanent residents on the continent, there are no regular passenger flights to Antarctica. L/S one of the ships of the task force. The other 6 crew members were rescued 13 days later. The pilot was rescued but the accident was indicative of the hard lessons learned by pilots and crew in the early days of helicopters. Finally a search plane spotted burned wreckage and men on the ground. In 1947, Admiral Richard E. Byrd led 4,000 military troops from the U.S., Britain and Australia in an invasion of Antarctica called "Operation Highjump", and at least one follow-up expedition. What is the most likely answer is that the Soviet era report released in the 2006 Russian Documentary was substantially correct. After dropping a United Nations flag over the South Pole, Byrds crew continued their photo mission. [1], Operation Tabarin established the first permanently occupied stations in the Antarctic and in commencing geology, biology and mapping, was the foundation for continuous British scientific research in Antarctica. Instead it became involved in what is known as an ice blink, with streams of snow reflecting the sunshine and making it difficult to seesimilar to the reflections experienced while driving a car at night through a snowstorm. Numerous accounts, in-depth investigations, and genuine testimonies from those who have encountered UFOs come together to explore the enigmatic realm of ufology. Operation Highjump Photographs: Spacecraft and Bases in Antarctica An aircraft [Martin flying-boat] from the Currituck that took off just a few moments later was struck with an unknown type of ray from the object, and almost instantly crashed into the sea near our vessel. Hooley was taking up a two year post as wireless operator for the Government station on South Georgia and the family were only landed there once the priority objectives of establishing two Tabarin bases was achieved. The R4D slowly began to gain altitude and in the tradition of the tough Douglas aircraft arrived back at Little America IV and made a safe landing. These and Vance N. Woodall, who died on January 21, 1947, were the only fatalities during Operation HIGHJUMP. During the first week of January 1956, an expedition led by Admiral Byrd made its way to the South Pole. Mysterious Antarctica - Facts are Facts Tim R. Swartz grew up in Indiana and went on to become an Emmy-award winning television producer/videographer, as well as a best-selling author. [51] Signs of Argentine territorial claims left by Primero de Mayo were removed. [48] Due to thick fog, it was not until 10 February that the ships left Bransfield Strait and began the search. [8] In a crew profile, deckman Edward Beardsley described his worst memory as "when Seaman Vance Woodall died on the Ross Ice Shelf under a piece of roller equipment designed to 'pave' the ice to build an airstrip. Operation HIGHJUMP commenced 26 August 1946 and ended in late February 1947. Since it was impossible to land in the area, messages were dropped directing the survivors to make their way to the open water about 10 miles to the north. He arrived in the UK in July 1943 and joined the expedition committee. Operation Highjump | Military Wiki | Fandom The PBM flight crews were all inexperienced volunteers, having only had a month to train for the mission. [31][22] Lieutenant Victor Marchesi, Royal Navy, was appointed as her captain and second-in-command of the expedition. Medal of Honor recipient Admiral Richard E. Byrd allegedly wrote his encounter with a lost civilization in Antarctica. In fact, the USS Maddox was the destroyer fired upon in the Gulf of Tonkin incident of 1964. GAUMONT BRITISH NEWSREEL (REUTERS)To license this film, visit https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA5GE9KEPJY95BH9DNPZSV571QQ-ANTARCTIC-EXPLORATIONA naval c. It won the 1948 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.[17]. During the mode, 12 ships are to be faced with flying saucers. Battle of Antarctica (Alternate Reality) - YouTube They were finally rescued by a British expedition. Witnesses said that the Thule Society left Germany in March 1945 using flying saucers. Had the Task Group penetrated the pack without eyes it would have arrived too late in the season to establish a base; then conduct an aerophotographic exploration of a hidden continent. Further Reading Battleship - is an extraterrestrial invasion possible? New Swabia (Norwegian and German: Neuschwabenland) was a disputed Antarctic claim by Nazi Germany within the Norwegian territorial claim of Queen Maud Land and is now a cartographic name sometimes given to an area of Antarctica between 20E and 10W in Queen Maud Land. Two crewmen were killed instantly when they were thrown through the propeller blades. A hand-written note by Roberts explains that the name, after the Paris night club Bal Tabarin, was chosen because of the amount of night work required and the chaotic organisation. 14 men over-wintered in 1944. Ron recounts a possible secret operation under the direction of Admiral Richard E. Byrd. The three Navy airmen who in 1946 became the first U.S. casualties in Antarctica (see "Executive Editor Paul Hoversten asked Dian Olson Belanger, a historian of polar exploration and the author. The meteorological observations made aided Allied shipping in the South Atlantic Ocean. He dropped a small American flag on the pole, and the explorers rode their horses back to Little America, where they landed safely at 10:31 a.m. Our aim is the revive and preserve naval history! The celebrations surrounding the end of World War II had barely ended when the Cold War commenced between the Western Allies and their Soviet former partner. L/S as he is picked up by a boat. Operation Tabarin was the code name for a secret British expedition to the Antarctic during World War Two, operational 1943-46.Conducted by the Admiralty on behalf of the Colonial Office, its primary objective was to strengthen British claims to sovereignty of the British territory of the Falkland Islands Dependencies (FID), to which Argentina and Chile had made counter claims since the . The North Pole is thought to have been reached in 1961, but this has been disputed. With the assistance of nearly 5000 U.S. military personnel, as well as every resource available to the Navy, the U.S. military performed Operation Highjump (OpHJP). [26] The Forces mail address Naval Party 475 was allocated for the bases to be established, and Naval Party 470 for the expedition ship. [Our Real War of the Worlds"]. [28], Marine biologist and polar explorer James Marr was selected as leader of the expedition. On one of Byrds flights magnetic instrument pods detected a massive coal deposit. [79], Among other accomplishments, it brought Chilean President Gabriel Gonzlez Videla to inaugurate one of its bases personally, and he thereby became the first head of state to set foot on the continent. According to legend, he was the first to reach the North and South Poles via airplane. During its return flight the rotor blades became so coated with ice that the helicopter crashed several feet short of the ships landing pad. [49][64] As spring advanced Lamb took advantage of the low tides and melting snow to conduct an ecological study of the local beaches, Marr encouraging the others to collect zoological specimens. William Scoresby proceeded through the sea ice and landed a reconnoitering party, but, though urged to follow, the Fitzroy's captain, Keith Pitt, and Captain David Roberts (a representative of the Falkland Islands Company), decided they could not risk the ship. For 13 days weather conditions prevented any attempt to search for the downed PBM. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. This article is copyright and should not be added in its entirety on other websites or email lists without authors permission. Admiral Byrd was an American explorer who led many expeditions to Antarctica. April 29, 2023 LUFOS Documentaries, Latest posts 0. What happened on that flight? The expedition failed, but 71 years later, players have a chance for a rematch: in the mode, a team of 12 ships will face 12 flying saucers. The line suddenly snaps and he falls into sea. In addition to the loss of expedition mail, this compromised the expedition's secrecy as correspondence now passed through Montevideo. Copyright 2012. [4], Following the outbreak of World War II, Allied shipping across the globe became vulnerable to attacks by German Navy commerce raiders and U-boats. George 1 climbed to 1,000 feet to get above the snow and ice. Facing the prospect of an emergency landing and difficult rescue, Byrd ordered any item that was not bolted down thrown out of the aircraft, save for the photographic material. All footage can be viewed on the British Path website. [2][10], After the operation ended, a follow-up Operation Windmill returned to the area in order to provide ground-truthing to the aerial photography of HIGHJUMP from 1947 to 1948. One helicopter was allotted to each of the icebreakers and one to the carrier Philippine Sea. The media covered the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition nearly as thoroughly as the first, but the men from Little America broadcast the radio programs that were played throughout American homes. The naval contingent, known as Task Force 68, was commanded by Rear Adm. Richard H. Cruzen and Rear Adm. Richard E. Byrd commanded the scientific and research elements, with six Douglas R4D-5L aircraft (Navy C-47As) at his disposal. Researchers speculate about what really happened and why Robert Frost was silenced for decades. exopolitics.org. [36] As the Bransfield was too small to carry the whole load, some of the cargo, including the prefabricated hut, had already been shipped aboard SS Groix and Ragnhidsholm, and now more stores and two expedition members were allocated to SS Marquesa. On January 17, 1947 at 0700 hours, Szehwach said: I and my shipmates in the pilothouse port side observed for several minutes the bright lights that ascended about 45 degrees into the sky very quickly We couldnt i.d., the lights, because our radar was limited to 250 miles in a straight line. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. With Fitzroy now running low on coal and no suitable landing site having been found, Marr agreed that the expedition should make for Port Lockroy, Wiencke Island, a well known safe harbour with several low rocky islets where the base could be built. The stars of Operation Highjump appeared to be the helicopters employed by the fleet. Other operations would follow, including the U.S. Navys Operation Windmill in 1947-48, and eventually treaties were signed by all involved nations to ensure that Antarctica remained a nonmilitary zone. Youwere trapped in an aircraft for five hours, in zones where the weather changed minute by minute.. [15][18][23] Mackintosh prepared a detailed scientific programme for the shore parties. In 1947, Admiral Richard E. Byrd led 4,000 military troops from the U.S., Britain and Australia in an invasion of Antarctica called "Operation Highjump", and at least one follow-up expedition. On August 26, 1946, chief of U.S. naval operations Admiral Chester Nimitz announced that a massive combined military expedition dubbed Operation Highjump would be launched into Antarctica in December during summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Operation Highjump - declassified pictures, UFO evidence This was done by establishing permanently occupied bases, carrying out administrative activities such as postal services and undertaking scientific research. The wars end also signaled the onset of the atomic age and a corresponding desire among the victorious nations to secure supplies of uranium and other natural resources. measures in Antarctica testify that American military circles are seeking to subject the polar regions to their control and create military bases.. It is a little-known fact that the United States Navy was defeated in Antarctica by a small group of Norwegian whalers in a skirmish that came to be known as the Battle of Antarctica. Though plausible, this is highly unlikely given that the US and USSR were still allies at the time of Operation Highjump, and had a common interest in finding and destroying any hidden Nazi base(s) in the South Atlantic. Did US Navy battle UFOs protecting Nazi Antarctic sanctuary in 1947 If the fortress was in Antarctica, was it built by the Nazis, or discovered there? On November 12 Admiral Byrd stated at a press conference that Operation Highjump was primarily a military mission to train naval personnel, test ships, planes and the new helicopters under frigid zone conditions. The British concluded that occupation was indeed necessary to end these tit-for-tat tactics. Several were well known to them through the Discovery Investigations, including the chief steward Thomas Berry, ship's carpenter Lewis Ashton, senior wireless operator James Farrington, handymen John Matheson and Gwion Davies. It is undeniable. [11][12], In January 1942, Argentina's Comisin Nacional del Antrtico dispatched the transport ARAPrimero de Mayo to Deception Island, afterwards sailing to the Melchior Islands, Palmer Archipelago and Winter Island. Norwegian trawlers in the area reported the ice to be the heaviest in more than 40 years. In September a party of four, man hauling two sledges, undertook a topographic survey of Wiencke Island over 25 days, in challenging terrain and poor weather conditions. [18][19] Final instructions were issued in November 1943, clarifying the physical and political objectives, importance of the issuing of stamps, appointment of magistrates and other acts of sovereignty. So too, the Maddox cited by Soviet espionage was similarly consigned to an official memory hole. That is fact. The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet. [72] A sledging expedition from Hope was launched in August. Upon reaching the Ross Ice Shelf, the Central Group ships would disgorge the small aircraft, ice vehicles, supplies, tents and sled dogs. Michael E. Salla. The smaller Sikorsky HNS-1 accommodated a pilot and one passenger and had a range of 130 miles. Both these factors added to the pressure Marr was under. After they had been flying for three hours, the weather took a turn for the worse. Although the United States ultimately won the war, the Battle of Antarctica was a humiliating defeat for the Navy. By the time Operation Highjump was completed on March 1, a dozen helo flights had been made to the base. [1], Following Cabinet approval in January 1943, there was an intensive period of planning, recruitment and procurement, before the expedition left the UK in November 1943, led by Lieutenant-Commander James Marr. In 1946/1947 the US Government launched Operation: High Jump. Northwind was critical to the mission since the thick ice could crack open a thin-skinned ship like a can opener.