The War Illustrated, Volume 9, No. 212, Page 205, August 3, 1945.

The arctic wastes of Spitsbergen were in 1942 the scene of a great Allied adventure – it was disclosed on June 9, 1945 – when a small meteorological party, established there to obtain vital weather information for the North Russian Convoy system, waged a five-months' “war” against Nazi meteorologists carrying out a similar task in a neighbouring fjord. For months they carried on, using a disused coalmine as shelter against ceaseless enemy air attack; while R.A.F. Coast Command flying-boats kept them alive by dropping frequent supplies and evacuating wounded, as well as themselves carrying out valuable meteorological flights. Eventually, the enemy left the area, and the Allied scientists secured the all-important data.

The “Met” force arrive at Barentsburg, in Ice Fjord, on May 13, 1942 – under the enemy's noses. The following day, while they were breaking the ice in Green Harbour, their ships were viciously attacked by four Focke-Wulf 200s. Only two of the 40 men sheltering behind tiny hummocks on the ice were, hit, however; although heavier casualties were sustained on the ships. Food, arms and clothing were lost, but the party managed to make do with old padded jerkins left behind by former Russian mineralogists, with dentists' white coats and bed-lines from the same source as camouflage.

Jul1945

Now It Can Be Told! - Phantom Patrols: G.H.Q. Liaison Regiment

Commanded by Lieut.-Col. A. H. McIntosh, this remarkable organization founded by Maj.-Gen. Hopkinson (killed while commanding the 1st Airborne Division in Italy) began secret operations early in 1940,

Read more

Aug1945

Now It Can Be Told! - Last Glorious Fight of the Glowworm

In one of the most daring and courageous sea-battles of the war, the British destroyer H.M.S. Glowworm, of 1,345 tons, fought a single-handed duel at point-blank range with the 10,000-ton German cruis

Read more