Operation Tabarin: Britain’s Secret Wartime Expedition to Antarctica 1944-46

Full of extraordinary characters, this is the only book to describe this secret mission. In 1943, Churchill’s War Cabinet met to discuss the opening of a new front. Its battles would be fought amidst the glaciers of the Antarctic. Intended to safeguard the Falkland Islands from Japanese invasion and to deny German U-boats, the expedition also sought to re-assert British territorial rights in the face of Argentine provocation. Indeed, the British bases secretly established in 1944 would also go on to play a vital part in a global conflict : the Cold War. ‘Operation Tabarin’ tells for the first time the story of one of the most curious episodes in what Ernest Shackleton called ‘the white warfare of the south’.
AUTHOR: Stephen Haddelsey is the author of four books, including ‘Ice Captain: The Life of J.R. Stenhouse’ and ‘Shackleto’‘s Dream: Fuchs, Hillary & The Crossing of Antarctica’. Polar Medal holder Alan Carroll was base leader at Port Lockroy, Antarctica, from 1954 57 and was heavily involved in Cold War-related operations there. Alan is the Historic Adviser to the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.
SELLING POINTS: . Explores the intense and antagonistic relationship of the UK and Argentina, which led ultimately to the Falklands war . Based upon previously unpublished material, including contemporary diaries, letters, minutes and reports . A new angle on British territorial aspirations during the conflict, with direct personnel links to the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration
22 b/w illustrations