Svalbard The Svalbard Archipelago is in the
Arctic Ocean, from the
North Pole and a similar distance to
Norway to the south. The islands are mountainous, with permanently snow-covered peaks, some glaciated; there are occasional river terraces at the bottom of steep valleys and some coastal plains. In winter, the islands are covered in snow and the bays ice over. To the west, Spitzbergen Island has several large fiords along its west coast;
Isfjorden being up to wide. The
Gulf Stream warms the waters and the sea is ice-free during the summer. In the 1940s, there were settlements at
Longyearbyen (Longyear Town) and
Barentsburg, in inlets along the south shore of Isfjorden, in Kings Bay (Quade Hock) further north along the coast and in
Van Mijenfjorden to the south. The settlements attracted colonists from many places; the treaty of 1920 neutralised the islands and recognised the mineral and fishing rights of the participating countries. Before 1939, the population consisted of about mostly Norwegian and Soviet workers in the mining industry.
Drift mines were linked to the shore by overhead cable tracks or rails and coal dumped over the winter was collected by ship after the summer thaw. By 1939 production was about a year, split between Norway and the
USSR.
Second World War During the
Second World War, the Svalbard Archipelago was the scene of several military operations. In August 1941, British, Canadian and
Free Norwegian Forces landed on Spitzbergen during
Operation Gauntlet to destroy the coal industry, associated equipment and stores. No attempt was made to establish a garrison and the civilian population was evacuated.
Germany set up manned meteorological stations in the
Arctic to improve weather forecasts, vital for the warfare against
Allied convoys from the
UK to the USSR. Dr
Erich Etienne, a former Polar explorer, commanded an operation to install a manned station on the islands. Advent Bay (
Adventfjorden) was chosen for its broad valley, a safer approach and landing ground for aircraft. The subsoil of alluvial gravel was acceptable for an airstrip and the south-eastern orientation of the high ground did not impede wireless communication with
Banak in Norway; the settlement of Longyearbyen was close by. The site received the code-name (from Banak and Spitzbergen Öya) and ferry flights of men, equipment and supplies began on 25 September. The British followed events from
Bletchley Park through
Ultra, four British minesweepers were diverted to investigate and reached Isfjorden on 19 October. A 5 aircraft crew spotted the ships and the thirty men at Adventfjorden quickly were flown to safety by the aircraft and two
Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft. Adventfjorden was deserted when the British arrived but some code books were recovered; the Germans returned once the ships had departed. Dr Albrecht Moll and three men arrived to spend the winter of 1941–1942 transmitting weather reports. On 29 October 1941,
Hans Knoespel and five weathermen were installed by the at
Signehamna, a small bay on
Lilliehöökfjorden, a branch of
Krossfjorden in north-western Spitzbergen. An automatic weather station () with a thermometer, barometer, transmitter and batteries arrived at Banak, to be flown to and the Moll party to be brought back. It took until 12 May for favourable weather; a
Heinkel He 111 and a
Junkers Ju 88 were sent with supplies and the technicians to install the . In April 1942,
Operation Fritham, the landing of a Norwegian force at Barentsburg to occupy the islands, met with disaster but by the summer of 1943, the later Allied
Operation Gearbox and
Operation Gearbox II secured Allied control of the islands. ==Prelude==