Wartime landing in North America

Press, 5 August 1981, Page 9

Wartime landing in North America

NZPA London German landings from Üboats on the north-east eoast of Canada during the Second World War have been confirmed, the “Daily Telegraph” has reported. The landings were made to set up an automatic weather station to broadcast information on conditions in North Atlantic Allied shipping lanes, the newspaper said. The 1943 landing was the only one ever made by the Germans in North America during the war, : - It was discovered by smart detective work by a retired West German industrialist and a Canadian historian.

Physical evidence that the station existed was confirmed by a visit by a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker to the isolated area two weeks ago. Only rusted ruins remain of the station at Martin Bay near the northern tip of Labrador, an area visited occasionally by wandering Eskimos. 1 ” ' ■'*

The discovery was made through research started by Franz Selinger, who had worked for the Seimans company which makes electrical and scientific equipment, and who spent much of his retirement studying the war-time use of company machinery. He found references in the log of the submarine U-537 which showed it had ferried two scientists to an unidentified location on the North American coast in 1943.

Mr Selinger contacted Dr Alec Douglas, an official historian with the Canadian Defence Department, who concluded from the photographs that the terrain was northern Labrador,

At the station site, Dr Douglas and Mr Selinger found the weather vane and rusted pieces of antenna. The transmitter, which would have been battery powered, and a coding device, were missing. Canisters found lying nearby were marked “Canadian Weather Service” to disguise them. “Everything was scattered and the cables were cut,” Dr Douglas said. Cartridges found nearby suggest the station may have been partially dismantled by hunters, possibly Eskimos. Dr Douglas added that finding the station was “a very exciting moment” and there was nothing in Canadian officials record to show that such an event took place.