German Antarctic Base

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 209, 3 September 1941, Page 4

German Antarctic Base

Germany maintained Antarctic naval repair shops at Deception Island Harbour, only COO miles from South America, until they were blown up n few months ago. This statement was made by a member of Admiral Byrd’s Antarctic expedition on arrival in Boston. Dr. Paula Simpe, who was in charge of the expedition’s base in Little America (reported the New York correspondent of the Daily Mail) told Admiral Byrd, who met him at the dock, that he had received this information from “a high officer” in the Chilean Navy when their ship, tbe North Star, stopped at a Chilean port. “The officer told me,’’ he said, “that repair shops had been built on Deception Island and that German explorers were in the area in 1938. “The officer said the shops had been blown up, and added, ‘You can draw your own conclusions as to who may have done it.* ’• Dr. Simpe said that by the time bt received this report it was impossible to make any attempt at verification, but

he thought it quite possible the Graf Spee may have used Deception Island as a base. According fo Reuter, some of tho Byrd expedition state that British naval forces blew up a Norwegian whaler repair ship in Deception Bay to prevent

forces blew up a 1 pair ship in Decej its use by the Ger