Operation Haudegen

Location of Svalbard

Operation Haudegen (Operation Swashbuckler or Unternehmen Haudegen in German) was the name of a German operation during the Second World War to establish meteorological stations on Svalbard. In September 1944, the submarine U-307 and the supply ship Carl J. Busch transported the men of Unternehmen Haudegen to Svalbard. The station was active from 9 September 1944 to 4 September 1945 but lost radio contact in May 1945. The soldiers were capable of asking for support only in August 1945 and on 4 September, were picked up by a Norwegian seal hunting vessel and surrendered to its captain. The group of men were the last German troops to surrender after the Second World War.

See also

• Japanese holdout
• End of World War II in Europe

Select bibliography

• Operation Haudegen German Wikipedia
• Article on the "weather war" in the North Atlantic
• Article on the history of Svalbard Island
• "Vergessen, verloren, verwirrt" ("Forgotten, lost, confused", in German), Berliner Morgenpost, March 20, 2005.
• Gareth Davies Daily Mail Online 26 July 2016
• "Die vergessenen Haudegen". Der Spiegel. 3 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
• Dege, Wilhelm (2004). War North Of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station Of World War II. Boulder, Colorado: University Press of Colorado. ISBN 0-87081-768-X.

Coordinates: 80°04′N 22°24′E / 80.067°N 22.400°E / 80.067; 22.400