"As for now, consider these some of the mysteries which remains from World War II and the period of time immediately thereafter. Operation Paperclip and Operation High Jump are the two most fascinating I have found so far."
I have penned an article on Operation Paperclip in the past. It is one of the most fascinating post World War II events that I have read about. And to make sure I was not getting "fake news" or revisionist history, I went to many different and reputable sources to get my information. And as intriguing and interesting as Paperclip was, it is almost pale in comparison to Operation High jump.
First off, Paperclip. The Nazis had barely surrendered and the hunt was on for some of the unique talent the Nazis were able to use during the war. In particular, rocket technology which let to the development and use of the V-2 rocket. The brainchild behind the V-2 rocket was a very bright young man named Wernher von Braun. He and his team of scientists were the brains behind this deadly rocket which killed over 9,000 military and civilians in England.
One would think the Brits were anxious to get their hands on von Braun and his team to have them tried as a war criminals. But hold the phone. The United States was about to wipe the slate clean and absolve von Braun and many members of his team from paying any kind of a price. In fact, Operation Overcast, which was later re-named Operation Paperclip, was going to make these folks the deal of the century. Play ball with us, develop our space program, and live the good life in the home of the free.
It was important for the United States to get as many of these folks as possible before the Russians did. We beat them to the best and brightest, but the Russians still managed to get their hands on the scientists we passed over. By the way, Overcast was renamed Paperclip because as dossiers on Nazi scientists were evaluated, the ones we wanted to retain were paper-clipped. Thus the name change.
There is much more to the clandestine aspects of Paperclip which I will not go into now. Instead, I want to take you down a deeper rabbit hole. That would be Operation High Jump.
The more I research on this, the more mysterious it becomes. And yes, the conspiracy experts love this one. But I have just tried to find the facts, as on the surface, this entire operation did not make much sense.
Shortly after World War II ended, Operation High Jump commenced. It lasted from August of 1946 to February of 1947. The United States Navy, under command of Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, sent a task force of almost 5,000 men, 13 ships and 33 aircraft to Antarctica. The official "purpose" of this visit was to establish a research base called Little America IV.
Many who are familiar with this operation have a couple of questions. First, since the war was just over, we had our hands full just getting the world put back together. Plus trying to keep the Russians from taking everything they could as the spoils of war. Next, that in and by itself was an awful big task force just to do some mapping and setting up a research base. Is it possible there could have been some other reason for a force this large? And why were they there only 8 weeks, when the operation was initially planned for 8 months?
This is where the rabbit hole starts to really get deep. It was also believed by some the Nazis had established a base in Antarctica. Prior to the start of World War II, the Nazis were rumored to have set up Neuschwabenland spurred on by an Antarctic expedition of the same name. It is believed that the Nazis had established a base in Antarctica not for research, but weapon development. And when the war appeared to be lost, many Nazis fled there in U-Boats.
Anyhow, what happened down in Antarctica remains a mystery yet today. It was classified by the Navy, and maybe some of it still is. I am going to try to find other places to search to find out more details on High Jump. If I can find anything of validity, I will pen an subsequent article. One word of warning however, it is a nest bed for conspiracy theorists and other wackos.
As for now, consider these some of the mysteries which remains from World War II and the period of time immediately thereafter. Operation Paperclip and Operation High Jump are the two most fascinating I have found so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment