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World War II was over for the Germans, but at the end of the world a Wehrmacht troop persevered. The men had an important mission for the war effort.
In early September 1944, a German Navy submarine hurtled north across the Arctic Ocean. Their mission is top secret: transport a squad of marines to Nordostland, an island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Eleven men belong to the troop with the code name “Haudegen”, and after reaching a bay in the Rijpfjord, hard work awaits them.
The men unloaded the “U-307” and the escort ship “Karl J. Busch” in a hurry, because the Allied units could attack the Germans at any time. Hundreds of pieces of cargo are carried ashore while other men build a house on land. Because when “U-307” and “Karl J. Busch” set sail again after a while, they leave almost a dozen on the uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere. “This will be their second home,” announced expedition leader Wilhelm Dege, as contemporary witness Siegfried Czapka would recall decades later in the documentary “ARD” “The War in the Arctic.”
Mines against enemies
The “Haudegen” mission is of utmost importance to the Wehrmacht. You shouldn’t fight enemy units, no, men should send weather reports south. Because for German warships, airplanes and also ground troops, being able to accurately assess upcoming weather events is of utmost importance.
That is why the Germans have repeatedly installed stations in the far north, in Greenland, Bear Island, Svalbard, and even on the Canadian coast. Well aware of what the opposing meteorologists in uniform were doing, the Allies repeatedly dug such bases. Therefore, great caution prevails in the company “Haudegen”. After installing the accommodation, eleven men in about 50 square meters, the Germans placed a barrier of mines against enemy attacks.
In any case, the actual work is not supposed to begin until long after the northeast makes landfall: in October, when huge masses of ice make the bay impassable for ships and the polar night plunges the island into a long darkness. Commander Wilhem Dege decides when to do this. He is not a professional soldier, but a civilian and scientific professor who also has experience in the Arctic.
Consequently, the man in his thirties does not lead his men as a commissioner. When the troops in Tromsø, Norway, prepared to continue towards the northeast of the country, they received the news of the sinking of the submarine “354”. That should have accompanied the mission. Then Dege asked his men if they wanted to continue participating in these circumstances. Nobody refused.
Hardboard against the arctic cold
The troops were handpicked: Siegfried Czapka of Saxony, for example, had been a radio operator in occupied Paris when he learned that volunteers were being sought for a special task in an unknown location. “We were not even allowed to tell our parents where we were going,” he later describes what happened then for the “MDR” report “Back to the end of the world.” After training to survive and fight in icy conditions, for example in the Giant Mountains, Czapka traded the rather comfortable life in the capital of France for the wasteland of the Arctic Circle.
Because shortly after the arrival of “Haudegen” the northeast is hit by strong storms, the Germans retreat to their house made of compressed wood panels. Meteorologists have to go out even in bad weather conditions. Because data has to be collected eight times a day, and a hydrogen-filled balloon is sent over and over again for this purpose. The German base in the far north sends the encoded values to the south.
In addition, you must take care of your daily needs in the harsh environment north of the Arctic Circle. Snow piles feet high, temperatures drop well below freezing.
Nordostland: The German meteorological troop lived in this small lodge for a good year. (Source: Leibniz Institute of Regional Geography, Geography Archive)
The mission has received abundant supplies, including alcoholic beverages, but firewood is still needed. As well as physical exercise. To stimulate the spirit and understanding, Dege gives lessons in the evening, for example, in literature, he has organized books. Men can relax in the sauna that they have created themselves.
Polar bear visit
On the other hand, the threat posed by the local fauna is not very relaxing. The polar bears were quick to notice the presence of people, and the “warhorses” soon came out of the house armed. Once they shot a bear. And then take care of their young until they escape.
Thus pass the days of the crew of the “Haudegen” weather station. Despite the often monotonous service, the men are concerned that war is bad. Soldiers are particularly concerned about families at home. Rightly so, in Siegfried Czapak’s native Saxony Dresden, for example, was devastated by Allied bombing in February 1945.
And dying is not that far from the basic “warrior”. At the end of 1944 he received an emergency call from his colleagues at the “Zugvogel” station, another meteorological mission, right on a ship in the Greenland Sea. “Migratory Bird” sent this single request for help, then there was silence in the ether. Nothing was heard from the ship or the crew again.
Months later there was another fall. Although in a different way. On May 8, 1945, the Wehrmacht capitulated and the war ended for the Germans. Except for the small troop from the northeast of the country, which filled the event with Steinhäger. “What will become of us?” Was the most important question men asked themselves, as Czapka reported in “War in the Arctic.” “We couldn’t go alone.”
Forgotten at the end of the world
There is still some radio contact with Tromsø, then silence. Men’s concern for their relatives grows and grows, Dege counteracts this. The island is explored on expeditions and democracy is spoken of after the end of National Socialism. And of course “Haudegen” continues to submit the data it has collected on the climate. But now without coding.
Longing glances dart towards the sea, and they always disappoint. Have you finally forgotten the “war horse”? Then on September 3, 1945, redemption arrives. A Norwegian seal hunter enters the fjord, Wilhelm Dege sets off to greet the captain. To everyone’s surprise, the German and the Norwegian embrace. The two of them had met in the past.
“Then we spent the last hours together with the Norwegians,” explains the weather radio operator at the time, Heinz Schneider, in “War in the Arctic.” Then there’s a celebration, the Germans don’t want to mess with their well-stocked grocery store. It continues until the early hours of the next day. Then something important occurs to the Norwegian captain: the Germans have yet to capitulate! This is what the victorious allied powers want.
But how? Wilhem Dege puts down his gun without further ado, and that’s the end of the matter. The last unit of the Wehrmacht in World War II laid down its arms. Later that day, the sealer “Blassel” leaves with the Germans. What remains are the remains of the “Haudegen” weather station. What the wind and the weather did not destroy is still there.
