With Marc Milner’s series on the Battle of the St. Lawrence currently playing out on the pages of Legion Magazine, I was interested in these links about the  successful planting of German weather stations on what is now Canadian soil during the Second World War.

Following a series of links, I landed on the warwriting website and the tale of Kapitan-Leutnant Peter Schrewe, a U-boat captain who navigated the dangerous coastline so the Germans could set up an automated  weather station on the northern tip of Labrador at Martin Bay.

Existence of the station came to light after an Austrian historian wrote to Canada requesting more information about the incident. At first the claim was dismissed as rumour, but the Austrian historian persevered, using a historic photograph to identify which U-boat  was involved, then tracking down logbooks for the mission.

A German U-boat crew and scientists set up a weather station in Labrador. Photo: Courtesy www.warwriting.ca

In 1983, the remains of weather station Kurt were discovered (or recognized, since the site appeared to have been disturbed earlier). They have since resided at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.