During the Second World War, the Arctic saw an unusually high intensity of action, adventure, excitement and tragedy, and Swastikas in the Arctic: U-boat Alley Through the Frozen Hell describes the German military activities in that harsh frozen hell. Based mainly on original logs, the bare facts have been fleshed out with help from veterans and researchers from the United States, Iceland, Britain, Norway, Germany and Russia. This has made it possible to describe some of the now forgotten battles, the secret U-boat activities, the German struggle to broadcast essential weather data to Berlin and the incredible surface ship activity that forced Britain to launch major offensives against heavy odds. The Arctic also saw intense British efforts to help with the cracking of the highly complicated Enigma radio code. Many studies of the Second World War give scant attention to activity in this ice-studded ocean. However, as becomes apparent reading this book, those who fought, suffered and died there were shot at and bombed more heavily than in any other theatre of war and the contribution they made influenced military actions far away in warmer regions. Gloriously illustrated with many unpublished photographs, Swastikas in the Arctic: U-boat Alley Through the Frozen Hell is a thrilling account of a war fought in very difficult circumstances.
