FROM: LT COL OLSEN, OSS/DET66
TO: DET66/SG
DATE: 2 FEB 1945
RE: OPERATION SEA WINDOW

We have mounting evidence of a large-scale Nazi operation in Antarctica. To whit:

• Prewar German expeditions in along the Queen Maud coast reported finding geothermal springs and extensive cave systems, and nazi territorial goals in the Neuschwabenland region were only put on hold by the outbreak of hostilities.
• U-boat combat patrols in the south Atlantic have steadily increased since 1941. German merchant raider vessels continue to operate between the Falklands, Kerguelen, and Tristan de Cuhna with impunity.
• Six Type XIV "Milch Kuh" U-boats are currently unaccounted for, and 3 of the most advanced XX boats (U-1701, 02, 03) have been completed in Kiel in great secrecy. These boats can move 800 tons of materiel each, and they are also unaccounted for.
• Admiral Doenitz publicly boasted in 1943 that the German submarine fleet has built "in another part of the world a Shangri-La on land, an impregnable fortress."
• Allied signals intelligence assets in India and Australia have intercepted ENIGMA messages to the OKM monsun U-boat fleet in the Indian ocean referring to "Base 211". This was the name given to the 1939 Neuschwabenland expedition meterological station at the base of the Muhlig-Hoffman mountains in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.

This operation comes down straight from the top, green-lighted by President Roosevelt himself. SG is to proceed to Perth, Australia via special transport and board AM294, USS Salute, LT R.H. Nelson in command, which will proceed to the Queen Maud coast. The Salute has a Cessna Bird-Dog ski-plane aboard for aerial reconnaissance, but SG will largely be under its own power and authority once ashore. We are sending logistical requests ahead to CINCSWPAC; you should be fully outfitted for an extended stay on the continent if necessary.

For you edification, Colonel Donovan asked me to pass along the following, and I quote:

"I don't need to tell you that we, and SG in particular, have been stretched pretty thin lately, and I'm sorry as hell to send you boys back into the snow. You are all due some leave, but it has to wait -- the war in Europe is almost over, and the nazis are desperate. We need to know what they are up to in Antarctica. Right now you are all we've got, but it'll be plenty. Good luck."

Gentlemen, the Colonel's tender regrets aside, we have a job to do, and the return of accurate intelligence is paramount. The destruction or reduction of German assets is secondary but encouraged if possible. Be advised that other DET66 teams will be operating in the south Atlantic area, pursuing other objectives related to this mission. Since you will be in liaison with the United States Navy, I expect both professionalism and courtesy from each of you. You are an unconventional unit but you are first and foremost officers in the United States Army.

Godspeed,

Olsen, LT COL, OSS/DET66