Operation Tabarin: Encyclopedia II - Operation Tabarin - Reasons for the expedition

Operation Tabarin - Reasons for the expedition

The decision to launch the operation was taken when Winston Churchill was out of the country. A memo from him following news of the bases in the press also indicates that he was apparently unaware of the decision. In it, he expresses concern that the move may harm relations with the USA during the preparations for Operation Overlord (the invasion of Normandy). A reply from the Foreign Office indicated that the operation was launched not because the USA had failed to recognise British claims to the territory, but to reassert British territorial claims against Argentine and Chilean incursion.

It has also been suggested that the operation may have partially been a disinformation excercise, nominally to detect suspected German naval replenishment activity - information which was, in fact, being obtained from the cracking of the Enigma machine. Whether or not this was the case may be revealed when the remaining government files are released.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Reasons for the expedition", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki