5,00 USD
Byrd Antarctic Expedition II
Date of issue - 1933
4 Unused Three Cent Postage Stamps
This stamp was not distributed for public sale. It was issued for use on letters mailed through the Little America Post Office which was established at the base camp of the Byrd Antarctic Expedition in the territory of the South Pole. There was a service charge of 50 in addition to the 3 postage rate.
The Byrd Antarctic Expedition II stamp received immediate endorsement from the Post Office Department when an approved model and three die proofs were sent on September 22, 1933, from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. This 3-cent vertical stamp, the same size and shape as a Special Delivery stamp, was intended for the collectors' market alone. The Post Office Department arranged for philatelic mail bearing this stamp to be carried by the expedition and postmarked at the Little America post office at the expedition's base camp for a fee of fifty-three cents.
Byrd Antarctic Expedition II - 1933-1935
Many questions were left unanswered upon conclusion of Byrd's first Antarctic expedition (1928 - 1930). Plans were soon made for a second expedition as many of the experienced men would still be available and polar interest in America was thriving. Despite declining interest in the region for many years, Americans were quick to resume that interest following the great successes of the First Byrd Expedition and the Wilkins-Hearst Expedition between 1928 and 1930. Daily newspaper and radio accounts, particularly of the South Polar flight and discovery of Marie Byrd Land, made Byrd's first expedition a topic of conversation throughout America. America was in the midst of a great economic depression in the early thirties, however the persuasions of the American public resulted in necessary resources and funding for a second assault on the ice. The Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition was covered as thoroughly in the media as the first but it was the radio programs broadcast by the men from Little America which spilled into the living rooms of America that sustained and encouraged American presence in the Antarctic during this expedition and the others that followed.
OPERATION HIGH-JUMP
In 1947 Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal sent a naval task force to Antarctic Admiral including Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Krusen called "Operation Highjump". It was to be an expedition to find coal deposits and other valuable resources, but in actuality they were trying to find the underground base of the Nazis and Aryans (member or descendant of the prehistoric people who spoke Indo-European) in Neuschwabenlandt (area of Antarctica between 20°E and 10°W in Queen Maud Land). The Nazis had done a very detailed study of Antarctic and were alleged to have built an underground base there. In this regard however, the Aryans have had an underground habitation in Antarctic for more than a million years.
The task force of over 40 ships included the flagship Mount Olympus, the aircraft carrier Philipine Sea, the seaplane tender Pine Sea, the submarine Senate, the destroyer Bronson, the ice breaker Northwind, and other tanker and supply ships. An armed contingent of 1400 sailors, and three dog sled teams were also on board.
Admiral Byrd's team of six R4-D's (DC-3's) were fitted with the super secret Trimetricon spy cameras and each plane was trailing a magnetometer. They flew over as much of the continent as they could in the short three month summer period, mapping and recording magnetic data. Magnetometers show anomalies in the Earth's magnetism such as a hollow place under the surface ice or ground.
On the last of many mapping flights where all six planes went out, each on certain pre-ordained paths to film and measure with magnetometers Admiral Byrd's plane returned three hours late.
It was stated that he had lost an engine and had had to throw everything overboard except the films themselves and the results of magnetometer readings in order to maintain altitude long enough to return to Little America. It is speculated this is when he met with representatives of the Aryans and a contingent of Nazis.
The task force came steaming back with their data which then became classified "top secret". Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal retired and started to talk. He was put in Bethesda Naval Hospital psychiatric ward where he was prevented from seeing or talking to anyone including his wife. After a short while he was thrown out the window while trying to hang himself with a bedsheet. It was ruled a suicide, case closed. He was telling people about the underground Aryan base.
This is a great inexpensive gift for anyone.
A nice addition to any card, gift or just on its own.
Stamps come in 3" x 4" 12 mil thickness
High-Quality Rigid PVC Plastic Holder - Acid Free
Holder is clear.
Stamps can be removed from top of holder.
U.S. Shipping is Free.
Shipping is USPS FCM Letter.