First permanent base established 80 years ago today
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Base A was established as part of Operation Tabarin at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, near Wiencke Island, on 11th February 1944 and occupied by 9 men during the 1944 winter. This was the first permanent base in Antarctica and is still occupied today.
Named after the Tabarin nightclub in Paris, this operation was set up to deny safe anchorages to German raiding vessels in the South Atlantic and also served to reinforce British territorial claims to the Falkland Island Dependencies at a time when this was being challenged.
When the war ended it was transferred to the Falklands Islands Dependencies Survey (now the British Antarctic Territory) and used as a base for scientific research, being occupied continually until 1962. In 1995/96 it was designated “Historic Site & Monument No 61”, was taken over by The Antarctic Heritage Trust who sent a 4-man team to re-open it. They spent 9 weeks restoring the old base and re-establishing it’s Post Office which has been open every summer season since.
The “Penguin Post Office” at Port Lockroy is currently the most visited site in the Antarctic, welcoming up to 18,000 visitors each season. The British Antarctic Monument Trust visited Port Lockroy during its Voyage to Remember in March 2015.
