Rock cairn and items from 'Operation Windmill' (January 1948) rediscovered in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica

Damian B. Gore; Sonja Berg; Amber E. Howard; Marie Weber

doi:10.1017/S095410202400049X

Rock cairn and items from 'Operation Windmill' (January 1948) rediscovered in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica

Damian B. Gore^*, Sonja Berg, Amber E. Howard, Marie Weber

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Natural Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

A rock cairn, with two matchbooks buried beneath, was found on the summit of the highest hill on Thomas Island, Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. The matchbooks are most likely from United States World War II-era ration packs, which were distributed to various military and civilian expeditions from the mid-1940s into the 1950s. Bunger Hills was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Highjump' in February 1947, when a seaplane most likely landed on a marine inlet, rather than a lake as reported previously. Thomas Island was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Windmill' in January 1948, when a survey point was established, and it is probably this location that is marked by the rock cairn. The matchbooks were replaced beneath the cairn and the rocks replaced. Just over 76 years had elapsed between burial of the matchbooks, construction of the cairn and their rediscovery.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-4
Number of pages	4
Journal	Antarctic Science
Volume	37
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S095410202400049X
Publication status	Published - Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

historical site
matchbook
United States Navy

Access to Document

10.1017/S095410202400049XLicence: CC BY

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 496 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{465e8de336a14af99129d2451affbb61,

title = "Rock cairn and items from 'Operation Windmill' (January 1948) rediscovered in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica",

abstract = "A rock cairn, with two matchbooks buried beneath, was found on the summit of the highest hill on Thomas Island, Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. The matchbooks are most likely from United States World War II-era ration packs, which were distributed to various military and civilian expeditions from the mid-1940s into the 1950s. Bunger Hills was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Highjump' in February 1947, when a seaplane most likely landed on a marine inlet, rather than a lake as reported previously. Thomas Island was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Windmill' in January 1948, when a survey point was established, and it is probably this location that is marked by the rock cairn. The matchbooks were replaced beneath the cairn and the rocks replaced. Just over 76 years had elapsed between burial of the matchbooks, construction of the cairn and their rediscovery.",

keywords = "historical site, matchbook, United States Navy",

author = "Gore, \{Damian B.\} and Sonja Berg and Howard, \{Amber E.\} and Marie Weber",

note = "Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

year = "2025",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1017/S095410202400049X",

language = "English",

volume = "37",

pages = "1--4",

journal = "Antarctic Science",

issn = "0954-1020",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press (CUP)",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rock cairn and items from 'Operation Windmill' (January 1948) rediscovered in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica

AU - Gore, Damian B.

AU - Berg, Sonja

AU - Howard, Amber E.

AU - Weber, Marie

N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2025. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2025/2

Y1 - 2025/2

N2 - A rock cairn, with two matchbooks buried beneath, was found on the summit of the highest hill on Thomas Island, Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. The matchbooks are most likely from United States World War II-era ration packs, which were distributed to various military and civilian expeditions from the mid-1940s into the 1950s. Bunger Hills was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Highjump' in February 1947, when a seaplane most likely landed on a marine inlet, rather than a lake as reported previously. Thomas Island was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Windmill' in January 1948, when a survey point was established, and it is probably this location that is marked by the rock cairn. The matchbooks were replaced beneath the cairn and the rocks replaced. Just over 76 years had elapsed between burial of the matchbooks, construction of the cairn and their rediscovery.

AB - A rock cairn, with two matchbooks buried beneath, was found on the summit of the highest hill on Thomas Island, Bunger Hills, East Antarctica. The matchbooks are most likely from United States World War II-era ration packs, which were distributed to various military and civilian expeditions from the mid-1940s into the 1950s. Bunger Hills was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Highjump' in February 1947, when a seaplane most likely landed on a marine inlet, rather than a lake as reported previously. Thomas Island was first visited by United States Navy 'Operation Windmill' in January 1948, when a survey point was established, and it is probably this location that is marked by the rock cairn. The matchbooks were replaced beneath the cairn and the rocks replaced. Just over 76 years had elapsed between burial of the matchbooks, construction of the cairn and their rediscovery.

KW - historical site

KW - matchbook

KW - United States Navy

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85216429973

U2 - 10.1017/S095410202400049X

DO - 10.1017/S095410202400049X

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85216429973

SN - 0954-1020

VL - 37

SP - 1

EP - 4

JO - Antarctic Science

JF - Antarctic Science

IS - 1

ER -

Rock cairn and items from 'Operation Windmill' (January 1948) rediscovered in Bunger Hills, East Antarctica

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this