The Project 02 - The Lance

recovered by Patton's army in 1945. It was returned to Vienna, where it can be seen today as part of the Hapsburg Imperial Regalia.
    The legend of the Lance is as stated in the book. The technology did not exist in 1938 to accurately date the relic. More recently, the Vienna Lance has been proven to be no older than the sixth or seventh century CE.
    Rumors have persisted since the end of the war that the Lance recovered by Patton is a forgery and that the Nazis hid the real one. There is no doubt at all that Hitler viewed it as a divine and magical object offering power to the one who held it. Himmler had a copy that he used for his rituals. That is also documented, although no one knows what those rituals were. What if Himmler had the real thing and Hitler had the copy?
    It is said that Reinhardt Heydrich was the one person who fully understood the power of the Lance. He was the true architect of the "Final Solution". A genuine sociopathic narcissist who believed himself beloved by the Czech people he brutally oppressed, Heydrich was number two in the SS hierarchy after Himmler. The tide turned against the Nazis in 1942, about the same time Heydrich was killed by Czech partisans. If he was able to invoke some occult power from the Lance and no one else knew how, that would explain a lot, wouldn't it? If so, it's a damn good thing they killed him. It's a good thing anyway.
    The secret Antarctica base has never been found, but it's another of those rumors that just won't go away. The internet is full of things like drawings purporting to be plans of Nazi flying saucers and secret weapons, supposedly built there. Admiral Doenitz did actually refer to an invincible fortress in the Antarctic.
    After WWII a large military expedition code named Operation Highjump was launched by the United States, Britain and Australia, under command of Admiral Byrd, partly to try and find this base. They searched on the western side of Antarctica, which has much better weather than the eastern side where I put it. Nobody really knows what else the military was doing there, but the operation did take place.
    There is a German Antarctic research station near the Fenris Mountains named Neumayer III. I modeled my station after that one. You can find a picture of it on the internet.
    Type IXD U-boats existed as described, likewise the D2s. The last known D2 was number 884. Early in the war the numbers were removed from the U-Boats and badges like the one I have described were used to identify boat and crew.
    For more about runes, Elder Futhark and translation, visit this great website about runes; http://www.vikingrune.com/rune-converter/. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make this happen. Thank you!

    Thanks to Gayle, Greg, JJ, Glenn, Ron, Noah, Ger. Others, who encouraged me. No one writes alone.