The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol (), known informally as ''Siriuspatruljen'' (the Sirius Patrol) and formerly known as ''North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol'' and ''Resolute Dog Sled Patrol'', is an

elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

Danish naval unit. It conducts long-range reconnaissance patrolling, and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness of northern and eastern

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, an area that includes the Northeast Greenland National Park, which is the largest national park in the world. Patrolling is usually done in pairs and using

dog sled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow, a practice known as mushing. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for Sled dog racing, dog sl ...

s with about a dozen dogs, sometimes for four months and often without additional human contact. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol has the ability to engage militarily, and has done so historically. Its purpose is to maintain Danish sovereignty and police its area of responsibility.Formål og opgaver
Forsvaret, Grønlands Kommando The physical and psychological demands for acceptance into the unit are exceptional.

History

In 1933 the

international court International courts are formed by treaties between Nation, nations, or by an international organization such as the United Nations – and include ''ad hoc'' tribunals and permanent institutions but exclude any courts arising purely under nationa ...

of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

ruled in the Danish-Norwegian dispute over Erik the Red's Land that for it to remain Danish, Denmark had to assert its sovereignty there. Initially, this presence was in the form of two fixed police stations. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, first known as the North-East Greenland Sledge Patrol, was activated in the summer of 1941 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to conduct long-range reconnaissance patrols along the northeast coast of

thereby preventing German presence there. Its headquarters was at Eskimonæs, which had been until then a scientific station. At the time, the Germans established a number of secret

weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...

s on the eastern coast of the island to provide them with invaluable meteorological information, both to assist their

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

campaign and to predict the weather in the European theatre. Thus the patrol's discovery of these stations denied Germany such information with significant implications both for the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

and for air and land fighting in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, despite the enormous distance of Greenland from the main theatres of war. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol cooperated with Nanok East Greenland Fishing Company, the only other organization active in the remote area, which built a number of hunting huts in the uninhabited expanses of north eastern Greenland. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol discovered the German weather station '' Holzauge'' at Hansa Bay on the northeast coast of Sabine Island, which was subsequently destroyed by

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) bombers from

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. During the war, the unit suffered one man killed in action. Two others were captured by German forces, but escaped and rejoined the patrol. In 2008, the National Bank of Denmark issued a 10- DKK

commemorative coin A commemorative coin is a coin issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Some coins of this category serve as collector's items only, while most commemora ...

of Sirius. On 16 September 2023, an unwitnessed

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

resulting from the 2023 Greenland landslide struck the northern part of Ella Island, penetrating inland and devastating the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol station there, washing much of it into the sea. The station was closed for the winter, and no one was present when the wave hit. The

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''Ocean Albatros'' arrived on the scene on 17 September and contacted the Joint Arctic Command with the first report of the damage. On 19 September, personnel from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol and the

Royal Danish Navy The Royal Danish Navy (, ) is the Naval warfare, sea-based branch of the Danish Armed Forces force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Denmark, Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and ...

patrol vessel began clean-up and salvage work at the site, which they completed by 21 September despite a 20 September warning by officials to ships in the area to avoid putting crew members or passengers ashore because of a risk of additional tsunamis.

Organization

Since October 2012, the Joint Arctic Command has been responsible for the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol used to be operationally under the Greenland Command, and administratively under the

and also represents Denmark's military presence in northeast

. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol operates in the northern and northeastern part of Greenland, from the west coast of Hall Land ( Petermann Fjord and

Glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

) to Cape Biot north of Fleming Fjord . The flying distance between the two points is about , but the length along the coastline is far greater, around The

Greenland ice sheet The Greenland ice sheet is an ice sheet which forms the second largest body of ice in the world. It is an average of thick and over thick at its maximum. It is almost long in a north–south direction, with a maximum width of at a latitude ...

is not a part of the patrolled area. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol is stationed at Daneborg (), and maintains personnel at Station Nord,

Danmarkshavn Danmarkshavn (Denmark's Harbour) is a small weather station located in Dove Bay, on the northeastern shore of the Germania Land Peninsula, in Northeast Greenland National Park, Greenland. History The location was chosen as a suitable winter harb ...

, and Mestersvig. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol uses more than 50 depot huts scattered across the patrolled area. The depot huts are resupplied by small boats in the southern area, and by aircraft in the northern part. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol consists of six

teams for the duration of the year, each consisting of two men, and 11 to 15 dogs. When traveling, each team carries approximately , depending on the distance to the next depot. As of 2015, the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol consisted of 12 patrolmen and two radio operators.

Operational structure

Sled patrolling is divided into two periods. Depending on when the ice becomes thick enough, the autumn patrol starts sometime in November, and lasts until late-December. The sun sets for the last time around the beginning of November, and in the increasing darkness the winter storms get progressively worse, and more frequent. Getting home before Christmas is therefore not always possible for members of the unit. Around the end of January, when the weather stabilizes, and the sun reappears, the longer journeys begin and last until June, when the ice begins to break apart and drift southwards. During this period, the six sled teams will cover a large part of the coastline, and within a period of three to four years all areas will be visited.

Recruitment and training

Candidates for the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol must have completed their compulsory service in the Danish Defense. At the tryouts, seven men are selected to start on about six months of various training courses. Women can apply, but none have yet. *Survival course in Greenland (five weeks) *Shooting course *Demolition course *Engine and mechanics course *Reconnaissance course *Firefighter course *Radio and communications course *First aid course *Extended first aid course *Sewing course *Truck course The courses run from December to the end of May. The final group consisting of twelve men is picked as late as two to three weeks before they depart to Greenland for 26 consecutive months. Contrary to popular belief, King Frederik X never patrolled with the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, but in 2000, he did participate in Expedition Sirius 2000 with four previous members of the patrol and a camera team, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. Subsequently, a piece of land was named after him.

Equipment

Because of the special nature of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol operations, a wide range of unique equipment is required that is not normally used by the Danish armed forces. The issued service weapons also reflect the special arctic operational conditions and requirements. Among the equipment used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol is the M1917 Enfield bolt-action rifle chambered in .30-06 Springfield, known in Danish service as the ''Gevær M/53 (17)'', and the Glock 20 pistol chambered in 10mm Auto. The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol uses the standard .30-06 Springfield M2 armor-piercing military rifle round (normally intended for use against lightly armored vehicles, protective shelters, and personnel, and can be identified by its black bullet tip.). The patrolmen are uniquely allowed to use hollow-point civilian rounds (loaded with a type of expanding bullet prohibited in warfare for Danish and many other armed forces by the Hague Convention of 1899) to defend themselves against dangerous wild animals. The patrolmen feel that the M2 armor-piercing military round is best against aggressive

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

s at long range, but that the hollow-point civilian rounds are better against an enraged musk ox. Typically, the patrolmen arrange their magazine so every third round is a hollow-point.gexpl.com ADVANCED DRAFT Whitepaper: Dangerous animal defence Greenfields Exploration Ltd January 2020
/ref> The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol formerly used '' Pistol M/49'' sidearms chambered in

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...

, but they proved insufficient as a last resort defence against the polar bears encountered, and the current issue Glock 20 pistol chambered in more powerful 10mm Auto (10×25mm) was adopted.

References

External links

Slædepatruljen SIRIUS
(in Danish) - Official homepage for Sirius Patrol
The Sirius Patrol - Destination East Greenland
Palle Norrit, former manager of the Patrol service, North and Northeast Greenland
Kursus for personnel til slædepatruljen SIRIUS (Army Combat Training School, Course for slædepatruljen SIRIUS personnel)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaedepatruljen Sirius Military units and formations of Denmark Special forces of Denmark Royal Danish Navy Military units and formations established in 1941