Jon E. Lewis, The Mammoth Book of Polar Journeys (Little, Brown Book Group, 2011) After being stranded during the Arctic winter of 1968-1969 (and supplied by air-drops from the Royal Canadian Air Force, the group would travel northward on the 156th meridian west and reach the North Pole on April 5, 1969, then continue to the other side of the globe, southward along the 24th meridian east to the island of Vesle Tavleøya in Norway, arriving on May 29, 1969 following a journey of 3620 miles . "