Eske Brun (May 25, 1904 – October 11, 1987) was a high civil servant in and later governor of Greenland and in relation to Greenland from 1932 to 1964.
Early life and career
Eske Brun was born in Aalborg in the northern part of Jutland, Denmark. Eske Brun was baptized on the 12th of July, 1904, at Ålborg Vor Frue parish. Aalborg County. DK. His father, Charles Brun (Denmark) died when he was 15, on January 28, 1919, at the age of 52. Eske Brun and his mother, Rigmor Hansen (Including two sisters and three brothers) moved to Ordrup north of Copenhagen. He began studying in 1922, and received a law-degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1929. In 1932, at the age of 28, Eske Brun first visited Greenland, and was given a substitute job as governor of North Greenland situated in Godhavn, Greenland. In 1939 he got a permanent position as governor. On September 17, 1937, Copenhagen, Denmark, Eske Brun married Ingrid Winkel.
World War II and ensuing service
When World War II began and the connection to Copenhagen (the capital of the Kingdom of Denmark, which Greenland was a part of) was severed, on account of the German occupation, (Operation Weserübung.) and his colleague Aksel Svane, via the law concerning the government of Greenland of 1925, took control of the island, becoming de facto "Independent.". But during the occupation, Greenland had had increased self-determination because the Danish political system was in shambles, they established supply-lines from the United States and Canada with the help of the Danish ambassador in Washington, Henrik Kauffmann. From 1941 until the end of the war, Aksel Svane was situated in the U.S. to organize the supplies and Eske Brun became governor of South Greenland as well. The administration was centralized in Godthåb (Nuuk).
Greenland under Eske Brun's Administration
Greenland was effectively able to survive reasonably well during the conflict with at least the majority of aspects in wartime existence, with the Ivittut Cryolite mine being a major contribution in keeping Greenland stable. Ivittut, having held the world's largest reserve of naturally occurring Cryolite, a mineral that was used in the manufacturing of fighter planes and aluminum, there was a genuine fear was that;
“one well-directed shot from the deck gun of a German submarine or a clever act of sabotage by one of the workmen could have seriously damaged the cryolite mine, might have perhaps put it out of operation and thereby disrupted the Canadian aluminum industry, on which Allied aircraft production was heavily dependent. To prevent this, the local authorities had organized a mine guard armed with rifles and a few machine guns and had obtained from the United States a 3-inch Anti-Aircraft Gun manner by former U.S. Coast Guard gunners.".
Were this fear realized, then this would have negatively impacted the production of Aluminum, seeing its usage in it, and the production of Aircraft for the war effort would have been hampered significantly, which would have most certainly damaged the Allied war effort, if not destroyed production of aeronautic weaponry entirely in the United States and Canada. Cryolite is used as a solvent for bauxite in the electrolytic production of aluminum and has various other metallurgical applications, and is used in the glass and enamel industries, and Aluminum is used in aircraft due to its lightweight nature. Supplies were provided by the United States and included surveying operations to scout the Greenlandic coastline, the patrols' effectiveness was decreased significantly with the poor weather of the area.