In 1938 Lauge Koch embarked on his last expedition to Peary Land on board the hydroplane ’Perssuak’. Upon his return he said to the Danish press: ”Peary land is very close to being an island...Our flight has shown that Peary was practically correct...It pleases me personally that we can restore Pearys name completely.”  

Kochs sketch map of Peary Land issued to the press in May 1938. The Danish caption reads: ”The result of Kochs flight: Peary was not right, but he was in good faith. The ’Peary-Channel is really two fjords and a lake.” 

Again Henning Bistrup protested. According to him Kochs attempt at restoring Peary at the expense of the Danish expeditions was uncalled for.: ”The Denmark Expedition first and foremost, and later the 1st Thule Expedition and the Alabama Expedition proved that the Peary Channel did not exist,” wrote Bistrup: ”That fact has not been changed after this flight, and Dr. Kochs atttempt at placing the continuation of the Peary Channel through Jørgen Brønlunds Fjord and further on through J. P. Kochs Fjord is completely without connection to Peary’s original map.” 

Kochs map showing Pearys map of the Peary Channel and surroundings (red) compared with his own map from the Pearssuak Expedition.

Meddelelser om Grønland, Vol. 130, No. 1, 1940.

The final map of Peary Land after the Perssuak Expedition 1938.

Meddelelser om Grønland, Vol. 130, No. 1, 1940.

The controversies over the Peary Channel was part of a far greater battle in the geoscientific community in Denmark, known in its time as ”The Lauge Koch Case”. This court case - arguably the largest public scandal in the history of recent Danish science - is thoroughly dealt with in the book by Christopher Jacob Ries: Retten, magten og æren. Lauge Koch Sagen: en strid om Grønlands geologiske udforskning. [Right, might and honour. The Lauge Koch Controversy: fighting over the geological survey of Greenland.] Lindhardt & Ringhof, 2003.

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