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Australasian Antarctic Expedition

May 20, 2023

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod expedition in 1907–1909. During its time in Antarctica, the expedition's sledging parties covered around 4,180 kilometres (2,600 mi) of unexplored territory, while its ship, SY Aurora, navigated 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) of unmapped coastline. Scientific activities included meteorological measurements, magnetic observations, an expansive oceanographic program, and the collection of many biological and geological samples, including the discovery of the first meteorite found in Antarctica. The expedition was the first to establish and maintain wireless contact between Antarctica and Australia. Another planned innovation – the use of an aircraft – was thwarted by an accident before the expedition sailed. The plane's fuselage was adapted to form a motorised sledge or "air-tractor", but it proved to be of very limited usefulness.

The expedition was organised into three bases: one on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and two on the Antarctic mainland. The main base, under Mawson's command, was set up at Cape Denison, about 500 kilometres (300 mi) west of Cape Adare, and a western base under Frank Wild was established on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, more than 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) west of Cape Denison. Activities at both mainland bases were hampered by extreme winds, which often made outside work impossible.

The expedition was marred by the deaths of two members during an attempt to reach Oates Land: Belgrave Edward Ninnis, who fell into a crevasse, and Xavier Mertz, who died on the harrowing return journey. Mawson, their sledging partner, was then forced to make an arduous solo trek back to base; he missed the ship, and had to spend an extra year at Cape Denison, along with a relief party of six. This sojourn was made difficult by the mental breakdown of Sidney Jeffryes, the wireless operator. When Mawson returned from Antarctica, he was given a hero's welcome and received many honours, including a knighthood. The scientific studies provided copious, detailed data – which took thirty years to completely publish – and the expedition's broad exploration program laid the groundwork for Australia's later territorial claims in Antarctica.

Background

 
Douglas Mawson (1914)

In January 1909, a three-man party from Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod expedition calculated that they had reached the South Magnetic Pole.[1] The party included a young Australian geologist, Douglas Mawson, who, inspired by his experiences, came home with thoughts of organising his own expedition. His particular interest lay not in the South Pole, but in investigating the Antarctic lands west of Cape Adare, immediately to the south of Australia. That coast had been indeterminately explored in the 1840s by the French under Dumont D'Urville and by the American Charles Wilkes, but had not been visited since.[2][3][4]

In January 1910, in London, Mawson met Robert Falcon Scott, who was then preparing his Terra Nova expedition. Mawson proposed that he should join this expedition as the head of an independent team, based at Cape Adare. Although Scott was interested, they were unable to agree on the scope of Mawson's responsibilities. Shackleton, who was in London investigating the possibility of organising and financing an expedition of his own, suggested to Mawson that he could act as its chief scientist.[5] While Shackleton raised funds by lecturing in America, Mawson was dispatched to investigate the possibility of purchasing and developing a goldmine in Hungary.[6] As the proposition looked doubtful, Mawson hurried across the Atlantic to brief Shackleton and to check that he was still committed to the expedition. On 16 May, Shackleton issued a statement confirming Mawson's position as chief scientist, adding that, should he (Shackleton) be unable to accompany the expedition, "D. Mawson will be in charge, and I shall still use my influence ... in regard to raising the necessary funds". With this assurance, Mawson returned to Australia.[7][8]

Mawson's feelings of uncertainty were renewed as months of silence followed; Shackleton was still trying to float the gold mining venture and struggling to raise funds for the expedition.[9] Finally, on 1 December, Shackleton confirmed that he would not be going but would, as promised, give Mawson his full support.[7][10]

Preparations

 
Some of the locations important for the expedition

Aims

In January 1911, Mawson revealed his plans at a meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).[11] He intended to operate in the Antarctic coastal arc between Cape Adare in the east, and Gaussberg in the west. Within these bounds, Mawson said, lay territory "of whose outline and glacial features [only] the barest evidence has been furnished".[12] A full scientific and geographical investigation of these lands would be accompanied by a ship-based oceanographic program.[13][14] The AAAS responded enthusiastically.[7] A committee was formed under the chairmanship of Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney (who had stood with Mawson at the South Magnetic Pole),[15] and Mawson soon acquired the backing of the scientific and political communities, as well as pledges of financial support from leading industrialists. Assured that his expedition was now safely launched, Mawson travelled to London to begin practical arrangements.[15]

Mawson's original intention had been to set up his main shore base at Cape Adare and establish others further west. He felt it necessary to modify this arrangement when, in March 1911, he learned that Scott's expedition was sending a northern party to the Cape Adare region. As a consequence, he decided to place his main base well to the west of the cape, in uncharted territory.[16][n 1]

Ship and equipment

 
SY Aurora anchored to floe-ice off the western base during the expedition

In London, in search of a suitable ship, Mawson sought the help of John King Davis, to whom he offered the post of ship's master and second-in-command of the expedition.[18] Davis had served as Nimrod's chief officer during Shackleton's recent expedition and had acted as its captain on the voyage back to England. He accepted Mawson's offer without hesitation.[19][20]

Mawson hoped to secure one of the new Antarctic expedition ships – Scott's Discovery, Nimrod, or William Speirs Bruce's Scotia – but none of these was available. He finally settled on Aurora, an old Dundee whaler, built in 1876 to work in northern waters.[21] In 1884, she had participated in the rescue efforts for American Arctic explorer Adolphus Greely's Lady Franklin Bay Expedition.[22] The ship cost £6,000, which Mawson considered a bargain.[21][23] Davis supervised an extensive refit, which included alterations to her rigging and much internal reorganisation to provide appropriate accommodation, laboratories and extra storage space.[24]

The specialist equipment required for the oceanographic program included two sounding machines: a No. 1 Lucas sounder for work in depths up to 10,970 metres (6,000 fathoms), lent to the expedition by Bruce, and a lighter Kelvin machine for use in shallower depths.[24] Mawson also acquired a small monoplane from Vickers, for both its potential utility and its considerable publicity value.[25] The plane was shipped to Australia, where it was badly damaged during a demonstration flight, whereupon Mawson abandoned the idea of an aircraft, removing the wings and adapting the fuselage body and engine to create a motor-sledge, known as the "air-tractor".[26][27]

Mawson's technological interests extended to the new field of wireless telegraphy. After discussions with the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau, he decided to set up an extra base on Macquarie Island, at the midpoint between Tasmania and Antarctica, to act as a relay station for wireless messages between Antarctica and Australia. Establishing a base at Macquarie would have the additional benefit of allowing the first proper survey and scientific study of the island.[28][29]

Personnel

Main article: List of members of the Australasian Antarctic expedition
See also: Dogs of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition

Before returning to Australia, Mawson recruited "the oldest resident of Antarctica",[30] the polar veteran Frank Wild, as leader of one of the proposed mainland bases.[31] Wild had turned down an invitation to join Scott's expedition; he disliked Scott's rigidity, considering him "too much the navy man".[32] Mawson also took on Belgrave Edward Ninnis, a 23-year-old lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers whose father, also called Belgrave Ninnis, had accompanied the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–1876.[19][33] Ninnis was to take charge of the expedition's fifty sledge dogs once they arrived from Greenland,[34] even though he had no previous experience with dogs.[35] He was to be assisted by another novice dog handler, Xavier Guillaume Mertz, a Swiss ski-jumping champion and mountaineer, whose skiing expertise Mawson thought would be an important asset.[31][36]

To preserve the expedition's predominantly Australasian character, Mawson recruited his science staff from the universities of Australia and New Zealand.[30] In key positions were Eric Webb, a 22-year-old New Zealander who became chief magnetician,[37] and Cecil Madigan, also 22, who was appointed as the main base's meteorologist. Madigan deferred a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University for a year to join the expedition.[37] The decision to establish a wireless relay and scientific station on Macquarie Island meant the recruitment of a further five-man team. To command the station, Mawson appointed George Ainsworth from the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau, along with two wireless technicians, a geologist and a biologist.[28] As the expedition's photographer, Mawson was eventually persuaded to engage Frank Hurley who had offered his services for free as soon as he had heard Mawson was recruiting.[38]

Finance

In accordance with his undertaking to support the expedition, Shackleton persuaded the press baron Lord Northcliffe to publish an appeal for funds in the Daily Mail. The appeal resulted in an immediate influx of money; more than £6,000 in two days.[39] The British government gave £2,000,[40] and, after a successful presentation by Mawson, the Royal Geographical Society contributed £500.[41][42] All told, following the appeal, British sources provided an amount close to £10,000.[43][n 2]

In Australia, the federal government gave £5,000, and the state governments together provided £18,500.[45] With private donations and the British money, the expedition's total funds rose to around £38,000, still some way short of its spending commitments, but enough to send it on its way.[41][n 3] Fundraising efforts continued while the expedition was in the field.[47] When the expedition was over and the ship and other assets had been sold off, the overall deficit, according to Mawson's accounting, was £4,462; this, he hoped, would be made up by royalties on the sale of the expedition book and from lecture fees. He estimated that a further £8,000 would be required to publish the scientific findings.[48] The problems of meeting these financial obligations would preoccupy Mawson for many years.[49][n 4]

Expedition history

Voyage south

 
Unloading at Cape Denison, January 1912

On 28 July 1911, Aurora – her deck teeming with the 48 dogs that had survived the trip from Greenland,[52][n 5] laden with sledges and with more than 3,000 cases of stores on board – left London for Cardiff, where she loaded 500 tons of coal briquettes.[53] She left Cardiff on 4 August, and arrived at Queens Wharf, Hobart, on 4 November, after a three-month voyage.[54] In a flurry of activity, additional fuel, stores and equipment were taken aboard.[55][56] Mawson chartered a steamer, SS Toroa, to carry part of the burden as far as Macquarie Island.[57][58] After a series of farewell ceremonies and functions, Aurora was given a tumultuous dockside send-off from Hobart on 2 December.[59]

The passage to Macquarie Island was rough: waves repeatedly overwhelmed the ship, half-drowning the dogs and soaking the men.[60] Part of Aurora's bridge was washed away, and the cargo stored above deck suffered damage.[61][62] The bad weather finally abated, and they reached Macquarie Island on 13 December, where they were joined by Toroa soon afterwards.[63] When Ainsworth's party and its equipment were established on land, Toroa returned to Hobart, and on 24 December, after carrying out survey work, Aurora sailed on south.[64][65]

Mawson's hopes of finding a suitable coastline to the west of Cape Adare were soon dashed.[66] The coast remained hidden behind impenetrable ice, and the land reported by Wilkes in 1840 appeared to be non-existent.[67] As the ship sailed further west, Mawson decided to reduce his land bases from three to two, by consolidating the proposed central base with the main base and placing Wild in charge of a single western base.[68] On 8 January 1912, rounding a large glacier, they sailed into a gulf which Mawson later named Commonwealth Bay,[69] and on further exploration they discovered a long sheltered inlet which they dubbed Boat Harbour.[70] Here, a reconnaissance party found a rocky spot at a location which they named Cape Denison, after Hugh Denison, one of the expedition's early sponsors, and Mawson decided to establish the main base there.[71]

The work of unloading the ship, frequently interrupted by storms and winds, continued until 18 January.[72][73] The next day, with time running short before the onset of winter, Aurora sailed away to find a suitable site for Wild's western base.[74]

Cape Denison

First season: winter 1912

 
Exceptionally high winds hampered work outside

The main base quarters provided a spacious living space, 7.3 by 7.3 metres (24 by 24 ft), with an attached workshop and a wide verandah for storage and housing the dogs.[75] Away from the main huts were smaller structures, used for magnetic observations.[76] The party quickly discovered that their chosen location was an exceptionally windy spot; powerful katabatic winds swept down to the bay from the ice sheet, storms frequently pummelled the coast, and intense localised whirlwinds battered the men and equipment.[77] Carsten Borchgrevink, wintering at Cape Adare in 1899–1900, had reported frequent wind speeds in excess of 64 kilometres per hour (40 mph), and in one 12-hour period winds averaged above 130 kilometres per hour (80 mph), with gusts estimated to exceed 164 kilometres per hour (102 mph).[78][n 6] They had unknowingly settled in one of the windiest sites in Antarctica; Mawson frequently recorded gusts between 240 kilometres per hour (150 mph) and 290 kilometres per hour (180 mph) at Cape Denison.[79][80]

Mawson had planned, before winter closed in, to carry out some experimental sledging work, and on 1 March, he, Madigan and Bob Bage managed a journey of 8 kilometres (5 mi), before depositing a sledge and stores and returning to the hut.[81][82] For the next five months, life was largely concentrated in the hut and centred on various scientific activities. Some outside work was unavoidable; the meteorologists and the magneticians made their daily readings regardless of conditions. In rare lulls, efforts were made to erect the wireless masts and establish contact with Macquarie Island, but after repeated failures, these attempts were temporarily abandoned at the end of April.[83]

 
Basilisk and Ginger, two of the sledge dogs, at Cape Denison

The general routine of hut life was enlivened by elaborate celebrations of birthdays, often concluding with improvised concerts. When there was a shortage of birthdays, other occasions were eulogised; Mawson records that even the anniversary of the "First Lighting of London by Gas" was observed "with extraordinary éclat".[84] Much use was made of the expedition's library, especially the books that brought, as Mawson put it, "the sudden breath of a world of warmth and colour, richness and vivacity".[85]

On 9 August, Ninnis and Mertz ventured out, to carry stores up to the five-mile depot established in March. They named this spot "Aladdin's Cave".[86][87] The beginning of September saw a break in the weather, which allowed work on the wireless masts to be completed. They began transmitting to Macquarie Island but received nothing back.[88] Several sledging journeys were possible in September before the weather closed in again;[89] on 9 October a particularly violent wind brought the recently erected wireless masts crashing down.[83][90]

Sledging, 1912–1913

General plan

On 27 October 1912, Mawson announced his plans for the sledging season ahead. A Southern Party led by Bage would head south, towards the Magnetic Pole, making magnetic observations along the way. An Eastern Coastal Party, under Madigan, would explore and map the coastline to the east of Cape Denison. At the same time, a Western Party under Frank Bickerton would take the motorised sledge to explore the plateau to the west.[91][92]

The longest journey would be undertaken by a Far Eastern Party, consisting of Mertz, Ninnis and Mawson, which would take the dogs and attempt to reach Oates Land, some 560 kilometres (350 mi) distant in the vicinity of Cape Adare. Other groups would form support parties for the main journeys.[92][93] All parties would be required to return to base by 15 January 1913, when Aurora was expected to retrieve them.[94]

Far Eastern Party
Main article: Far Eastern Party
 
Mertz and Ninnis at the start of the Far Eastern Party expedition, 1912

Mawson's Far Eastern Party left on 10 November and made good distances when the weather allowed. By 14 December, they had travelled more than 480 kilometres (300 mi) towards Oates Land.[95] Shortly after noon, as Mawson paused to calculate latitude, he saw that Mertz had stopped and was looking behind him. There was no sign of Ninnis. Mawson and Mertz retraced their steps and found a crevasse about 3.4 metres (11 ft) across; tracks on the far side made it clear that Ninnis, with his sledge and dogs, had fallen into the depths.[96] Far below on a ledge, they could see the bodies of two dogs, and debris from the sledge, but no sign of Ninnis.[97][98] Their remaining ropes were far too short of reaching even the first ledge which they measured to be at a depth of 46 metres (150 ft), so they had no option except to hope that Ninnis would answer their shouts. They spent several hours calling but – having received no response – they were forced to give him up for dead.[99]

Shocked at the sudden loss of their companion, Mawson and Mertz now had to consider their own prospects. Ninnis's sledge had been carrying most of their provisions and equipment, and all of the dog food, leaving them with about 11 or 12 days' rations. To reach base, they would have to augment these meagre supplies by shooting and eating the surviving dogs.[100] They travelled steadily over the next days, despite Mawson suffering from snow-blindness; by 25 December, they calculated that they were 254 kilometres (158 mi) from Cape Denison.[101] On 29 December, they killed the last of the dogs.[102] Both men had been feeling unwell, but from New Year's Day 1913 there was a sudden and rapid deterioration in Mertz's health; he had frostbite and became delirious and agitated.[n 7] After a weather delay, they resumed their journey on the evening of 3 January, but they did not get far before the weather and Mertz's frostbite forced them to stop.[106] They laid up until 3 January when Mertz agreed to push on, but his condition continued to worsen, and though Mawson managed to drag him on the sledge they could not cover much ground. Mertz died early on 8 January.[107][108] Mawson was around 160 kilometres (100 mi) from the base, which was, he observed, a relatively short distance for a healthy man, but a long way for one weak and famished.[109][n 8]

After burying Mertz and marking his grave, Mawson prepared for the journey ahead. To lighten his burden, he used a small pocket tool to cut his sledge in half.[111] On 11 January, the weather cleared, and he set out. His extreme weakness and, in particular, the condition of his feet, meant he could not travel great distances.[112] On 17 January, he fell into a crevasse and hung there by a rope from the sledge, which fortunately did not fall. It took him more than four hours to extricate himself.[113] As he drew nearer to the base, he was frustratingly delayed by more bad weather. On 29 January he discovered a cairn, left by a search party, with food and a message telling him he was 37 kilometres (23 mi) from Aladdin's Cave.[114]

Three days later, Mawson reached the cave, where he discovered more provisions, but something that was missing from the cave was extra pairs of crampons which he would need to make the final descent to the base. He had thrown his last pair of crampons away after clearing the final glacier a few days earlier knowing that there would be another pair at Aladdin's Cave. Bad weather meant he could not set out again until 8 February, but during this time he managed to make a pair of homemade crampons out of the wood from packing crates and loose nails which he then used for the final leg of his journey. As he descended the final slope towards the base, he thought he saw smoke on the horizon, which he took to be coming from the departing ship. When he arrived at the base, he found that the ship had indeed sailed, earlier that day, leaving a group of five – Bickerton, Bage, Madigan, Alfred Hodgeman and Archibald McLean – and a new wireless technician, Sidney Jeffryes, as a rescue party for the missing men.[115] Mawson radioed the ship, asking Davis to return and pick up the party; Davis attempted to comply, and brought the ship back to Commonwealth Bay, but a severe gale prevented the ship from anchoring or launching a boat. After sitting offshore for a day and worried that with further delays, Aurora would not reach Wild's western base before being blocked by winter ice, Davis gave up and headed west,[116] leaving the Cape Denison group to spend another year at the base.[117]

Other sledging parties
 
The motorised sledge or "air-tractor" created from a damaged Vickers R.E.P. Type Monoplane did not prove a success.

The Eastern Coastal Party under Madigan left the base on 8 November, following the coast eastwards. They continued, mapping as they went and collecting geological and biological samples, to just beyond the 150° E mark, about 430 kilometres (270 mi) from the base. Near that point, they discovered a rocky headland, more than 300 metres (1,000 ft) high, with a magnificent columnar structure resembling organ pipes.[118] Madigan described this as a "cathedral of nature";[119] it was later named Horn Bluff, after William Horn, one of the expedition's sponsors.[120] On their return journey, they celebrated Christmas Day as they camped on a glacier tongue, unaware that Mawson and Mertz were camped in the upper reaches of the same glacier.[121] After completing a full coastal survey, Madigan's party returned to the base on 16 January 1913.[122]

Bage's Southern Party left Cape Denison on 10 November,[123] and marched south in the direction of the Magnetic Pole as Webb made daily magnetic observations. They soon found that magnetic disturbances played havoc with the compass readings, and they steered by the sun, "a more than efficient substitute", Bage noted.[124] On 21 December, they were 484 kilometres (301 mi) from the base. However, their magnetic readings indicated that they were still some distance from the Magnetic Pole.[125] To avoid the risk of missing the ship, they turned for home. The latter part of this journey was gruelling, as they missed their final food depot, and had to make a rapid 100-kilometre (60 mi) dash to reach the base by 11 January.[126][127]

The Western Party delayed its departure until 3 December, hoping that better weather would aid the running of the motor-sledge.[128] The machine had performed satisfactorily in trials, and it ran well initially, but 16 kilometres (10 mi) out from the base, one of its cylinders began misfiring. The trouble worsened; the engine stalled suddenly, and the propeller was wrecked. The motor-sledge was abandoned, and the party continued its journey by man-hauling,[129] travelling 254 kilometres (158 mi) west across the plateau before turning for home. Their most important geological find was a meteorite, the first discovered in Antarctica.[130][131]

The second season, 1913–1914

 
Hodgeman returning to the hut after taking meteorological readings

For the group left at Cape Denison, winter came early, confining them mostly to the hut for many months. The previous year's program of magnetic and meteorological observations was resumed, as were the routines of daily life at the base.[132] Many of the group found they had time on their hands, and McLean, in the tradition of earlier expeditions, took advantage of this to edit and produce a magazine, the Adelie Blizzard.[133][134] One major improvement on the previous year was that, from 20 February, regular wireless contact with Macquarie Island was established, which allowed the group to stay in touch with the outside world until 8 June, when strong winds once again brought down the wireless masts.[135][136]

The wireless operator, Jeffryes, was initially a conscientious and respected member of the group,[137] but from mid-June, his behaviour began to deteriorate. He became moody and aggressive, challenging his hut mates to fights, mumbling to himself, developing a persecution mentality and neglecting his hygiene. This was alarming enough for the rest of the group, but when the wireless masts were re-erected early in August, Jeffryes began sending out wild messages, claiming that all the others apart from Mawson had gone insane and were trying to murder him.[138][139][140] Bickerton began practising operating the wireless, and Mawson sent a message to Ainsworth at the Macquarie Island wireless station to censor all communications received from Jeffryes. Finally, in a period of semi-lucidity, Jeffryes asked to be relieved from his duties, and Bickerton permanently took over the wireless operator's role.[141]

As the weather was improving, Mawson decided that he would take out a final sledging party with Madigan and Hodgeman, primarily to recover equipment that had been dumped or cached during the journeys of the previous year. In this, they were largely unsuccessful. They returned to base on 12 December, and Aurora arrived the next day.[142] They finally left Cape Denison on 24 December 1913. As they sailed away, they could see the cross, erected on high ground by Bickerton and McLean, commemorating their lost comrades, Ninnis and Mertz.[143][144]

Western base

 
Frank Wild (left), leader of the Far Western Party, with Andrew Watson during the sledging expedition

Mawson had hoped to place the western base around 800 kilometres (500 mi) (and no more than 970 kilometres (600 mi)) west of Cape Denison, to make inter-base wireless communication possible.[145][146] After landing the Cape Denison party in January 1912, Aurora sailed west, well beyond the 800-kilometre (500 mi) mark, without finding any suitable landing spot. On 15 February, they were 2,410 kilometres (1,500 mi) from Cape Denison, and in danger of being frozen in for the winter when they found a large ice shelf at 66° 21′ S, 94° 51′ E. Lacking other options, Wild investigated it as a site for the base and, despite the possibility of the ice breaking up, he decided to risk it.[147][148]

The base was established by 21 February, when Aurora sailed for Hobart.[149] Wild named the ice shelf after Shackleton, whose birthday fell on 15 February.[150] Attempts to establish wireless contact with Cape Denison failed; they were unable to erect a suitable mast and discovered that vital parts of the transmitting equipment were missing.[151]

Over the course of the next year, the party at the western base completed a busy program of work. This included two major sledging journeys east and west of the base, mapping a total of over 560 kilometres (350 mi). They also completed several depot-laying trips and an exploration of the inland plateau. They made regular meteorological, geological, magnetic and other scientific observations.[152]

Wild took a sledging party 237 kilometres (147 mi) east before being halted by impassable ice.[n 9] A party led by Sydney Evan Jones travelled 377 kilometres (234 mi) west to reach Gaussberg, the extinct volcano discovered by Drygalski's expedition in 1902.[155] In February 1913, the party waited anxiously for Aurora's return. Lacking provisions for another year at the base, they prepared for the possibility that the ship would not arrive by building up stocks of seal and penguin meat,[156] but to their great relief, Aurora appeared on 23 February; by that same evening the men, their equipment and their personal possessions were aboard, and the ship was on its way to Hobart.[157]

Macquarie Island

 
Wireless Hill, Macquarie Island

Ainsworth's party began daily meteorological observations from 1 January 1912, and the wireless station was erected on a high promontory christened Wireless Hill.[158] By mid-February, the station had made contact with Sydney,[159] and by 12 May, was transmitting daily weather reports to Wellington.[160] Signals from Cape Denison were heard for the first time on 25 September. Still, the cape was unable to receive messages from Macquarie.[161][162]

On 20 February 1913, two-way communication with Cape Denison was finally established, and after that messages were regularly exchanged.[163] The Macquarie party, who had been expecting to be relieved, heard in March that Cape Denison would be operational for a second season, and that the Macquarie station would therefore need to remain open until November. Mawson radioed that the supply ship could pick up any of the party who wished to leave in May, but all elected to stay.[164]

As it turned out, severe winter weather prevented supply vessels from reaching them until 20 August, by which time provisions and fuel supplies were close to exhaustion.[165] Arthur Sawyer, who had fallen ill, was taken off the island.[166] Aurora arrived on 29 November, when the rest of the Macquarie party was picked up, replaced by members of the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau.[167]

Oceanographic work

 
Harold Hamilton hand-netting from Aurora

The expedition's main oceanographic work was carried out during two cruises in 1912, and in a coastal journey in 1914, after the final relief of Cape Denison. The first cruise, May to July 1912, included investigation, southwest of Tasmania, of the supposed location of the Royal Company's Islands which had been searched for without success on numerous occasions.[168] Aurora found no trace of them either, nor of any shelving of the seabed that might suggest sunken islands.[169] The main sphere of oceanographic research was the sea around Macquarie Island and further northeast towards the Auckland Islands.[170] The second cruise, in November 1912, returned to these waters. Three days out from Hobart, the depth to the seabed suddenly decreased, from the 3,550 metres (1,940 fathoms) measured on the previous day to 1,448 metres (792 fathoms). A repeat sounding, taken in case of error, produced 1,452 metres (794 fathoms). Davis took this as evidence of a submerged ridge that might have been part of a land bridge connecting Australia with the Antarctic in prehistoric time. Subsequent soundings failed to substantiate this theory.[171]

After the remaining members of the Cape Denison party had been picked up in December 1913, Mawson decided that, before returning home, they would conduct a coastal and seabed survey to the west, as far as the Shackleton Ice Shelf.[172] This task proved taxing and led to dissension between Mawson and Davis, who was by this time sleep-deprived and exhausted. Mawson noted as much in his diary: "I hope the strain won't tell any more on him".[173] The work began on 1 January 1914, and was mostly complete by 2 February. After an arduous period in the ice, during which Davis rarely left the bridge, Aurora began the journey home.[174]

Aftermath

 
Before they departed, the Denison party erected a cross in memory of Ninnis and Mertz.

On 26 February 1914, Aurora reached Adelaide to an enthusiastic welcome.[175] For the next month, Mawson was engaged in a busy round of receptions and scientific meetings, before sailing for London on 1 April, accompanied by his bride, Paquita Delprat, whom he had married the previous day. In London, he lectured to the Royal Geographical Society, visited the parents of Ninnis, and was received at Marlborough House by Alexandra, the Queen Mother, and her sister, the Dowager Empress of Russia.[176] On 29 June, before his return to Australia, he was knighted at Buckingham Palace by King George V and was later the recipient of many further honours,[177] including the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal in 1915.[105]

In Australia, Mawson faced the reality of the expedition's debts. He proposed that the Australian government should purchase Aurora and the other artefacts and equipment from the expedition for £15,000 – an amount, he reckoned, that would not only meet all outstanding debts but would finance the production of the scientific reports. The government turned him down.[178] Instead he sold Aurora to Shackleton for a mere £3,200, for use in the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (ITAE),[178] and hoped to settle the balance of the debt through the sales of his chronicle of the expedition, The Home of the Blizzard, and with the profits from Hurley's film and photographs. The outbreak of war later in 1914 delayed the book's publication, while the distribution of the film was hampered by contractual problems and by a shift of public attention towards the war.[179] As a result, the scientific reports were produced piecemeal over the next 30 years, the last appearing in 1947.[180]

Many of the expedition's personnel enlisted in the armed forces when war broke out; Bage – already an officer in the Royal Australian Engineers – was killed during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915,[181] and Leslie Blake, the cartographer and geologist of the Macquarie Island party, died after being badly wounded by a shell in France in 1918.[182][183] Several would return to the Antarctic: Mawson as the leader of the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE) in 1929–1931;[184] Davis, as captain of Aurora for the relief voyage for the Ross Sea party in Shackleton's expedition,[185] and as captain of Discovery during the first stage of BANZARE;[184] Hurley joined the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition,[186] and also signed on to BANZARE.[187] Wild joined ITAE as well, and in 1921 he accompanied Shackleton on his final expedition, taking over as leader following Shackleton's sudden death in January 1922.[188] Charles Harrisson, who had been a member of the Far Western Party, visited Macquarie Island in 1914, but his ship disappeared without a trace on its return voyage to Australia.[182]

Two days after arriving in Adelaide, Jeffryes took a train heading to his home in Toowoomba, but he never arrived; a month later he was found near Stawell, Victoria, wandering in the bush. He spent the next year in asylums, but after an assault on a member of staff, he was committed to a criminal asylum in Ararat, where he died in 1942. His family were highly critical of Mawson's lack of care and sympathy; they wrote him numerous letters apparently without response. In 2018, Jeffryes was finally honoured by the erection of a plaque in the Ararat Cemetery, near the site of his unmarked grave.[140]

Appraisal

 
The expedition produced the first map of Macquarie Island.

The scientific work of the expedition covered the fields of geology, biology, meteorology, terrestrial magnetism and oceanography;[189] the vast amounts of data filled multiple reports published over a period of 30 years. These reports provided an extensive description of Antarctica's extreme weather and of its animal and plant life.[190] This was the first expedition to successfully establish wireless contact between the Antarctic continent and the Australian mainland, through the relay station on Macquarie Island;[189] it also provided the first studies and mapping of the island.[191] Its eight major sledging parties travelled for a total of 4,180 kilometres (2,600 mi), while Aurora sailed along 2,900 kilometres (1,800 mi) of uncharted coastline,[189] mapping the continental shelf through 55° of longitude.[191] Hurley's photographs and film provided a comprehensive pictorial record.[189]

Many Antarctic features bear names paying tribute to expedition members, including Cape Mawson, Mawson Coast, Mawson Peninsula,[192] Madigan Nunatak,[193] Mertz Glacier and Ninnis Glacier.[194][195] The expedition was the first step towards Australia's later territorial claims on the Antarctic continent,[189] and was on a greater scale than any of its predecessors in the field. Frank Hurley summed up the character of the expedition: "Shackleton grafted science on to exploration – Mawson added exploring to science".[196] According to the historian Gordon Hayes, "Mawson's expedition, judged by the magnitude both of its scale and of its achievements, was the greatest and most consummate expedition that ever sailed to Antarctica."[197]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Scott's late decision to send a party to Cape Adare came when he discovered that his main polar rival, Roald Amundsen, had established his base camp at the Bay of Whales, close to King Edward VII Land which Scott had originally planned to explore with a secondary party. It was thought inappropriate that rival teams should work in essentially the same area. Scott did not consider it necessary to inform Mawson of his change of plan.[17]
  2. ^ Early in 1910, Mawson and Shackleton had secured a promise of £10,000 from Gerald Lysaght, a wealthy donor who had helped finance the British Antarctic Expedition.[5][44] When Mawson sought this money, he was shocked to discover that Lysaght had donated it to Shackleton personally, and that Shackleton had applied it to other, undisclosed purposes. This deception, as Mawson saw it, permanently soured relations between the two men.[19]
  3. ^ Apart from financial contributions, the expedition received many donations in kind. In London, Northcliffe's appeal brought gifts of equipment and supplies, including whisky and tobacco;[43] in Australia, Aurora received free harbour and docking facilities from the state governments of Victoria and New South Wales.[46]
  4. ^ Mawson published, in Home of the Blizzard, a very precise account of moneys received. In total, from all sources, £52,270 (equivalent to about £5.2 million in 2018) was raised, against total expenditure of £56,732 (£5.7m). The deficit of £4,462 equates to just under £500,000 in 2018 terms.[50][51]
  5. ^ Fifty dogs were ordered; one which went missing in Greenland was replaced, but during the trip from Greenland another was lost overboard and a third was attacked and killed by the other dogs.[34]
  6. ^ Borchgrevink recorded that the wear and tear caused by the frequent gales must have had "a very material influence" on the accuracy of the Robinson cup anemometers that his expedition used. At speeds of more 140 kilometres per hour (90 mph) they tended to be demolished or destroyed.[78]
  7. ^ A medical report published in 1969 concluded that the most likely cause of Mertz's swift decline and death was vitamin A poisoning, from eating the dogs' livers which are rich in the vitamin to a level that can be toxic to humans.[103][104] The poisoning process was likely hastened by Mertz's weak physical condition and near-starvation.[105]
  8. ^ After the expedition, rumours circulated that Mawson had assisted his survival by resorting to cannibalism. According to a report published in The New York Globe, Mawson had considered this but decided "it would always leave a bad taste in my mouth", and decided not to. Mawson described the report as an outrageous invention. All his associates declared the idea preposterous, given Mawson's strict conservative morals. No evidence has ever been produced to validate the rumour.[110]
  9. ^ Wild named the land he had reached after King George V, but did so without royal consent.[153] The name George V Land was subsequently given, with permission, to lands explored by Mawson's Far Eastern Party, from the Cape Denison base.[118] Wild also named the plateau south of his base Queen Mary Land.[154]

Citations

  1. ^ Riffenburgh 2005, pp. 231, 244.
  2. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 35–36.
  3. ^ Turney 2012, p. 213.
  4. ^ Bryan 2011, pp. 264–265.
  5. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, p. 38.
  6. ^ Smith 2014, p. 238.
  7. ^ a b c Turney 2012, p. 214.
  8. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 38–39.
  9. ^ Smith 2014, p. 239.
  10. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 39–40.
  11. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 40.
  12. ^ Mawson 2008, p. xi.
  13. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 40–41.
  14. ^ Davis 1919, pp. 3–4.
  15. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, p. 41.
  16. ^ Turney 2012, p. 219.
  17. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 47.
  18. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 41–42.
  19. ^ a b c Riffenburgh 2009, p. 42.
  20. ^ Béchervaise 1981.
  21. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, p. 44.
  22. ^ Davis 1919, pp. 5–8.
  23. ^ Bryan 2011, pp. 266–267.
  24. ^ a b Bryan 2011, p. 267.
  25. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 45.
  26. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 49–50.
  27. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 324–325.
  28. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, p. 50.
  29. ^ Turney 2012, p. 224.
  30. ^ a b Mawson 2008, p. 13.
  31. ^ a b FitzSimons 2012, p. 283.
  32. ^ Mills 2007, p. 126.
  33. ^ Coleman 2007, p. 201.
  34. ^ a b Leane & Tiffin 2012, p. 186.
  35. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 282–283.
  36. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 45–46.
  37. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, p. 51.
  38. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 78.
  39. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 297–299.
  40. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 293.
  41. ^ a b Turney 2012, p. 221.
  42. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 43–44.
  43. ^ a b Turney 2012, p. 216.
  44. ^ Huntford 1985, p. 335.
  45. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 48–49.
  46. ^ Mawson 2008, p. 545.
  47. ^ Turney 2012, p. 253.
  48. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 544–545.
  49. ^ Turney 2012, pp. 256–257.
  50. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 543–544.
  51. ^ MeasuringWorth.
  52. ^ Leane & Tiffin 2012, p. 185.
  53. ^ Bryan 2011, p. 269.
  54. ^ Davis 1919, pp. 11–15.
  55. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 51–56.
  56. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 347–348.
  57. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 55.
  58. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 339.
  59. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 354–356.
  60. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 358–60.
  61. ^ Mills 2007, p. 135.
  62. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 56–57.
  63. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 57.
  64. ^ Davis 1919, pp. 20–22.
  65. ^ Mills 2007, pp. 136–137.
  66. ^ Mawson 2008, p. 49.
  67. ^ Turney 2012, p. 227.
  68. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 61–62.
  69. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 62–63.
  70. ^ Ayres 2003, p. 63.
  71. ^ Turney 2012, p. 228.
  72. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 64.
  73. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 402–404.
  74. ^ Turney 2012, p. 229.
  75. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 65–66.
  76. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 69.
  77. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 88–90.
  78. ^ a b Borchgrevink 2014, pp. 306–307.
  79. ^ Turney 2012, pp. 236–237.
  80. ^ Bryan 2011, p. 270.
  81. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 451–452.
  82. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 72–73.
  83. ^ a b Mawson 2008, p. 120.
  84. ^ Mawson 2008, p. 116.
  85. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 117–118.
  86. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 90.
  87. ^ Mawson 2008, p. 158.
  88. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 507.
  89. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 94–95.
  90. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 512.
  91. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 175–176.
  92. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 98–100.
  93. ^ Mawson 2008, p. 176.
  94. ^ Bickel 2000, p. 81.
  95. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 110–113.
  96. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 115.
  97. ^ Turney 2012, pp. 241–242.
  98. ^ Bickel 2000, p. 119.
  99. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 115–117.
  100. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 540–541.
  101. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 126.
  102. ^ Turney 2012, p. 242.
  103. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 136–137.
  104. ^ Turney 2012, p. 243.
  105. ^ a b Jacka 1986.
  106. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 211–213.
  107. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 126–130.
  108. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 556–559.
  109. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 558.
  110. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 131–133.
  111. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 130–134.
  112. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 564–566.
  113. ^ Turney 2012, p. 244.
  114. ^ Turney 2012, p. 245.
  115. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 144–146.
  116. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 151–153.
  117. ^ Turney 2012, pp. 146–147.
  118. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, p. 158.
  119. ^ Madigan 2008, p. 276.
  120. ^ USGS Antarctica ID 6994.
  121. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 552.
  122. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 570.
  123. ^ Bage 2008, p. 226.
  124. ^ Bage 2008, p. 236.
  125. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 157.
  126. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 563–564.
  127. ^ Bage 2008, p. 253.
  128. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 294–295.
  129. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 295–296.
  130. ^ Turney 2012, p. 248.
  131. ^ Mawson 2008, p. 297.
  132. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 156–157.
  133. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 628–630.
  134. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 401–403.
  135. ^ Mawson 2008, pp. 398–400.
  136. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 160.
  137. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 159.
  138. ^ Turney 2012, pp. 250–251.
  139. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 161–167.
  140. ^ a b Cansdale 2018.
  141. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 168.
  142. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 169–171.
  143. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 173.
  144. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 651.
  145. ^ Mills 2007, p. 139.
  146. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 431.
  147. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 431–432.
  148. ^ Mills 2007, pp. 139–140.
  149. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 436–438.
  150. ^ Mills 2007, p. 140.
  151. ^ Mills 2007, p. 143.
  152. ^ Mills 2007, p. 142.
  153. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 553, 706.
  154. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 500.
  155. ^ USGS Antarctica ID 5529.
  156. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 617.
  157. ^ Mills 2007, p. 191.
  158. ^ Ainsworth 2008, pp. 426–428.
  159. ^ Ainsworth 2008, p. 439.
  160. ^ Ainsworth 2008, p. 453.
  161. ^ Ainsworth 2008, p. 469.
  162. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 92–93.
  163. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 158–159.
  164. ^ Ainsworth 2008, p. 485.
  165. ^ Ainsworth 2008, pp. 485–491.
  166. ^ Ainsworth 2008, p. 492.
  167. ^ Davis 1919, p. 109.
  168. ^ Wharton 1904, p. 32.
  169. ^ Turney 2012, p. 235.
  170. ^ Davis 1919, pp. 63–73.
  171. ^ Turney 2012, pp. 235–236.
  172. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 653–654.
  173. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 174–175.
  174. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 175–176.
  175. ^ FitzSimons 2012, pp. 654–656.
  176. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 178–181.
  177. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 664.
  178. ^ a b FitzSimons 2012, p. 659.
  179. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 181–182.
  180. ^ FitzSimons 2012, p. 673.
  181. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 184.
  182. ^ a b Davis 1919, p. 170.
  183. ^ Gorman 2005.
  184. ^ a b Riffenburgh 2009, pp. 200–204.
  185. ^ Riffenburgh 2009, p. 185.
  186. ^ Mills 2007, p. 195.
  187. ^ Turney 2012, p. 285.
  188. ^ Mills 2007, pp. 286–297.
  189. ^ a b c d e Killick 2012.
  190. ^ Turney 2012, p. 257.
  191. ^ a b Bull. Am. Geogr. Soc. 1915, p. 44.
  192. ^ Alberts 1981, p. 540.
  193. ^ Alberts 1981, p. 522.
  194. ^ Alberts 1981, p. 558.
  195. ^ Alberts 1981, pp. 604–605.
  196. ^ Turney 2012, p. 258.
  197. ^ Turney 2012, pp. 257–258.

Sources

Books

  • Alberts, F. G., ed. (1981). Geographic Names of the Antarctic. Washington: National Science Foundation. OCLC 497666264.
  • Ayres, P. (2003) [1999]. Mawson: A Life. Victoria, Australia: Melbourne Univ. Publishing. ISBN 0-522-85078-2.
  • Béchervaise, J. (1981). "Davis, John King (1884–1967)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 8. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  • Bickel, L. (2000). Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written. Lebanon: Steerforth Press. ISBN 978-1-58642-000-0.
  • Borchgrevink, C. E. (2014) [1901]. First on the Antarctic Continent: Being an Account of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-07188-8.
  • Bryan, R. (2011). Ordeal by Ice: Ships of the Antarctic. Dobbs Ferry: Sheridan House. ISBN 978-1-57409-312-4.
  • Coleman, E. C. (2007). The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration: from Franklin to Scott. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7524-4207-5.
  • Davis, J. K. (1919). With the Aurora in the Antarctic, 1911–1914. London: Andrew Melrose. OCLC 1058427147.
  • FitzSimons, P. (2012). Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age. Sydney: William Henemann. ISBN 978-1-74275-279-2.
  • Huntford, R. (1985). Shackleton. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-25007-5.
  • Jacka, F. J. (1986). "Mawson, Sir Douglas (1882–1958)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 10. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  • Mawson, D. (2008) [1914]. The Home of the Blizzard. Oxford: Benediction Classics. ISBN 978-1-84902-172-2.
  • Mills, L. (2007). Frank Wild. Whitby: Caedmon. ISBN 978-0-905355-48-1.
  • Riffenburgh, B. (2005). Nimrod: Ernest Shackleton. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0-7475-7253-4.
  • Riffenburgh, B. (2009). Racing with Death: Douglas Mawson, Antarctic Explorer. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7475-9671-4.
  • Smith, M. (2014). Shackleton: By Endurance We Conquer. North America, Great Britain & Australia: OneWorld Books. ISBN 978-1-78074-572-5.
  • Turney, C. (2012). 1912: The Year the World Discovered Antarctica. London: The Bodley Head. ISBN 978-1-84792-174-1.

Journals and magazines

  • "The Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911–1914". Bull. Am. Geogr. Soc. 47 (1): 37–44. 1915. doi:10.2307/201117. JSTOR 201117.
  • Gorman, M. L. (2005). "Captain Leslie Russell Blake and Aberdeen University's penguin egg". Current Biology. Vol. 15, no. 11. pp. R402–R405. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2005.05.041. ISSN 0960-9822.
  • Killick, D. (2012). "Life and death in the Home of the Blizzard". Australian Antarctic Magazine. No. 22.
  • Leane, E.; Tiffin, H. (2012). "Dogs, Meat and Douglas Mawson" (PDF). Australian Humanities Review (52): 185–199. doi:10.22459/AHR.52.2012.
  • Wharton, W. J. L. (1904). "Expunged Islands". Emu - Austral Ornithology. 4 (1): 32.

Websites

  • Cansdale, D. (19 October 2018). "Douglas Mawson's colleague with schizophrenia remembered". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  • "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present". MeasuringWorth. 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  • "Antarctica detail: Gaussberg". USGS. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  • "Antarctica detail: Horn Bluff". USGS. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 26 November 2019.

Further reading

  • Dartnall, H. J. G. (2013). Lost in the Mists: Leslie Russell Blake. Victoria: Arcadia. ISBN 978-1-925003-18-5.
  • Hall, L. (2000). Douglas Mawson: The Life of an Explorer. Sydney: Reed Natural History. ISBN 978-1-86436-670-9.
  • Jacka, F.; Jacka, E., eds. (1988). Mawson's Antarctic Diaries. London: Unwin Hyman. ISBN 0-04-320209-8.
  • McEwin, E. (2007). An Antarctic Affair. Bowden: East Street Publications. ISBN 978-1-921037-30-6.
  • Roberts, D. (2014). Alone on the Ice. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-393-34778-4.

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australasian Antarctic expedition.
 
The Wikibook History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia has a page on the topic of: William Tamillas Stephen Crawford
  • Works about the Australasian Antarctic expedition at Open Library
  • Letter written by Bob Bage while preparing for the relief party

May 20, 2023
australasian, antarctic, expedition, 1911, 1914, expedition, headed, douglas, mawson, that, explored, largely, uncharted, antarctic, coast, south, australia, mawson, been, inspired, lead, venture, experiences, ernest, shackleton, nimrod, expedition, 1907, 1909. The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911 1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest Shackleton s Nimrod expedition in 1907 1909 During its time in Antarctica the expedition s sledging parties covered around 4 180 kilometres 2 600 mi of unexplored territory while its ship SY Aurora navigated 2 900 kilometres 1 800 mi of unmapped coastline Scientific activities included meteorological measurements magnetic observations an expansive oceanographic program and the collection of many biological and geological samples including the discovery of the first meteorite found in Antarctica The expedition was the first to establish and maintain wireless contact between Antarctica and Australia Another planned innovation the use of an aircraft was thwarted by an accident before the expedition sailed The plane s fuselage was adapted to form a motorised sledge or air tractor but it proved to be of very limited usefulness The main hut at Cape Denison The expedition was organised into three bases one on the sub Antarctic Macquarie Island and two on the Antarctic mainland The main base under Mawson s command was set up at Cape Denison about 500 kilometres 300 mi west of Cape Adare and a western base under Frank Wild was established on the Shackleton Ice Shelf more than 2 400 kilometres 1 500 mi west of Cape Denison Activities at both mainland bases were hampered by extreme winds which often made outside work impossible The expedition was marred by the deaths of two members during an attempt to reach Oates Land Belgrave Edward Ninnis who fell into a crevasse and Xavier Mertz who died on the harrowing return journey Mawson their sledging partner was then forced to make an arduous solo trek back to base he missed the ship and had to spend an extra year at Cape Denison along with a relief party of six This sojourn was made difficult by the mental breakdown of Sidney Jeffryes the wireless operator When Mawson returned from Antarctica he was given a hero s welcome and received many honours including a knighthood The scientific studies provided copious detailed data which took thirty years to completely publish and the expedition s broad exploration program laid the groundwork for Australia s later territorial claims in Antarctica Contents 1 Background 2 Preparations 2 1 Aims 2 2 Ship and equipment 2 3 Personnel 2 4 Finance 3 Expedition history 3 1 Voyage south 3 2 Cape Denison 3 2 1 First season winter 1912 3 2 2 Sledging 1912 1913 3 2 2 1 General plan 3 2 2 2 Far Eastern Party 3 2 2 3 Other sledging parties 3 2 3 The second season 1913 1914 3 3 Western base 3 4 Macquarie Island 3 5 Oceanographic work 4 Aftermath 5 Appraisal 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Notes 7 2 Citations 7 3 Sources 7 3 1 Books 7 3 2 Journals and magazines 8 Further reading 9 External linksBackground Edit Douglas Mawson 1914 In January 1909 a three man party from Ernest Shackleton s Nimrod expedition calculated that they had reached the South Magnetic Pole 1 The party included a young Australian geologist Douglas Mawson who inspired by his experiences came home with thoughts of organising his own expedition His particular interest lay not in the South Pole but in investigating the Antarctic lands west of Cape Adare immediately to the south of Australia That coast had been indeterminately explored in the 1840s by the French under Dumont D Urville and by the American Charles Wilkes but had not been visited since 2 3 4 In January 1910 in London Mawson met Robert Falcon Scott who was then preparing his Terra Nova expedition Mawson proposed that he should join this expedition as the head of an independent team based at Cape Adare Although Scott was interested they were unable to agree on the scope of Mawson s responsibilities Shackleton who was in London investigating the possibility of organising and financing an expedition of his own suggested to Mawson that he could act as its chief scientist 5 While Shackleton raised funds by lecturing in America Mawson was dispatched to investigate the possibility of purchasing and developing a goldmine in Hungary 6 As the proposition looked doubtful Mawson hurried across the Atlantic to brief Shackleton and to check that he was still committed to the expedition On 16 May Shackleton issued a statement confirming Mawson s position as chief scientist adding that should he Shackleton be unable to accompany the expedition D Mawson will be in charge and I shall still use my influence in regard to raising the necessary funds With this assurance Mawson returned to Australia 7 8 Mawson s feelings of uncertainty were renewed as months of silence followed Shackleton was still trying to float the gold mining venture and struggling to raise funds for the expedition 9 Finally on 1 December Shackleton confirmed that he would not be going but would as promised give Mawson his full support 7 10 Preparations Edit Some of the locations important for the expedition Aims Edit In January 1911 Mawson revealed his plans at a meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS 11 He intended to operate in the Antarctic coastal arc between Cape Adare in the east and Gaussberg in the west Within these bounds Mawson said lay territory of whose outline and glacial features only the barest evidence has been furnished 12 A full scientific and geographical investigation of these lands would be accompanied by a ship based oceanographic program 13 14 The AAAS responded enthusiastically 7 A committee was formed under the chairmanship of Professor Edgeworth David of the University of Sydney who had stood with Mawson at the South Magnetic Pole 15 and Mawson soon acquired the backing of the scientific and political communities as well as pledges of financial support from leading industrialists Assured that his expedition was now safely launched Mawson travelled to London to begin practical arrangements 15 Mawson s original intention had been to set up his main shore base at Cape Adare and establish others further west He felt it necessary to modify this arrangement when in March 1911 he learned that Scott s expedition was sending a northern party to the Cape Adare region As a consequence he decided to place his main base well to the west of the cape in uncharted territory 16 n 1 Ship and equipment Edit SY Aurora anchored to floe ice off the western base during the expedition In London in search of a suitable ship Mawson sought the help of John King Davis to whom he offered the post of ship s master and second in command of the expedition 18 Davis had served as Nimrod s chief officer during Shackleton s recent expedition and had acted as its captain on the voyage back to England He accepted Mawson s offer without hesitation 19 20 Mawson hoped to secure one of the new Antarctic expedition ships Scott s Discovery Nimrod or William Speirs Bruce s Scotia but none of these was available He finally settled on Aurora an old Dundee whaler built in 1876 to work in northern waters 21 In 1884 she had participated in the rescue efforts for American Arctic explorer Adolphus Greely s Lady Franklin Bay Expedition 22 The ship cost 6 000 which Mawson considered a bargain 21 23 Davis supervised an extensive refit which included alterations to her rigging and much internal reorganisation to provide appropriate accommodation laboratories and extra storage space 24 The specialist equipment required for the oceanographic program included two sounding machines a No 1 Lucas sounder for work in depths up to 10 970 metres 6 000 fathoms lent to the expedition by Bruce and a lighter Kelvin machine for use in shallower depths 24 Mawson also acquired a small monoplane from Vickers for both its potential utility and its considerable publicity value 25 The plane was shipped to Australia where it was badly damaged during a demonstration flight whereupon Mawson abandoned the idea of an aircraft removing the wings and adapting the fuselage body and engine to create a motor sledge known as the air tractor 26 27 Mawson s technological interests extended to the new field of wireless telegraphy After discussions with the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau he decided to set up an extra base on Macquarie Island at the midpoint between Tasmania and Antarctica to act as a relay station for wireless messages between Antarctica and Australia Establishing a base at Macquarie would have the additional benefit of allowing the first proper survey and scientific study of the island 28 29 Personnel Edit Main article List of members of the Australasian Antarctic expedition See also Dogs of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition Before returning to Australia Mawson recruited the oldest resident of Antarctica 30 the polar veteran Frank Wild as leader of one of the proposed mainland bases 31 Wild had turned down an invitation to join Scott s expedition he disliked Scott s rigidity considering him too much the navy man 32 Mawson also took on Belgrave Edward Ninnis a 23 year old lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers whose father also called Belgrave Ninnis had accompanied the British Arctic Expedition of 1875 1876 19 33 Ninnis was to take charge of the expedition s fifty sledge dogs once they arrived from Greenland 34 even though he had no previous experience with dogs 35 He was to be assisted by another novice dog handler Xavier Guillaume Mertz a Swiss ski jumping champion and mountaineer whose skiing expertise Mawson thought would be an important asset 31 36 To preserve the expedition s predominantly Australasian character Mawson recruited his science staff from the universities of Australia and New Zealand 30 In key positions were Eric Webb a 22 year old New Zealander who became chief magnetician 37 and Cecil Madigan also 22 who was appointed as the main base s meteorologist Madigan deferred a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University for a year to join the expedition 37 The decision to establish a wireless relay and scientific station on Macquarie Island meant the recruitment of a further five man team To command the station Mawson appointed George Ainsworth from the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau along with two wireless technicians a geologist and a biologist 28 As the expedition s photographer Mawson was eventually persuaded to engage Frank Hurley who had offered his services for free as soon as he had heard Mawson was recruiting 38 Finance Edit In accordance with his undertaking to support the expedition Shackleton persuaded the press baron Lord Northcliffe to publish an appeal for funds in the Daily Mail The appeal resulted in an immediate influx of money more than 6 000 in two days 39 The British government gave 2 000 40 and after a successful presentation by Mawson the Royal Geographical Society contributed 500 41 42 All told following the appeal British sources provided an amount close to 10 000 43 n 2 In Australia the federal government gave 5 000 and the state governments together provided 18 500 45 With private donations and the British money the expedition s total funds rose to around 38 000 still some way short of its spending commitments but enough to send it on its way 41 n 3 Fundraising efforts continued while the expedition was in the field 47 When the expedition was over and the ship and other assets had been sold off the overall deficit according to Mawson s accounting was 4 462 this he hoped would be made up by royalties on the sale of the expedition book and from lecture fees He estimated that a further 8 000 would be required to publish the scientific findings 48 The problems of meeting these financial obligations would preoccupy Mawson for many years 49 n 4 Expedition history EditVoyage south Edit Unloading at Cape Denison January 1912 On 28 July 1911 Aurora her deck teeming with the 48 dogs that had survived the trip from Greenland 52 n 5 laden with sledges and with more than 3 000 cases of stores on board left London for Cardiff where she loaded 500 tons of coal briquettes 53 She left Cardiff on 4 August and arrived at Queens Wharf Hobart on 4 November after a three month voyage 54 In a flurry of activity additional fuel stores and equipment were taken aboard 55 56 Mawson chartered a steamer SS Toroa to carry part of the burden as far as Macquarie Island 57 58 After a series of farewell ceremonies and functions Aurora was given a tumultuous dockside send off from Hobart on 2 December 59 The passage to Macquarie Island was rough waves repeatedly overwhelmed the ship half drowning the dogs and soaking the men 60 Part of Aurora s bridge was washed away and the cargo stored above deck suffered damage 61 62 The bad weather finally abated and they reached Macquarie Island on 13 December where they were joined by Toroa soon afterwards 63 When Ainsworth s party and its equipment were established on land Toroa returned to Hobart and on 24 December after carrying out survey work Aurora sailed on south 64 65 Mawson s hopes of finding a suitable coastline to the west of Cape Adare were soon dashed 66 The coast remained hidden behind impenetrable ice and the land reported by Wilkes in 1840 appeared to be non existent 67 As the ship sailed further west Mawson decided to reduce his land bases from three to two by consolidating the proposed central base with the main base and placing Wild in charge of a single western base 68 On 8 January 1912 rounding a large glacier they sailed into a gulf which Mawson later named Commonwealth Bay 69 and on further exploration they discovered a long sheltered inlet which they dubbed Boat Harbour 70 Here a reconnaissance party found a rocky spot at a location which they named Cape Denison after Hugh Denison one of the expedition s early sponsors and Mawson decided to establish the main base there 71 The work of unloading the ship frequently interrupted by storms and winds continued until 18 January 72 73 The next day with time running short before the onset of winter Aurora sailed away to find a suitable site for Wild s western base 74 Cape Denison Edit First season winter 1912 Edit Exceptionally high winds hampered work outside The main base quarters provided a spacious living space 7 3 by 7 3 metres 24 by 24 ft with an attached workshop and a wide verandah for storage and housing the dogs 75 Away from the main huts were smaller structures used for magnetic observations 76 The party quickly discovered that their chosen location was an exceptionally windy spot powerful katabatic winds swept down to the bay from the ice sheet storms frequently pummelled the coast and intense localised whirlwinds battered the men and equipment 77 Carsten Borchgrevink wintering at Cape Adare in 1899 1900 had reported frequent wind speeds in excess of 64 kilometres per hour 40 mph and in one 12 hour period winds averaged above 130 kilometres per hour 80 mph with gusts estimated to exceed 164 kilometres per hour 102 mph 78 n 6 They had unknowingly settled in one of the windiest sites in Antarctica Mawson frequently recorded gusts between 240 kilometres per hour 150 mph and 290 kilometres per hour 180 mph at Cape Denison 79 80 Mawson had planned before winter closed in to carry out some experimental sledging work and on 1 March he Madigan and Bob Bage managed a journey of 8 kilometres 5 mi before depositing a sledge and stores and returning to the hut 81 82 For the next five months life was largely concentrated in the hut and centred on various scientific activities Some outside work was unavoidable the meteorologists and the magneticians made their daily readings regardless of conditions In rare lulls efforts were made to erect the wireless masts and establish contact with Macquarie Island but after repeated failures these attempts were temporarily abandoned at the end of April 83 Basilisk and Ginger two of the sledge dogs at Cape Denison The general routine of hut life was enlivened by elaborate celebrations of birthdays often concluding with improvised concerts When there was a shortage of birthdays other occasions were eulogised Mawson records that even the anniversary of the First Lighting of London by Gas was observed with extraordinary eclat 84 Much use was made of the expedition s library especially the books that brought as Mawson put it the sudden breath of a world of warmth and colour richness and vivacity 85 On 9 August Ninnis and Mertz ventured out to carry stores up to the five mile depot established in March They named this spot Aladdin s Cave 86 87 The beginning of September saw a break in the weather which allowed work on the wireless masts to be completed They began transmitting to Macquarie Island but received nothing back 88 Several sledging journeys were possible in September before the weather closed in again 89 on 9 October a particularly violent wind brought the recently erected wireless masts crashing down 83 90 Sledging 1912 1913 Edit General plan Edit On 27 October 1912 Mawson announced his plans for the sledging season ahead A Southern Party led by Bage would head south towards the Magnetic Pole making magnetic observations along the way An Eastern Coastal Party under Madigan would explore and map the coastline to the east of Cape Denison At the same time a Western Party under Frank Bickerton would take the motorised sledge to explore the plateau to the west 91 92 The longest journey would be undertaken by a Far Eastern Party consisting of Mertz Ninnis and Mawson which would take the dogs and attempt to reach Oates Land some 560 kilometres 350 mi distant in the vicinity of Cape Adare Other groups would form support parties for the main journeys 92 93 All parties would be required to return to base by 15 January 1913 when Aurora was expected to retrieve them 94 Far Eastern Party Edit Main article Far Eastern Party Mertz and Ninnis at the start of the Far Eastern Party expedition 1912 Mawson s Far Eastern Party left on 10 November and made good distances when the weather allowed By 14 December they had travelled more than 480 kilometres 300 mi towards Oates Land 95 Shortly after noon as Mawson paused to calculate latitude he saw that Mertz had stopped and was looking behind him There was no sign of Ninnis Mawson and Mertz retraced their steps and found a crevasse about 3 4 metres 11 ft across tracks on the far side made it clear that Ninnis with his sledge and dogs had fallen into the depths 96 Far below on a ledge they could see the bodies of two dogs and debris from the sledge but no sign of Ninnis 97 98 Their remaining ropes were far too short of reaching even the first ledge which they measured to be at a depth of 46 metres 150 ft so they had no option except to hope that Ninnis would answer their shouts They spent several hours calling but having received no response they were forced to give him up for dead 99 Shocked at the sudden loss of their companion Mawson and Mertz now had to consider their own prospects Ninnis s sledge had been carrying most of their provisions and equipment and all of the dog food leaving them with about 11 or 12 days rations To reach base they would have to augment these meagre supplies by shooting and eating the surviving dogs 100 They travelled steadily over the next days despite Mawson suffering from snow blindness by 25 December they calculated that they were 254 kilometres 158 mi from Cape Denison 101 On 29 December they killed the last of the dogs 102 Both men had been feeling unwell but from New Year s Day 1913 there was a sudden and rapid deterioration in Mertz s health he had frostbite and became delirious and agitated n 7 After a weather delay they resumed their journey on the evening of 3 January but they did not get far before the weather and Mertz s frostbite forced them to stop 106 They laid up until 3 January when Mertz agreed to push on but his condition continued to worsen and though Mawson managed to drag him on the sledge they could not cover much ground Mertz died early on 8 January 107 108 Mawson was around 160 kilometres 100 mi from the base which was he observed a relatively short distance for a healthy man but a long way for one weak and famished 109 n 8 After burying Mertz and marking his grave Mawson prepared for the journey ahead To lighten his burden he used a small pocket tool to cut his sledge in half 111 On 11 January the weather cleared and he set out His extreme weakness and in particular the condition of his feet meant he could not travel great distances 112 On 17 January he fell into a crevasse and hung there by a rope from the sledge which fortunately did not fall It took him more than four hours to extricate himself 113 As he drew nearer to the base he was frustratingly delayed by more bad weather On 29 January he discovered a cairn left by a search party with food and a message telling him he was 37 kilometres 23 mi from Aladdin s Cave 114 Three days later Mawson reached the cave where he discovered more provisions but something that was missing from the cave was extra pairs of crampons which he would need to make the final descent to the base He had thrown his last pair of crampons away after clearing the final glacier a few days earlier knowing that there would be another pair at Aladdin s Cave Bad weather meant he could not set out again until 8 February but during this time he managed to make a pair of homemade crampons out of the wood from packing crates and loose nails which he then used for the final leg of his journey As he descended the final slope towards the base he thought he saw smoke on the horizon which he took to be coming from the departing ship When he arrived at the base he found that the ship had indeed sailed earlier that day leaving a group of five Bickerton Bage Madigan Alfred Hodgeman and Archibald McLean and a new wireless technician Sidney Jeffryes as a rescue party for the missing men 115 Mawson radioed the ship asking Davis to return and pick up the party Davis attempted to comply and brought the ship back to Commonwealth Bay but a severe gale prevented the ship from anchoring or launching a boat After sitting offshore for a day and worried that with further delays Aurora would not reach Wild s western base before being blocked by winter ice Davis gave up and headed west 116 leaving the Cape Denison group to spend another year at the base 117 Other sledging parties Edit The motorised sledge or air tractor created from a damaged Vickers R E P Type Monoplane did not prove a success The Eastern Coastal Party under Madigan left the base on 8 November following the coast eastwards They continued mapping as they went and collecting geological and biological samples to just beyond the 150 E mark about 430 kilometres 270 mi from the base Near that point they discovered a rocky headland more than 300 metres 1 000 ft high with a magnificent columnar structure resembling organ pipes 118 Madigan described this as a cathedral of nature 119 it was later named Horn Bluff after William Horn one of the expedition s sponsors 120 On their return journey they celebrated Christmas Day as they camped on a glacier tongue unaware that Mawson and Mertz were camped in the upper reaches of the same glacier 121 After completing a full coastal survey Madigan s party returned to the base on 16 January 1913 122 Bage s Southern Party left Cape Denison on 10 November 123 and marched south in the direction of the Magnetic Pole as Webb made daily magnetic observations They soon found that magnetic disturbances played havoc with the compass readings and they steered by the sun a more than efficient substitute Bage noted 124 On 21 December they were 484 kilometres 301 mi from the base However their magnetic readings indicated that they were still some distance from the Magnetic Pole 125 To avoid the risk of missing the ship they turned for home The latter part of this journey was gruelling as they missed their final food depot and had to make a rapid 100 kilometre 60 mi dash to reach the base by 11 January 126 127 The Western Party delayed its departure until 3 December hoping that better weather would aid the running of the motor sledge 128 The machine had performed satisfactorily in trials and it ran well initially but 16 kilometres 10 mi out from the base one of its cylinders began misfiring The trouble worsened the engine stalled suddenly and the propeller was wrecked The motor sledge was abandoned and the party continued its journey by man hauling 129 travelling 254 kilometres 158 mi west across the plateau before turning for home Their most important geological find was a meteorite the first discovered in Antarctica 130 131 The second season 1913 1914 Edit Hodgeman returning to the hut after taking meteorological readings For the group left at Cape Denison winter came early confining them mostly to the hut for many months The previous year s program of magnetic and meteorological observations was resumed as were the routines of daily life at the base 132 Many of the group found they had time on their hands and McLean in the tradition of earlier expeditions took advantage of this to edit and produce a magazine the Adelie Blizzard 133 134 One major improvement on the previous year was that from 20 February regular wireless contact with Macquarie Island was established which allowed the group to stay in touch with the outside world until 8 June when strong winds once again brought down the wireless masts 135 136 The wireless operator Jeffryes was initially a conscientious and respected member of the group 137 but from mid June his behaviour began to deteriorate He became moody and aggressive challenging his hut mates to fights mumbling to himself developing a persecution mentality and neglecting his hygiene This was alarming enough for the rest of the group but when the wireless masts were re erected early in August Jeffryes began sending out wild messages claiming that all the others apart from Mawson had gone insane and were trying to murder him 138 139 140 Bickerton began practising operating the wireless and Mawson sent a message to Ainsworth at the Macquarie Island wireless station to censor all communications received from Jeffryes Finally in a period of semi lucidity Jeffryes asked to be relieved from his duties and Bickerton permanently took over the wireless operator s role 141 As the weather was improving Mawson decided that he would take out a final sledging party with Madigan and Hodgeman primarily to recover equipment that had been dumped or cached during the journeys of the previous year In this they were largely unsuccessful They returned to base on 12 December and Aurora arrived the next day 142 They finally left Cape Denison on 24 December 1913 As they sailed away they could see the cross erected on high ground by Bickerton and McLean commemorating their lost comrades Ninnis and Mertz 143 144 Western base Edit Frank Wild left leader of the Far Western Party with Andrew Watson during the sledging expedition Mawson had hoped to place the western base around 800 kilometres 500 mi and no more than 970 kilometres 600 mi west of Cape Denison to make inter base wireless communication possible 145 146 After landing the Cape Denison party in January 1912 Aurora sailed west well beyond the 800 kilometre 500 mi mark without finding any suitable landing spot On 15 February they were 2 410 kilometres 1 500 mi from Cape Denison and in danger of being frozen in for the winter when they found a large ice shelf at 66 21 S 94 51 E Lacking other options Wild investigated it as a site for the base and despite the possibility of the ice breaking up he decided to risk it 147 148 The base was established by 21 February when Aurora sailed for Hobart 149 Wild named the ice shelf after Shackleton whose birthday fell on 15 February 150 Attempts to establish wireless contact with Cape Denison failed they were unable to erect a suitable mast and discovered that vital parts of the transmitting equipment were missing 151 Over the course of the next year the party at the western base completed a busy program of work This included two major sledging journeys east and west of the base mapping a total of over 560 kilometres 350 mi They also completed several depot laying trips and an exploration of the inland plateau They made regular meteorological geological magnetic and other scientific observations 152 Wild took a sledging party 237 kilometres 147 mi east before being halted by impassable ice n 9 A party led by Sydney Evan Jones travelled 377 kilometres 234 mi west to reach Gaussberg the extinct volcano discovered by Drygalski s expedition in 1902 155 In February 1913 the party waited anxiously for Aurora s return Lacking provisions for another year at the base they prepared for the possibility that the ship would not arrive by building up stocks of seal and penguin meat 156 but to their great relief Aurora appeared on 23 February by that same evening the men their equipment and their personal possessions were aboard and the ship was on its way to Hobart 157 Macquarie Island Edit Wireless Hill Macquarie Island Ainsworth s party began daily meteorological observations from 1 January 1912 and the wireless station was erected on a high promontory christened Wireless Hill 158 By mid February the station had made contact with Sydney 159 and by 12 May was transmitting daily weather reports to Wellington 160 Signals from Cape Denison were heard for the first time on 25 September Still the cape was unable to receive messages from Macquarie 161 162 On 20 February 1913 two way communication with Cape Denison was finally established and after that messages were regularly exchanged 163 The Macquarie party who had been expecting to be relieved heard in March that Cape Denison would be operational for a second season and that the Macquarie station would therefore need to remain open until November Mawson radioed that the supply ship could pick up any of the party who wished to leave in May but all elected to stay 164 As it turned out severe winter weather prevented supply vessels from reaching them until 20 August by which time provisions and fuel supplies were close to exhaustion 165 Arthur Sawyer who had fallen ill was taken off the island 166 Aurora arrived on 29 November when the rest of the Macquarie party was picked up replaced by members of the Commonwealth Meteorological Bureau 167 Oceanographic work Edit Harold Hamilton hand netting from Aurora The expedition s main oceanographic work was carried out during two cruises in 1912 and in a coastal journey in 1914 after the final relief of Cape Denison The first cruise May to July 1912 included investigation southwest of Tasmania of the supposed location of the Royal Company s Islands which had been searched for without success on numerous occasions 168 Aurora found no trace of them either nor of any shelving of the seabed that might suggest sunken islands 169 The main sphere of oceanographic research was the sea around Macquarie Island and further northeast towards the Auckland Islands 170 The second cruise in November 1912 returned to these waters Three days out from Hobart the depth to the seabed suddenly decreased from the 3 550 metres 1 940 fathoms measured on the previous day to 1 448 metres 792 fathoms A repeat sounding taken in case of error produced 1 452 metres 794 fathoms Davis took this as evidence of a submerged ridge that might have been part of a land bridge connecting Australia with the Antarctic in prehistoric time Subsequent soundings failed to substantiate this theory 171 After the remaining members of the Cape Denison party had been picked up in December 1913 Mawson decided that before returning home they would conduct a coastal and seabed survey to the west as far as the Shackleton Ice Shelf 172 This task proved taxing and led to dissension between Mawson and Davis who was by this time sleep deprived and exhausted Mawson noted as much in his diary I hope the strain won t tell any more on him 173 The work began on 1 January 1914 and was mostly complete by 2 February After an arduous period in the ice during which Davis rarely left the bridge Aurora began the journey home 174 Aftermath Edit Before they departed the Denison party erected a cross in memory of Ninnis and Mertz On 26 February 1914 Aurora reached Adelaide to an enthusiastic welcome 175 For the next month Mawson was engaged in a busy round of receptions and scientific meetings before sailing for London on 1 April accompanied by his bride Paquita Delprat whom he had married the previous day In London he lectured to the Royal Geographical Society visited the parents of Ninnis and was received at Marlborough House by Alexandra the Queen Mother and her sister the Dowager Empress of Russia 176 On 29 June before his return to Australia he was knighted at Buckingham Palace by King George V and was later the recipient of many further honours 177 including the Royal Geographical Society s Founder s Medal in 1915 105 In Australia Mawson faced the reality of the expedition s debts He proposed that the Australian government should purchase Aurora and the other artefacts and equipment from the expedition for 15 000 an amount he reckoned that would not only meet all outstanding debts but would finance the production of the scientific reports The government turned him down 178 Instead he sold Aurora to Shackleton for a mere 3 200 for use in the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition ITAE 178 and hoped to settle the balance of the debt through the sales of his chronicle of the expedition The Home of the Blizzard and with the profits from Hurley s film and photographs The outbreak of war later in 1914 delayed the book s publication while the distribution of the film was hampered by contractual problems and by a shift of public attention towards the war 179 As a result the scientific reports were produced piecemeal over the next 30 years the last appearing in 1947 180 Many of the expedition s personnel enlisted in the armed forces when war broke out Bage already an officer in the Royal Australian Engineers was killed during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 181 and Leslie Blake the cartographer and geologist of the Macquarie Island party died after being badly wounded by a shell in France in 1918 182 183 Several would return to the Antarctic Mawson as the leader of the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition BANZARE in 1929 1931 184 Davis as captain of Aurora for the relief voyage for the Ross Sea party in Shackleton s expedition 185 and as captain of Discovery during the first stage of BANZARE 184 Hurley joined the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition 186 and also signed on to BANZARE 187 Wild joined ITAE as well and in 1921 he accompanied Shackleton on his final expedition taking over as leader following Shackleton s sudden death in January 1922 188 Charles Harrisson who had been a member of the Far Western Party visited Macquarie Island in 1914 but his ship disappeared without a trace on its return voyage to Australia 182 Two days after arriving in Adelaide Jeffryes took a train heading to his home in Toowoomba but he never arrived a month later he was found near Stawell Victoria wandering in the bush He spent the next year in asylums but after an assault on a member of staff he was committed to a criminal asylum in Ararat where he died in 1942 His family were highly critical of Mawson s lack of care and sympathy they wrote him numerous letters apparently without response In 2018 Jeffryes was finally honoured by the erection of a plaque in the Ararat Cemetery near the site of his unmarked grave 140 Appraisal Edit The expedition produced the first map of Macquarie Island The scientific work of the expedition covered the fields of geology biology meteorology terrestrial magnetism and oceanography 189 the vast amounts of data filled multiple reports published over a period of 30 years These reports provided an extensive description of Antarctica s extreme weather and of its animal and plant life 190 This was the first expedition to successfully establish wireless contact between the Antarctic continent and the Australian mainland through the relay station on Macquarie Island 189 it also provided the first studies and mapping of the island 191 Its eight major sledging parties travelled for a total of 4 180 kilometres 2 600 mi while Aurora sailed along 2 900 kilometres 1 800 mi of uncharted coastline 189 mapping the continental shelf through 55 of longitude 191 Hurley s photographs and film provided a comprehensive pictorial record 189 Many Antarctic features bear names paying tribute to expedition members including Cape Mawson Mawson Coast Mawson Peninsula 192 Madigan Nunatak 193 Mertz Glacier and Ninnis Glacier 194 195 The expedition was the first step towards Australia s later territorial claims on the Antarctic continent 189 and was on a greater scale than any of its predecessors in the field Frank Hurley summed up the character of the expedition Shackleton grafted science on to exploration Mawson added exploring to science 196 According to the historian Gordon Hayes Mawson s expedition judged by the magnitude both of its scale and of its achievements was the greatest and most consummate expedition that ever sailed to Antarctica 197 See also EditHeroic Age of Antarctic ExplorationReferences EditNotes Edit Scott s late decision to send a party to Cape Adare came when he discovered that his main polar rival Roald Amundsen had established his base camp at the Bay of Whales close to King Edward VII Land which Scott had originally planned to explore with a secondary party It was thought inappropriate that rival teams should work in essentially the same area Scott did not consider it necessary to inform Mawson of his change of plan 17 Early in 1910 Mawson and Shackleton had secured a promise of 10 000 from Gerald Lysaght a wealthy donor who had helped finance the British Antarctic Expedition 5 44 When Mawson sought this money he was shocked to discover that Lysaght had donated it to Shackleton personally and that Shackleton had applied it to other undisclosed purposes This deception as Mawson saw it permanently soured relations between the two men 19 Apart from financial contributions the expedition received many donations in kind In London Northcliffe s appeal brought gifts of equipment and supplies including whisky and tobacco 43 in Australia Aurora received free harbour and docking facilities from the state governments of Victoria and New South Wales 46 Mawson published in Home of the Blizzard a very precise account of moneys received In total from all sources 52 270 equivalent to about 5 2 million in 2018 was raised against total expenditure of 56 732 5 7m The deficit of 4 462 equates to just under 500 000 in 2018 terms 50 51 Fifty dogs were ordered one which went missing in Greenland was replaced but during the trip from Greenland another was lost overboard and a third was attacked and killed by the other dogs 34 Borchgrevink recorded that the wear and tear caused by the frequent gales must have had a very material influence on the accuracy of the Robinson cup anemometers that his expedition used At speeds of more 140 kilometres per hour 90 mph they tended to be demolished or destroyed 78 A medical report published in 1969 concluded that the most likely cause of Mertz s swift decline and death was vitamin A poisoning from eating the dogs livers which are rich in the vitamin to a level that can be toxic to humans 103 104 The poisoning process was likely hastened by Mertz s weak physical condition and near starvation 105 After the expedition rumours circulated that Mawson had assisted his survival by resorting to cannibalism According to a report published in The New York Globe Mawson had considered this but decided it would always leave a bad taste in my mouth and decided not to Mawson described the report as an outrageous invention All his associates declared the idea preposterous given Mawson s strict conservative morals No evidence has ever been produced to validate the rumour 110 Wild named the land he had reached after King George V but did so without royal consent 153 The name George V Land was subsequently given with permission to lands explored by Mawson s Far Eastern Party from the Cape Denison base 118 Wild also named the plateau south of his base Queen Mary Land 154 Citations Edit Riffenburgh 2005 pp 231 244 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 35 36 Turney 2012 p 213 Bryan 2011 pp 264 265 a b Riffenburgh 2009 p 38 Smith 2014 p 238 a b c Turney 2012 p 214 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 38 39 Smith 2014 p 239 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 39 40 Riffenburgh 2009 p 40 Mawson 2008 p xi Riffenburgh 2009 pp 40 41 Davis 1919 pp 3 4 a b Riffenburgh 2009 p 41 Turney 2012 p 219 Riffenburgh 2009 p 47 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 41 42 a b c Riffenburgh 2009 p 42 Bechervaise 1981 a b Riffenburgh 2009 p 44 Davis 1919 pp 5 8 Bryan 2011 pp 266 267 a b Bryan 2011 p 267 Riffenburgh 2009 p 45 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 49 50 FitzSimons 2012 pp 324 325 a b Riffenburgh 2009 p 50 Turney 2012 p 224 a b Mawson 2008 p 13 a b FitzSimons 2012 p 283 Mills 2007 p 126 Coleman 2007 p 201 a b Leane amp Tiffin 2012 p 186 FitzSimons 2012 pp 282 283 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 45 46 a b Riffenburgh 2009 p 51 Riffenburgh 2009 p 78 FitzSimons 2012 pp 297 299 FitzSimons 2012 p 293 a b Turney 2012 p 221 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 43 44 a b Turney 2012 p 216 Huntford 1985 p 335 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 48 49 Mawson 2008 p 545 Turney 2012 p 253 Mawson 2008 pp 544 545 Turney 2012 pp 256 257 Mawson 2008 pp 543 544 MeasuringWorth Leane amp Tiffin 2012 p 185 Bryan 2011 p 269 Davis 1919 pp 11 15 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 51 56 FitzSimons 2012 pp 347 348 Riffenburgh 2009 p 55 FitzSimons 2012 p 339 FitzSimons 2012 pp 354 356 FitzSimons 2012 pp 358 60 Mills 2007 p 135 Riffenburgh 2009 pp 56 57 Riffenburgh 2009 p 57 Davis 1919 pp 20 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Turney 2012 pp 257 258 Sources Edit Books Edit Alberts F G ed 1981 Geographic Names of the Antarctic Washington National Science Foundation OCLC 497666264 Ayres P 2003 1999 Mawson A Life Victoria Australia Melbourne Univ Publishing ISBN 0 522 85078 2 Bechervaise J 1981 Davis John King 1884 1967 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 8 National Centre of Biography Australian National University Retrieved 26 November 2019 Bickel L 2000 Mawson s Will The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written Lebanon Steerforth Press ISBN 978 1 58642 000 0 Borchgrevink C E 2014 1901 First on the Antarctic Continent Being an Account of the British Antarctic Expedition 1898 1900 New York Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 108 07188 8 Bryan R 2011 Ordeal by Ice Ships of the Antarctic Dobbs Ferry Sheridan House ISBN 978 1 57409 312 4 Coleman E C 2007 The Royal Navy in Polar Exploration from Franklin to Scott Stroud Tempus Publishing ISBN 978 0 7524 4207 5 Davis J K 1919 With the Aurora in the Antarctic 1911 1914 London Andrew Melrose OCLC 1058427147 FitzSimons P 2012 Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age Sydney William Henemann ISBN 978 1 74275 279 2 Huntford R 1985 Shackleton London Hodder amp Stoughton ISBN 978 0 340 25007 5 Jacka F J 1986 Mawson Sir Douglas 1882 1958 Australian Dictionary of Biography Vol 10 National Centre of Biography Australian National University Retrieved 26 November 2019 Mawson D 2008 1914 The Home of the Blizzard Oxford Benediction Classics ISBN 978 1 84902 172 2 Ainsworth G 2008 XXV XXVII The Home of the Blizzard Oxford Benediction Classics ISBN 978 1 84902 172 2 Bage B 2008 XIV The Home of the Blizzard Oxford Benediction Classics ISBN 978 1 84902 172 2 Madigan C 2008 XV The Home of the Blizzard Oxford Benediction Classics ISBN 978 1 84902 172 2 Mills L 2007 Frank Wild Whitby Caedmon ISBN 978 0 905355 48 1 Riffenburgh B 2005 Nimrod Ernest Shackleton London Bloomsbury ISBN 978 0 7475 7253 4 Riffenburgh B 2009 Racing with Death Douglas Mawson Antarctic Explorer London Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 978 0 7475 9671 4 Smith M 2014 Shackleton By Endurance We Conquer North America Great Britain amp Australia OneWorld Books ISBN 978 1 78074 572 5 Turney C 2012 1912 The Year the World Discovered Antarctica London The Bodley Head ISBN 978 1 84792 174 1 Journals and magazines Edit The Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911 1914 Bull Am Geogr Soc 47 1 37 44 1915 doi 10 2307 201117 JSTOR 201117 Gorman M L 2005 Captain Leslie Russell Blake and Aberdeen University s penguin egg Current Biology Vol 15 no 11 pp R402 R405 doi 10 1016 j cub 2005 05 041 ISSN 0960 9822 Killick D 2012 Life and death in the Home of the Blizzard Australian Antarctic Magazine No 22 Leane E Tiffin H 2012 Dogs Meat and Douglas Mawson PDF Australian Humanities Review 52 185 199 doi 10 22459 AHR 52 2012 Wharton W J L 1904 Expunged Islands Emu Austral Ornithology 4 1 32 Websites Cansdale D 19 October 2018 Douglas Mawson s colleague with schizophrenia remembered ABC News Australia Retrieved 26 November 2019 Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount 1270 to Present MeasuringWorth 2019 Retrieved 26 November 2019 Antarctica detail Gaussberg USGS U S Department of the Interior Retrieved 26 November 2019 Antarctica detail Horn Bluff USGS U S Department of the Interior Retrieved 26 November 2019 Further reading EditDartnall H J G 2013 Lost in the Mists Leslie Russell Blake Victoria Arcadia ISBN 978 1 925003 18 5 Hall L 2000 Douglas Mawson The Life of an Explorer Sydney Reed Natural History ISBN 978 1 86436 670 9 Jacka F Jacka E eds 1988 Mawson s Antarctic Diaries London Unwin Hyman ISBN 0 04 320209 8 McEwin E 2007 An Antarctic Affair Bowden East Street Publications ISBN 978 1 921037 30 6 Roberts D 2014 Alone on the Ice New York W W Norton amp Co ISBN 978 0 393 34778 4 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Australasian Antarctic expedition The Wikibook History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia has a page on the topic of William Tamillas Stephen Crawford Works about the Australasian Antarctic expedition at Open Library Letter written by Bob Bage while preparing for the relief party Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Australasian Antarctic Expedition amp oldid 1154105631, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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