1911, THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION BEGAN

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, that began on a day like today in 1911.

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 of unexplored territory, while its ship, SY Aurora, navigated 2,900 kilometres 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 west of Cape Adare, and a western base under Frank Wild was established on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, more than 2,400 kilometres 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.

More information: Australian Antarctic Program

On 28 July 1911, Aurora  -her deck teeming with the 48 dogs that had survived the trip from Greenland, 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. She left Cardiff on 4 August, and arrived at Queens Wharf, Hobart, on 4 November, after a three-month voyage. In a flurry of activity, additional fuel, stores and equipment were taken aboard.  

Mawson chartered a steamer, SS Toroa, to carry part of the burden as far as Macquarie Island. After a series of farewell ceremonies and functions, Aurora was given a tumultuous dockside send-off from Hobart on 2 December.

The passage to Macquarie Island was rough: waves repeatedly overwhelmed the ship, half-drowning the dogs and soaking the men. Part of Aurora's bridge was washed away, and the cargo stored above deck suffered damage. The bad weather finally abated, and they reached Macquarie Island on 13 December, where they were joined by Toroa soon afterwards. 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.

Mawson's hopes of finding a suitable coastline to the west of Cape Adare were soon dashed. The coast remained hidden behind impenetrable ice, and the land reported by Wilkes in 1840 appeared to be non-existent. 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.

On 8 January 1912, rounding a large glacier, they sailed into a gulf which Mawson later named Commonwealth Bay, and on further exploration they discovered a long sheltered inlet which they dubbed Boat Harbour. 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.

The work of unloading the ship, frequently interrupted by storms and winds, continued until 18 January. 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.

More information: The Guardian 

My Antarctic expedition is just about doable, 
just feasible and that's what is exciting to me. 
If I knew it was possible, 
if I knew I could do it without too much bother, 
I wouldn't be interested.

Ben Saunders