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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australasian Antarctic Expedition | 2/8 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_Antarctic_Expedition | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:36:55.277031+00:00 | kb-cron |
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. 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. 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. In 1884, she had participated in the rescue efforts for American Arctic explorer Adolphus Greely's Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. The ship cost £6,000, which Mawson considered a bargain. Davis supervised an extensive refit, which included alterations to her rigging and much internal reorganisation to provide appropriate accommodation, laboratories and extra storage space. 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. Mawson also acquired a small monoplane from Vickers, for both its potential utility and its considerable publicity value. 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". 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.
=== Personnel ===
Before returning to Australia, Mawson recruited "the oldest resident of Antarctica", the polar veteran Frank Wild, as leader of one of the proposed mainland bases. Wild had turned down an invitation to join Scott's expedition; he disliked Scott's rigidity, considering him "too much the navy man". 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. Ninnis was to take charge of the expedition's fifty sledge dogs once they arrived from Greenland, even though he had no previous experience with dogs. 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. To preserve the expedition's predominantly Australasian character, Mawson recruited his science staff from the universities of Australia and New Zealand. In key positions were Eric Webb, a 22-year-old New Zealander who became chief magnetician, 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. 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. 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.
=== 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. The British government gave £2,000, and, after a successful presentation by Mawson, the Royal Geographical Society contributed £500. All told, following the appeal, British sources provided an amount close to £10,000. In Australia, the federal government gave £5,000, and the state governments together provided £18,500. 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. Fundraising efforts continued while the expedition was in the field. 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. The problems of meeting these financial obligations would preoccupy Mawson for many years.
== Expedition history ==
=== Voyage south ===