A grand plan: the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition

In January 1919 Cope released a detailed prospectus ‘for [the] furtherance of geographical and scientific knowledge of Antarctica. . .and being desirous of conducting this further Expedition on lines similar to those of the late Capt. Sir Robert Falcon Scott, CB RN;. . .’ Cope's five objectives spread over five years, were to ascertain the extent of mineral and other deposits during exploration in the Ross Sea area and at Cape Ann (Enderby Land); to obtain further evidence of the localities and migrations of whales of economic value and to create British industries in this trade; to circumnavigate the Antarctic and to generally extend knowledge of Antarctica with the view to obtaining further scientific data of economic importance. He proposed to use Scott's former ship Terra Nova and after establishing a wireless and meteorological station on Scott Island, a headquarters with communications equipment would be built at New Harbour between Cape Bernacchi and Butter Point, along the coast of Victoria Land. A further hut was proposed for scientific parties at Cape Crozier on Ross Island. The ship would then winter over at Cape Ann and after exploring Coats Land, winter over in the South Shetlands (Cope Reference Cope1919a).

Cope contemplated use of an aircraft to be named later The Kangaroo (The New York Times 24 December 1920) for surveying the interior and making a flight to the South Pole in two stages. ‘This flight,’ he said ‘is not being made merely as a stunt. After the flight to the South Pole the aeroplane would be used during the next four seasons. . .’ (The Daily Telegraph (London) 6 February 1920). With his 54 man party Cope planned to leave England in June 1920, and Wellington in October. He estimated the cost of the five year expedition at £100,000 and began to contact people whom he hoped would support his expedition and to receive applications for potential staff.

A party of 22 men would be led by Major (later Sir) Raymond Priestley, a veteran of Shackleton's 1907–1909 expedition and Scott's 1910–1913 expedition ‘who wishes to accompany the Expedition in charge of the New Harbour Party but is at present prevented from giving any definite answer owing to private reasons unconnected with the Expedition’ (Cope Reference Cope1919c).

Two further members of Scott's 1910–1913 expedition, Lt. Victor Campbell RN; as captain (Hinks Reference Hinks1919) and William Burton RN; as third engineer (Larkman Reference Larkman1919), were also offered positions, although Burton who met Cope in London advised that it was impossible for him to sign on at present (W. Burton, personal communication, 23 December 1981). Cdr. J. Jefferies RN; was offered the position of navigating officer (Hinks Reference Hinks1919).

James (Frank) Hurley, a veteran of Sir Douglas Mawson's 1911–1914 expedition and Shackleton's 1914–1916 expedition (Weddell Sea party) applied from Sydney for the position of photographer (Cope Reference Cope1919c) although for reasons unknown, was not appointed or chose to withdraw.

Included were two fellow members of the Ross Sea party; Ernest Joyce also a veteran of Scott's 1901–1904 and Shackleton's 1907–1909 expeditions, as second in command and Alfred Larkman, who would sign on in Canada as chief engineer (W. Burton, personal communication, 23 December 1981).

These appointments aroused interest at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) with the secretary, Arthur R. Hinks, stating in a note to the president Col. Thomas Holdich, ‘it is curious that Mr Cope did not mention these names to the President and that two naval officers [Campbell and Jefferies] should be expected to sail with an Able Seaman [Joyce] as second in command’ (Hinks Reference Hinks1919) a point later queried by Shackleton.

Cope's early supporters included scientists William Bruce an oceanographer and leader of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition 1902–1904, and Robert Rudmose-Brown a geographer also of Bruce's expedition, who considered Cope's plans ‘ambitious but they are sound and workable’ (Rudmose-Brown Reference Rudmose-Brown1919); eminent historian Hugh Robert Mill; Rear Admiral John Parry CB, RN and Arthur Shipley, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge, who had previously supported Cope's joining the Ross Sea party.

The chief scientist initially appointed early in 1919, was Robert C. Mossman a meteorologist also on Bruce's expedition. Although ‘his medical examination was satisfactory’ (Cope Reference Cope1919b) he was for reasons unknown, replaced with an Australian George Hubert Wilkins. Wilkins had served as photographer with the controversial Vilhjalmur Stefansson's Canadian Arctic expedition 1913–1916, having in 1913 learned to fly. As a newspaper reporter and cameraman for the Gaumont Film Company and with experience in aerial photography during World War 1, Wilkins stood to enhance his experience.

By March 1919 with the budget still set at £100,000, Cope continued to seek support from the RGS Council which requested further details. Support from the Society was crucial as it provided credibility for the expedition and paved the way for financial support. By now Cope had expedition stationery, an office at 66 Victoria Street London, and was busy trying to enlist support and raise finance. E.R. Dinsley a journalist with Central News London acted as secretary (replaced a year later by I.N. Partington) and finance was managed by V. Osborne of Connolly Brothers, Chalfont Street, London, who had power of attorney.

Cope then visited Cambridge and met the geographer Frank Debenham of Scott's 1910–1913 expedition and geologists Priestley and James (later Sir James) Wordie, the latter a member of Shackleton's 1914–1916 expedition. Reporting to the RGS, Debenham gave his opinion on Cope's first proposal:

Cope also sought help from the media. An undated letter to the Editor of The Times and probably compiled by Cope, also listed as signatories, Edward E. Cooper, Lord Mayor of London, Admiral Percy Scott RN; businessman Charles E. Fryer, and Capt. E.R.G.R. Evans RN. It is uncertain if this was ever sent. In a letter to Mill in May, Cope wrote ‘The Times have undertaken to make a strong appeal to the British Nation for subscriptions. . .provided that the Royal Geographical Society will form a Financial Committee and appoint a Treasurer to receive all funds’ (Cope Reference Cope1919d).

Although many expressed concern at the expedition including Shackleton who visited the Society on 1 May, Cope pressing ahead sought support from Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Lady (Kathleen) Scott and Mrs Emily Bowers, requesting copies of lists with quantities and prices for stores and equipment.

Writing to the RGS on 17 May and further seeking approval, he now advised that Mossman and Hurley ‘are definitely accompanying me and Priestley is only withholding his decision to go with me for purely private reasons. Concerning the selection of a competent sailing master I have received definite applications from two men who have both had experience in Antarctic navigation . . .’ (Cope Reference Cope1919e).

Although by mid May £15,300 had apparently been received from subscribers in London, no evidence of donors has been located. Cope then proposed visiting large industrial manufacturing centres in the midlands and in the north; in England, the region situated approximately between the River Trent and Scotland (Cope Reference Cope1919f). Later Wilkins reported that when ‘people advanced considerable sums of cash [with] this spent in purchasing stores and supplies I was bound to keep faith with those people’ (Wilkins Reference Wilkins1922).

All was not well and on 26 May the RGS council decided against supporting Cope. Early supporters also began to withdraw and by the end of June, £10,000 had to be paid towards the cost of the Terra Nova then engaged in the North Atlantic sealing industry (Cope Reference Cope1919c; Tarver Reference Tarver2006: 164–165). Other ships considered were the Ermak a Russian icebreaker fitted with an aircraft landing platform and the Pelican.

Cope's third proposal: the Antarctic Peninsula

By June 1920 and with objectives scaled down, Cope had sights set on the abandoned hut of Nils Otto Nordenskjold's Swedish South Polar Expedition 1901–1904 on Snow Hill Island off the Antarctic Peninsula. As part of planned exploration further south, depots would include winter accommodation in ‘snow huts’ built under Wilkins guidance (Debenham Reference Debenham1922a). At this time his ‘second in command’ Joyce for reasons unknown, decided to pull out. Joyce was busy lecturing and showing films on the Ross Sea party, and with his father planning a commercial world tour including chartering a liner and also, contemplating a tourism venture in the Ross Sea (A.G.E. Jones, personal communication, 12 November 1981; D. Joyce, personal communication, 19 September 1989).

In addition to Wilkins who returned briefly to Australia on military duties then left to obtain up to 30 dogs in Canada, two further members were selected. They proved to be a wise choice.

Thomas Wyatt Bagshawe (Fig. 1) then aged 19 was born on 18 April 1901. He came from from Dunstable and was placed by his father under Wilkins’ charge without Wilkins knowledge (Wilkins Reference Wilkins1922). This was presumably an instruction from Bagshawe senior to his son or perhaps to Cope. He was educated at Rugby and read geology at Cambridge. He abandoned his studies to join the expedition as geologist. Maxime Charles Lester (Fig. 2) aged 30 was born on 25 September 1891 and came from St. John's Wood, northwest London. He was then second mate on a tramp steamer and was appointed navigator and surveyor. This level-headed, quiet mannered man had served with Henry R. Bowers, of Scott's last expedition. on the training ship HMS Worcester. No record has been found concerning how either man made initial contact with Cope.

Fig. 1. Thomas Wyatt Bagshawe

Fig. 2. Maxime Charles Lester

Food and sledging equipment, including a mascot dog, sledges, ski and snowshoes, were obtained in England and Norway and travel arrangements including freighting of supplies, was arranged courtesy of the whaling firms owned by Lars Christensen of Sandefjord. Although Christensen was very interested in Antarctica and geographical discovery, he was soon aware of Cope's limited finances and tried to forestall departure. This was done by instructing his captain not to support Cope and by ordering the hold up of stores unless payments were forthcoming (Lester Reference Lester1920). Nevertheless the under financed expedition with debts in Norway and shortages of equipment such as cutlery and canvas, still proceeded.

Wilkins later wrote that ‘Upon receiving a guarantee from Cope that he had further backing, I was to meet him in America. I received cable guarantees & was forced to give up a Government appointment in order to keep my word which was more binding than any legal agreement that might have been drawn up’ (Wilkins Reference Wilkins1922).

In Montevideo, Uruguay, Wilkins having been unable to obtain dogs (no evidence has been found that he visited Canada) and presumably en route to the Falkland Islands to locate and purchase dogs, he had further doubts on the expedition. Displeased with the overall operation and his involvement, he sent a vitriolic message to Debenham complaining about the conduct of Cope, Lester and Bagshawe (Wilkins Reference Wilkins1920). Considering the situation Debenham wrote ‘The only thing that is quite clear, is that there has been a most effective bust up’ he wrote (Debenham Reference Debenham1920). Wilkins promised to write to Debenham from New York explaining the situation although never did.

In England on 25 September 1920 and with the expedition close to departure, an agreement signed between Cope and Lester was witnessed by Dinsley. Cope agreed to pay £600 as remuneration for his duties and further agreed to pay Lester, not later than six months after his return to England, an additional £1000 from the profits of the expedition (Cope Reference Cope1920a). There is no evidence that Bagshawe or Wilkins signed a similar agreement although for Bagshawe, this is hinted in Lester's journal (Lester Reference Lester1921h).

Cope left on 28 September for Norway to join the factory ship Thor 1 (Capt. Vermeli Hansen). He was followed ten days later by Bagshawe and Lester from Cardiff (where they had a difficult time) with the bulk of the stores on the factory ships Svend-Foyn 1 (Capt. Ole Andersen) conveying Bagshawe, and the Ørn 11 (Capt. Johs Johannessen) with Lester. Bagshawe and Lester arrived at Montevideo on 7 November where clothes were purchased with a small amount of cash made available by Osborne.

By now Cope's secretary Dinsley, regretted he became involved and writing to Bagshawe and Lester stated:

Deception Island

Bagshawe and Lester then proceeded to Whalers Bay at Deception Island in the South Shetlands, arriving on 20 November and a few days later discovered Christensen

The expedition was seriously in debt, yet Cope either disorganised or knowing full well what he was doing, had the audacity to suggest the captain of the Thor 1 take command of the ‘expedition ship’ ‘at a salary double that [he] presently received!’(Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1920a). Matters were fast coming to a head. Cope was worried, perhaps feeling remorseful and was by now already thinking of quitting. On 22 November he wrote to Bagshawe from Montevideo:

At this stage Bagshawe and Lester had heard nothing of Wilkins and the sledge dogs, nor had they received orders or advice from Cope. From Deception Island they experienced whaling on Ørn 11 and a Svend-Foyn 1 catcher Graham (Capt. Sverre-Skidsmo), and examined geology and penguin colonies on Deception Island. That season eight floating factories and 47 whale catchers were operating in Antarctica and took 8448 whales (Headland Reference Headland2009: 270).

The expedition rallied on 10 December, when Thor 1 received a radio message from Cope stating ‘All accounts paid. Christensen withdrawn all conditions’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1920b). At Whalers Bay stores were transferred from the factory ships Bombay (Capt. Johansen), Ørn 11 and Thor 1 to the catchers Selvik (Capt.?), Chloe (Capt.?) and Odd 1 (Capt. C. Olsen).

Wilkins had managed to purchase eight dogs from residents of the Falkland Islands and on meeting Cope in Montevideo then discovered

. . .the guarantees were not substantial & that he [Cope] had made arrangements to carry out plans entirely different to that discussed in London. It was then too late to retract and I agreed to go on and do what was possible for that summer in the Antarctic, but if conditions would allow work of a satisfactory nature to be done during the winter, then I might decide to stay on. . .(Wilkins Reference Wilkins1922).

Leaving Uruguay with ‘debts [there] amounting to approximately £600 and without having refunded money advanced in accordance with his undertaking’ (Butler Reference Butler1921), Cope and Wilkins were conveyed via Port Stanley to Deception Island, on the factory ship Solstreif (Capt. Björnaes Hansen) arriving 24 December. Here dogs were attended to, instruments examined and stores checked. Bagshawe had faith in Wilkins whom he considered ‘very nice, quiet and level headed and ought to have a good influence’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1920c). Lester's opinion was not recorded.

Cope's fourth proposal: Hope Bay and Paradise Harbour

Reports of heavy sea ice in Antarctic Sound ruled out access to Snow Hill Island at the northeast end of the peninsula and the only alternative was to land on the western side. Cope now modified his plan and perhaps influenced by Wilkins, decided to land at Hope Bay on the northwest corner. Here a party from Nordenskjold's expedition had built a rock hut and wintered in 1903. The whaling captains perhaps because of ice conditions, refused to land the party there and a disappointed Lester maintained ‘it soon became apparent that our failure to be landed at Hope Bay in the first instance meant the doom of the original plans’ (Lester Reference Lester1923: 177).

On 2 January 1921 Cope announced that he and presumably also Wilkins, planned to look for a landing site then would return to collect Bagshawe, Lester and the stores. In Cope's absence Bagshawe and Lester were shown by Capt. Hansen a telegram from Lars Christensen, stating all accounts were in fact not settled; that Cope must not be allowed to proceed except on one condition that the films taken and camera, were to be returned to Christensen.

By now if not already planned, Wilkins was considering leaving the expedition. Cope concerned that this would ‘leave the party weak from a man-hauling point of view’ then said to Bagshawe and Lester ‘if in the event of Wilkins declining to go further, would we proceed with him alone together with the dogs.’ Lester replied that he would do everything in his power to influence Wilkins not to go back. ‘I refused to proceed without Wilkins. . .with exception that the situation has been made rather awkward for Cope, since he is the leader, I do not think there is any cause for worry as I am certain that Wilkins will not fail to proceed, once we get started. . .but now things are “looking up”, and all is going to be a success, I feel it; I know it. We shall do well’ (Lester Reference Lester1921b).

The expedition left Deception Island on 11 January and with the party on catchers, steamed south towards Paradise Harbour south of Gerlache Strait on the west coast of Graham Land. Cope and Wilkins were on Odd 1, with Lester and 50 × 102kg bags of their coal donated by the whalers on Chloe and Bagshawe on Selvik with further supplies.

The whalers familiar with the territory considered they would have little difficulty crossing the Peninsula to the Weddell Sea and this would greatly reduce the planned journey south from Snow Hill Island. This opinion was shared by Debenham although he had not visited the peninsula. He later suggested, ‘if the dogs make good, the journey should be a simple one’ (Debenham Reference Debenham1921a) although maintained ‘Wilkins comes out in very poor light. . .he was responsible for the change in plans which took them to the cul de sac [Paradise Harbour] which we had warned them against instead of Hope Bay, where they would at least have been able to get about a bit’ (Debenham Reference Debenham1922b).

In spite of some stores inadvertently left at Deception Island, and perhaps retained by the whalers, the men and supplies landed at noon on 12 January on a small rocky island with an extension they named ‘Water-Boat Point’ (now Waterboat Point) protruding into Aguirre Passage a channel east of Lemaire Island. Unloading from Selvik and Odd 1 was completed by 8pm although Chloe did not leave until midnight. Coal was landed on nearby Coal Point Island.

‘The Island’ so-named by Bagshawe and Lester, was about 213m long and 107m wide, with the highest point six m above sea level. It was almost entirely occupied by a colony of gentoo penguins and ‘at high tide was separated from the “little island” to the south which we called South Island; by a small channel 25 feet wide [7.6m], but at low tide it was possible to walk from one island to another.’ South Island was about 259m long, by about 68m wide and 6m at its highest point, and was occupied by gentoo and chinstrap (termed by them ‘ringed’ or Antarctic) penguins. The total population they estimated at 12,000 gentoo and 1150 chinstrap penguins (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 36). A small bay northeast of Waterboat Point they named Life-Boat Bay on account of placing their lifeboat there, and the bay below the glacier southeast of South Island, was named Glacier Bay.

Establishing winter quarters

Apart for tents, ready accommodation was available in the form of an abandoned Norwegian water-boat placed as a whalers’ depot (Headland Reference Headland2009: 272). This was left on wooden rollers by the Norwegian factory ship Neko about eight years previously, nearly one metre clear of high water and on an elevated ridge of rocky ground occupied by gentoo penguins. Bagshawe wrote

It was not the first time a boat had been used for accommodation. When Shackleton and his party landed on Elephant Island 15 April 1916, two of the ship's boats Dudley Docker and Stancomb Wills, were upturned, linked, elevated and converted into an improvised hut with walls of rock, canvas, and snow. Here 22 men spent four months, with 12 of them sleeping on a beach gravel floor a little above the high tide level.

The morning after arrival work began with enthusiasm although ‘. . .unfortunately we were obliged to remove many of the young [penguins] to make room for our stores’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 38). That day Lester feeling more optimistic observed

The top of the mound was leveled for a hut to be attached to the water-boat and Bagshawe recorded progress.

As Lester further explained, by using lengths of deck wood, some 15cm nails and other items donated by the whalers, progress was good.

By the end of the following day (15 January) the roof was completed. This was made from packing case boards, lined with sennegrass and covered with sail canvas and most of the sides formed from boxes of pemmican, chocolate and milk. A small hole was left as a window but with no glass available, this was covered with canvas food bags sewn together. Bagshawe explained ‘they let through the light fairly well and served their purpose during the good weather, although they were not strong enough to withstand bad weather’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 41). As a result they were required to burn candles inside all day and every day.

Their hut (Fig. 3) orientated approximately northwest-southeast, was 1.8m square and the height above the boat was 1.75m. From the door there was a fine view.

Fig. 3. The hut at Waterboat Point.

Using geological hammers, sacking was nailed around the sides of the water-boat to prevent leaks and to block out draughts, spare eiderdowns were fastened around the inside of the ‘lounge’. Lester was satisfied with the result.

Bagshawe fitted up the meteorological screen on nearby raised ground 50 m from the hut, together with a rope to the hut providing security in bad weather. The screen mounted on top of eight pemmican boxes with door on the north side, had been made by the carpenter on the whaling ship. Mounted on top, was an improvised wind vane with fitting for a portable Short and Mason Tycos anemometer although when strong winds wore out their hand-held anemometer, velocities were estimated using Beaufort's Scale. Inside the screen were maximum and minimum, dry and wet bulb thermometers and a swing thermometer (or aspirated thermometer) for obtaining the equilibrium for ambient air temperature to enable calculation of relative humidity. Aneroids for measuring atmospheric pressure were supplied by T. Cooke and Sons and a pocket version was lent by Priestley.

On 17 January Lester considered that the hut was now complete. Pictures were hung, a blubber lamp was made by Wilkins from an old whale vertebra, a door was constructed from old box lids, raw seal hide became hinges, a trench was dug into the sea ‘for sanitary purposes’ (Lester Reference Lester1921f) and a layer of gravel was spread in the hut (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1921c).

There was however discomfort, as rain percolated through the deck of the water-boat although it had the advantage that planks swelled and cracks closed. Rain also caused leaks in the kitchen and ‘How we envied those expeditions equipped with a proper hut!’ mused Bagshawe (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 64). Felt boots were soon sodden.

Daily diet

With exception of limited items such as curry powder to flavour seal meat, the party was well off for food and had sufficient provisions for two years. On the night of arrival Wilkins caught a seal and the first meal ashore consisted of seal liver and steak, fried with onions. By the end of January the daily diet was established.

From his experience with the Ross Sea party, Cope was only too familiar with seal meat. The meat minced or boiled, was considered quite good and fried liver, heart or kidneys, was declared excellent. Fried blubber was fine but was best eaten as ‘delicious little cubes with their agreeable nutty flavour’ straight from the frying pan using improvised forks made from boxwood. Bagshawe considered Cope an excellent cook and ‘the way he cooked seal-liver and kidney reflected great credit on him’. However the diet changed in the months that followed when ‘seal and penguin meat was eaten on alternate days until the latter became too bad for consumption, when it was replaced by beans or sardines-the latter fried. . .pemmican formed the principal item of diet [for] we had no tinned meats, which was a good thing, as it compelled us to live on the flesh of the land’ (Lester Reference Lester1923: 180).

A change of plans

On 9 January 1921 three days before arrival at Paradise Harbour, Wilkins had expressed discontent with the expedition and, by late February, Cope who seven weeks earlier, disagreed with Wilkins that there was nothing to do (Lester Reference Lester1921b), was similarly disillusioned. Bagshawe described his own feelings

It has been obvious that our chances of getting across Graham Land are very small and carrying out our original plans next to nothing (ie to explore the west coast of the Weddell Sea) (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1921d).

There was little prospect in moving far from base and on 25 January, Cope announced that he proposed to return on the first whaler to Montevideo. Later he would obtain a schooner and return next season and the expedition would then move to Hope Bay (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1921d).

On 19 January an exploratory trip was made of Andvord Bay in the six metre long lifeboat, to examine suitable landing sites. As a preliminary reconnaissance on 30 January and using snow shoes, they scaled a peak they named Mount Lunch Ho! (Mt. Hoegh 2921m) east of their base. Despite Bagshawe collecting nearly 14kg of rocks and samples of moss and lichen, it was clear that even with dogs, they could not advance further across the peninsula. On 25 February, Cope called a meeting. Lester declared

Lester was far from happy with the lack of communication.

Cope who clearly had made up his mind to quit and with his wife home in England, then suggested that he would return from Montevideo ‘in his own boat, or the whaler picks us up between Feb 14 to 28. 1922. . .[with] about six men for staff’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1921e). The same day Cope requested Bagshawe and Lester to sign a statement

Lester in his journal added that after the year ended, Cope suggested ‘I returned home with a letter from him. Needless to say I disagreed at once; not only because I considered it the proper thing for the leader to attend to his own affairs, but for many other reasons besides’ (Lester Reference Lester1921g).

Cope then outlined his final instructions to Bagshawe and Lester. ‘I must thank you for the work you have already done and then for the consideration, interest and devotion you have shown by remaining here under the circumstances of which you are both aware.’ He stated the duties relating to scientific observations in meteorology, tides, biology and geology, requested a good series of photographs, keeping a careful record and said to look after the dogs and let them breed. ‘I feel confident that you will do good and useful work and none more useful than keeping up the end of the expedition here. . .in any case [I] shall be here between the fourteenth and twenty-eighth of February 1922. . .’(Cope Reference Cope1921).

Nearly two years later, Wilkins in a carefully worded letter, provided the RGS with his recollection of events.

The next day Cope and Wilkins (with Lester), left in the lifeboat for Nansen Island about 22 nautical miles (40 km) away to arrange for transport to Montevideo and for a whaler to return as soon as possible next season to collect Bagshawe and Lester. Bagshawe was left in charge of the base and despite having reservations at being on his own he nevertheless worked on the hut, attended to the dogs, and continued with meteorological and ice observations.

The four-day voyage covered 90 nautical miles (166 km), accomplished little, and was not without incident. After grounding on a submerged reef, the boat nearly capsized and required frantic baling. On 5 March the three men returned in the catcher Graham and Capts. Andersen and Vermelli Hansen, unhappy with the expedition, gave the entire party the opportunity to leave on Svend Foyn 1. Now aware that Bagshawe and Lester were remaining, the whalers before leaving at the end of the season, offered to check on them although ‘their proposition was submitted to Cope, who refused, saying that it was quite unnecessary’ (Lester Reference Lester1922c).

The two men having come so far to participate in science, believing they would be paid and concerned that if they went home they would be laughed at, after giving the whalers a whisky and enjoying lunch on board, returned to Waterboat Point. An optimistic Bagshawe recorded the whalers ‘were as nice as they could be to us. . .There is certainly no fear of them not picking us up. . . he [Capt. Andersen] said we could trust them absolutely’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1921f). Cope and Wilkins then departed leaving Bagshawe and Lester thinking they would return in 10 months. The proposed science programme would now give some credibility to the dysfunctional expedition and Bagshawe who got on reasonably well with Cope, assumed a leadership role.

Although Cope said he would return for the men, Wilkins was not prepared to make such commitment. Clearly looking ahead to his future, in a letter to the RGS a year later he stated:

Back in England Cope was soon busy fulfilling lecturing engagements and reportedly, was on the scientific staff of the Encyclopedia Britannica (R.W. Richards personal communication, 10 June 1982).

In July a disturbed Debenham writing to Hinks declared ‘There can be no real difficulty picking them up next year as they are at one of the whalers’ regular haunts. What is more important is that when picked up, they should come clear back to England and not be waylaid by Cope with fresh schemes’ (Debenham Reference Debenham1921b).

Preparing for winter and a hut extension

A meat storage facility was made with a large box contained the breasts, legs, livers and hearts of 50 penguins. Meat from a further 50 birds was put in a second box and both were covered with rocks and ice. Bamboo markers indicated where they were and by late March, the supply included meat from 200 penguins and 30 seals. As penguins were cut up for food, measurements, weights and other details were taken, and the stomach contents with pebbles and diet were meticulously recorded.

A cracked cross member supporting the deck of the water-boat was stabilised by four posts between the floor and ceiling, the lower bow was braced outside with a four metre length of timber, and large rocks were embedded in the ground. Canvas stitched by Lester over the boat, was painted with a mixture of 50:50 paint and seal-oil and then ‘we were able to go to bed in complete comfort. . .’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 65).

On 23 March 1921 with the ground surface leveled by Bagshawe, work began on the east wall for an adjoining outer stores hut to work in during winter. Cases of pemmican were placed lengthwise and carefully laid on each other to be both vertical and level and in the spaces overlaid with battens, sand was rammed to provide strength and prevent draughts. Over cracks filled with sennegrass, sacks and strips of canvas were nailed and an opening left in the east wall enabled access to coal. At the end of March and with just one case spare, all walls with battens for bracing were completed.

On 27 March only the roof and door remained to be constructed and guy wires affixed to rocks. The roof made using 13 bamboo poles interlaced and tied at every crossing, was attached using metal bands from supply cases nailed to the poles and the walls and roof was then covered with the canvas lifeboat sail sewn to the bamboo crossings. This was achieved by Lester on the roof and Bagshawe below, passing the needle up through the canvas. It was a well built structure measuring 3.1 by 2.7m and 1.8m high and after being given a canvas cover, was painted with the mixture of paint and seal oil.

The door was fabricated from a box containing cigarettes and hinges were of seal skin; these later replaced with hinges from the gramophone box. Within the hut eiderdowns were attached for insulation to walls and ceiling, a table, seat and stool were made, a door curtain was hung from wire rings, a bracket fitted for the clock and a stand made for a Primus stove. A depot of stores was placed nearby.

The weather took a turn for the worse on 1 April, with heavy rain and strong gusts from the northeast. Fortunately the huts remained intact although the outer hut leaked. Loose coal was piled beside the east wall and enclosed with an outer row of coal in sacks. As a final job the floor of the outer hut had a layer of gravel spread on which paving was laid and by 22 April, all was ready for the winter.

By May the water-boat was very cold and soon, ice formed on the inner surface of the outer hut roof. Lester commented ‘The temperature in the kitchen, where we cook and eat our meals, and write up our logs and play the gramophone, is now well below freezing. Only about 75 penguins, [are present] in the rookery this evening’ (Lester Reference Lester1921h). A dispirited Bagshawe vented his feelings on 9 May ‘Everything freezes. To-night my ink pot has frozen up and the mince nearly froze before I finished it. We sit and shiver and laugh while eating our meals. When we get out of the mess we are in at present, we might be more comfortable. Anyway we hope so’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1921g, this varies from Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 89).

A biscuit tin was converted to an oven and ‘for protection against the adverse winds we filled up [with gravel], and closed the cases which formed the east wall and battened them together. . .cracks were filled with sennegrass [and] we paved the floor of the kitchen with pemmican cases which made it drier to walk on’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 91). A step ladder was made from the kitchen to the boat-deck, a shovel from a kerosene tin and candle holders from cigarette tins. Sudden thaws experienced soon after arrival, added to their discomfort and the outer hut roof also leaked resulting in everything becoming sodden. Surrounding muddy guano, made an unpleasant surface and on 17 May, they moved from the boat to the hut for meals and an oar was wedged as a prop to prevent accumulated snow from collapsing the roof. Winter arrived with frequent, strong gusting winds.

In England there was considerable concern for the welfare of the two men. The disturbed father of Bagshawe writing to Hinks at the RGS in late July 1921 remarked

Curiously Lester's family does not appear to have expressed the same concern or taken any action. In reply Hinks made clear to Bagshawe senior the RGS position.

In a further letter to Bagshawe senior in July, Hinks wrote ‘I did not know Wilkins was in London. . .I should like to have an opportunity of cross questioning him on the extraordinary action in leaving your son and his companion alone’ (Hinks Reference Hinks1921b).

Domestic duties and science

A new daily routine began in August with breakfast and the meteorological reading at 8am; tea and biscuits for lunch at 1pm, supper at 6.30, and bed at 8pm. Saturday was kept for cleaning up. Describing their domestic activities Bagshawe wrote

Although meteorological readings, ice and some penguin observations had continued since their arrival, the work load increased in late August when gentoo penguins returned, followed by chinstraps on 1 November. Then ‘Lester very considerately and without hesitation, put aside any idea of eating the eggs until there were sufficient for observation purposes. . .we felt that the scientific work should have preference’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 149).

Numbers were applied with enameled paint on 46 boulders and also coloured pebbles used, for identification of study nests during the incubation phase. Indian ink and a brush sometimes attached to a long bamboo and even the fountain pen filler, helped identify birds. When making observations a card carried in a map holder hung around the neck, had notes and sketches of birds under observation.

In mid November readings were obtained on the improvised tide gauge placed in a boulder filled barrel. This consisted of half an oar and a pole calibrated at Deception Island which had bands painted alternate six inches (15cms). Between these they marked each three inch (7.5cm) interval with a white line, divided with red lines across the centre. On the 15 November when erected, Lester wrote ‘This is very gratifying to both of us, because outside the value of any little results we may obtain regarding tides, it also means that we can extend our observations in other directions. . .’ (Lester Reference Lester1921i). A few days later he added ‘each day the tides are getting less, and I am anxious to see a reoccurrence of that particularly long flood-tide, which we had before’ (Lester Reference Lester1921j).

As the various projects increased, a methodical approach was adopted under which the work was shared. ‘Notes were normally first made in pencil in the field-book and then written up carefully immediately afterwards in the log-books’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 158). In addition to penguins, observations included mammals, oceanic birds and in geology, botany and marine biology with dredged specimens preserved in formalin and alcohol.

The end of the expedition

Cope, now in England, contacted Debenham in September 1921 asking to meet him. Debenham reporting to Hinks wrote ‘I told him that I was completely “done” with him. Cope took it quietly and said “my actions will prove your opinion wrong; I intend to relieve them myself.” So heaven help them’ concluded Debenham (Debenham Reference Debenham1921c).

Cope who had received the silver Polar Medal with clasp 1914–1916 and in 1921, the 1917 clasp, for participation on the Ross Sea Relief Expedition 1916–1917, returned the 1917 clasp on 17 September, just four days after issue but with no indication why (UK Hydrographic Office 2010). He was perhaps embarrassed that having been rescued five years previously, he had then been unable to finance a relief ship for Bagshawe and Lester, thereby letting his men down and feeling guilty of abandoning them.

Wilkins on his return to Britain joined Quest as aerial observer (use of an aircraft did not eventuate) and naturalist, for the Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic Expedition 1921–1922 and left England on 17 September 1921. That day at Waterboat Point, there was fine weather with a temperature of 18 to 11°F (–8 to –11.7°C). Lester took advantage of the sunny day to obtain ‘sun altitudes’ while Bagshawe with the chronometer, read and noted times (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 122).

In a letter written to Bagshawe and Lester from Montevideo on 28 November, Wilkins made reference to a meeting with Bagshawe's father who ‘was very worried over your position, for it appeared both from Cope's actions and letters that he. . .could not be depended on to assist you and Lester to return. . .[the whalers] have a personal interest in you two fellows welfare and they would I am sure spare no effort to help you. . .Had no whaling factory ships been calling at [the] South Shetlands this year, it was very likely that Shackleton would have called for you’(Wilkins Reference Wilkins1921). Following Shackleton's death at Grytviken South Georgia on 5 January 1922, the expedition eventually returned to England that year on 17 September.

Visiting the RGS on 6 November Wilkins compiled on society stationery, his retrospective account of the expedition. Clearly embarrassed over his actions, he wrote

Wilkins was concerned that he would be seen that ‘in effect, I abandoned the two boys on an Antarctic island, they being in a starving condition without food but 25 [sic] cases of whisky to drink’ and he further claimed these were landed without his knowledge. Wilkins then left for ‘an extensive trip through Europe on official and secret duties’ (Wilkins Reference Wilkins1922).

On Sunday 18 December 1921 Graham carrying Capts. Skidsmo and Andersen (Svend Foyn 1) and Hansen (Thor 1) together with Arthur George Bennett, whom Bagshawe and Lester thought from a distance was Cope having had a change of heart, the government administrator from the Falkland Islands, arrived to collect the two men. With some effort they landed, delivered mail and gave them some bread. Capt. Andersen insisted on inspecting Lester's ankles for symptoms of scurvy. Two days later Lester wrote

Referring to the visit an appreciative Bagshawe later wrote

Bagshawe and Lester, now close to completing their self-imposed year at Waterboat Point, aimed to complete the longest record at the time for a penguin species and to ensure everything was carefully packed for removal.

Of the whalers brief stay Bagshawe recalled ‘The visitors spent some time on land talking and drinking our health. Went on board and had several cups of coffee and bread.’ They were given such luxuries as a crate of potatoes, onions, a great tin of butter, sausages, cheese, tins of milk, sardines, crab and pineapple [and] a whole sheep carcass (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 161–162). While on board however they

The £150 payment was not included in the signed contract (Cope Reference Cope1920a) and was probably of a verbal nature on a spur of the moment with no further reference located.

They also learned that the Arctic explorer Otto Sverdrup and Debenham along with Priestley, were preparing to raise funds to mount a relief expedition. Debenham communicating with the RGS made himself clear ‘. . .it is most important that any work the two youngsters may have done, and their gear, should not fall into Cope's hands’ (Debenham Reference Debenham1921c). Other supporters included Mrs Vivian Osborne the wife of Cope's finance manager and the firm Lever Brothers. Meanwhile Bagshawe senior had sought a legal opinion that ‘on advice of his solicitors, Debenham and Priestley, his son and Lester were to hold on to all pertaining to their work’ (Lester Reference Lester1921l).

Before the whalers departed they were given a glass of whisky ‘and it caused much amusement when we told them that it was out of the same bottle which was opened for them nearly a year ago’ (Lester Reference Lester1921k). They agreed to return in two or three weeks time and on departure took the remaining six dogs on Solstreif to Deception Island where it was hoped to find them homes on the ships. With exception of at least two dogs, Peggy and Swift, which died in March and August, the remainder seemed content in their improvised kennels, where they spent most of their time as no further sledging was done.

That evening Bagshawe and Lester dined on potato chips fried in butter, followed by tinned pineapple with Viking milk and ‘what a sensation [it was] to get one's teeth into a nice crust of bread, after a years abstinence’ (Lester Reference Lester1921k). For Christmas Day, the meal included omelettes of penguin eggs with bread and butter, tinned pineapple, a crème de menthe sweet, a cigar and a tot of burgundy.

With their self-imposed sojourn nearing closure, meals now included fried shag breast and liver with dried vegetables, chipped potatoes and mutton chops that were ‘so long they overhung the plates.’ Bagshawe and Lester later learned they were given most of the whalers’ provisions with the whalers having ‘difficulty in getting a meal together and had to bake new bread.’ The sheep carcass was the last on the ship.

On New Years day Lester completed his plane table survey of the area and the hut was prepared for departure. A notice stating

Door Locked

Entrance through coal bale on

East side of hut

was painted on the door; battens were fixed; a tally was made of kerosene, meat, blubber and other stores including 130 cases of pemmican, 48 cases of dog pemmican, 10 cases of Santogen chocolate, 10 cases of Cerebos salt, 1 case each of apple rings and raisins, 10 cases of salt, books, writing materials, chessmen and dominoes, a nautical atlas, 10 eiderdowns, 6 fur rugs, two sacks of finneskoe, two Primus stoves, clothing including four fur suits, boots and equipment such as 22 dog harnesses, 10 new sets of man harness, the life boat, a sledge boat, two sledges, the meteorological screen and a supply of coal (Lester Reference Lester1922a).

Lester compiled a map indicating locations of Hansen Island and Port Lockroy and was also responsible for hut work. Guy wires were tightened; the coal supply covered; water replenished; the kitchen door was nailed shut and covered with canvas and the hut interior left immaculate. The outer door was then nailed shut with battens over it ‘to make the inner hut more secure, should the outer hut blow away’ and they made their way out by way of the coal-hole in the east wall, this closed with a small wooden door. Stones and coal were then heaped around the door and the men moved into a tent nearby.

A total of 52 boxes with stores and specimens packed for removal included the library with Nordenskjold's and Charcot's scientific reports; 23,400 State Express cigarettes and 14 cases of whisky. Emptied boxes forming walls were filled with stones and empty kerosene tins. They did not take down the meteorological screen as it provided a mark and supported the flag staff. Along with stores placed in the water-boat, a letter dated 5 January 1922 was left.

On 10 January taking advantage of the sun and an almost cloudless day, Lester succeeded in getting one latitude and eight azimuths for variation, and four sets of altitudes for longitude, the latter involving 24 sights. He later hoped to make comparisons with the Svend Foyn chronometers and thereby obtain ‘a very readable result – I hope. We are therefore, very pleased with the sum total of our work’ (Lester Reference Lester1922b).

The whalers, who had delayed the eventual pick-up, arrived unexpectedly one evening on Graham and no time was lost in packing up. On the wall alongside the door Capt. Andersen nailed a box in which was placed a glass frame stating;

NOTICE

These goods being the property of the British Imperial

Antarctic Expedition, it is forbidden to touch in any way or

Interfere with them without permission except by shipwrecked

Persons.

Signed:-

A.G. Bennett.

Whaling Magistrate

Deception Island

January 13^th 1922

Bagshawe further stated ‘This was Captain Andersen's order and is to prevent any whalers from taking any of the stores away’ (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1922a). As Bagshawe stated, the hut was in effect under government seal. The remaining dogs had been given in December to the whaling captains and ‘Captain Andersen required Mr Bennett as customs officer to ‘officiate at the disposal of the whisky.’ The cases were opened on board with Bagshawe and Lester receiving two cases each and the remainder was given to the whaling captains (Lester Reference Lester1922d).

There was some doubt about the whalers being unable to return, owing to the fact that until August they were unable to sell the oil (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1922b).

Lester described their departure.

They swiftly prepared to depart and were soon on board and later signed the ships articles.

Bagshawe ending his account wrote:

On board the catcher they shaved, bathed, had their hair cut by the steward and were shown ‘an extraordinary cutting from a newspaper concerning the activities of Mr and Mrs Cope’ (Lester Reference Lester1922c). This was perhaps a media release from London dated 30 September 1921, in which Dr J.L. Cope declared he has made important discoveries and expected to return to the Antarctic in November, accompanied by his wife (Sydney Morning Herald 3 October 1921).

Bagshawe and Lester were transferred to Svend Foyn where a large cabin was allocated and the ‘tally list showed that everything was absolutely correct.’ Bagshawe then sent a wireless message ‘Safe on board Svend Foyn. Both coming straight home.’ To which he received from his father ‘Glad received cable. Communicate nothing of your experiences to anyone till I advise you. Further secrecy vital’ (Bagshawe A. Reference Bagshawe1922).

A stop was made at Nansen Island where rocks and further tide data was collected. On the basis of the tidal records here, they concluded that at Waterboat Point, there was probably a difference of about six feet (1.8 m) between the two tide levels.

Many were very pleased to see Bagshawe and Lester in good health, even though the governor of the Falkland Islands Sir John Middleton, writing to Winston Churchill MP and Secretary of State for the Colonies remarked, ‘Considerable doubt was expressed as to whether Bagshawe and Lester would survive a year when left. . .the Government regarded their position with no little anxiety’ (Churchill Reference Churchill1922; Middleton Reference Middleton1922a).

On arriving in the Falklands on 3 April 1922 a telegram sent on 3 March was received by Bagshawe and Lester at Government House from Cope stating, ‘Congratulations. Keep expeditions gear and home safe’ (Cope Reference Cope1922; Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1922c). Cope had long ago lost interest and it is not recorded if Bagshawe and Lester were paid, with the former cabling home for £50. They also received news of Shackleton's death.

In May 1922 Middleton writing to Churchill, requested expenditure of £35 for awards of a salvor to Capt. Andersen and binoculars to Capt. Skedsmo for picking up Bagshawe and Lester (Middleton Reference Middleton1922a). This was approved as a ‘token of appreciation in rescuing these men and the cordial thanks of His Majesty's Government have been conveyed to them through the Ambassador in Christiania [now Oslo]. . .’(Middleton Reference Middleton1922b; Churchill Reference Churchill1922).

In June while still in transit, they were interviewed by reporters from Sandefjords Blad, a daily newspaper, and specifically requested ‘not to put anything in the paper which may be detrimental to Cope’ as recalling advice from Bagshawe senior, this could result in the possibility of legal action (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1922d). By the end of the month, they were back in England.

On their return Bagshawe joined his father in the family engineering business and later published scientific papers, his classic account Two men in the Antarctic (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939) and a further book for children, Pompey was a penguin (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1941). He was Honorary Curator of Cambridge Folk Museum (1940–1946) and served on the committee of management at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) 1940–1941, where he founded a much-needed fund for display cases. He died at Worthing on 28 January 1976.

The quiet mannered Lester, visited Debenham and acquainted him with the expedition. He then resumed training and service in the Merchant Navy as second officer with the British India Company, serving in the Canadian and British Navies in World War II including service in the North Atlantic. He also published his account on the expedition (Lester Reference Lester1923) and later served on the RRS William Scoresby with the Discovery Expeditions 1926–1927 in Antarctica. He died in London on 3 March 1957.

In the 1920's Cope was living on proceeds from lecturing and teaching. Reporting to Mill in January 1926 that his book on the expedition was ‘well started and will be finished soon [but] naturally and by necessity, it is my primary duty to earn enough money to keep my wife and children’ but he never completed the work (Cope Reference Cope1926). His draft along with other papers appears to have not survived. A decade later he published his only book, on family medical insurance.

In 1930 he resumed studies in medicine at Westminster Hospital. Then in 1933 and with four children, after qualifying at the Society of Apothecaries (LMSSA) London and licensed to practice medicine and surgery, he began in Bournemouth and later became a general practitioner in London and Birmingham. He died on 27 December 1947.

Cope rarely discussed his Antarctic experiences or met his grandson who later experienced three winters with the British Antarctic Survey as a physicist/meteorologist at Halley Bay and Signy Island (Lachlan-Cope Reference Lachlan-Cope1983).

Along with Lester, Wilkins returned to Antarctica. Following the Shackleton-Rowett expedition in which Wilkins served as naturalist, he participated in a c.800km trans-Arctic crossing northwest by air with Carl Ben Eielson from Point Barrow Alaska in 1926, with a landing on pack ice. In 1928 they flew over the Arctic Ocean to Spitsbergen. The same year he was knighted by King George V and married Australian actress Suzanne Bennett. His polar aviation career was enhanced on the Wilkins-Hearst Antarctic Expedition to Graham Land 1929–1930, and continued in 1931 with a voyage in the submarine Nautilus under Arctic ice and in collaboration with American Lincoln Ellsworth, he participated in further visits to Antarctica between 1933 and 1939 and in Arctic Russia. The Wilkins Ice Sheet and Wilkins Sound are named after him.

Where did the hut, stores and water-boat go?

Now 90 years later the question must be asked, what happened to the heavy water-boat full of stores, and the hut, along with twelve months of supplies including coal cached nearby? The author considers there are four possibilities, destruction by wind; tsunami; general disintegration of the water-boat and human intervention with perhaps, a combination of all four.

The site today

According to the list of protected Antarctic Historic Sites; No.56 (US State Department 1994: 2260) the base of the water-boat; roots of door posts and outline of the hut and extension is visible. This is no longer the case and requires an amendment.

In January 2008 using photographs taken by Lester, a close inspection using binoculars from the northwest end and from Zodiac, was made by the author late in the season when few penguins were present. Some large boulders in photographs were identified and the stumps of one or possibly two posts were partially visible in guano. The area where the water-boat was originally located now has only large rocks and boulders, probably re-distributed when the site was cleared in 1951 although one boulder was clearly identified.

Elsewhere near the east side of the ridge, boulders, a further stump perhaps from a wall stud, and near ground level, a possible bottom wall plate, is all that remains visible. The ash piles and traces of coal from 1921 are perhaps covered with guano and there is no sign of the ‘sanitary trench’.

A few artefacts including an intact pill bottle and bottle fragments, perhaps associated with the expedition or the Chileans, have been found on the shore of Life-boat Bay. They were saved by personnel from Chile's station for display in the new visitor centre. Near the end of the ridge, large galvanised containers may be from Cope's expedition and were used for ice storage or water. Poignant artefacts are in the polar museum at SPRI. These include the box of matches, Bagshawe's geological hammer, a telescope, compass, Canadian snowshoes and improvised candle holders made from tins.

Today the site has considerable archaeological potential but this is not possible. Guano and nests of gentoo penguins extend over the entire mound and could only be investigated carefully in good weather during winter when penguins are not present, but resulting in damage to nests.

On 20 January 2007, HRH Princess Anne, Patron for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, presented a bronze plaque with detailed inscription based on Bagshawe's hut and boat layout diagram (Bagshawe Reference Bagshawe1939: 41).

Bagshawe and Lester's scientific legacy

Of Bagshawe and Lester's observations, undoubtedly the most important were those concerned with meteorology and penguin biology and these provided valuable comparative and new data.