The Fuchs Foundation

Tuesday, 15^th January 1957 - Shackleton

To-day using three Sno-Cats, a Weasel and the Muskeg, we have moved 360 barrels up to the base. This leaves about 400 to go up as we moved some yesterday. All these drums come from the deck as the Captain is anxious about the stability of the ship in the event of a blow which forces him to leave here and do battle with the ice. At Halley Bay he had already put nearly 200 in No.2 hold, but these and all those already stowed in No.1 hold in London, will go off the ship last, as we want to get at the other stores, particularly building materials, at the earliest possible moment.To-night the air boys have completed putting the Auster on to skis and I have towed her with the Muskeg out on to the sea ice about 200 yards from the ship. This job was finished about 2300 hrs which makes it a long day!During the day each of the resident ‘met’ men has come up to see me separately and confidentially to tell me that there is likely to be a northerly gale during the night. In view of this I have seen that no stores have been left on the ice and that the Sno-Cats have been moved up onto the fore-slope of the ice shelf. This means a long walk back to the ship of about ½ mile but it is necessary, for if a break-away did take place like last year and we lost the Cats, the whole expedition would be lost.To-day we allocated the Sno-Cat drivers and from now on the vehicles will each be operated only by one of the two men allocated to it.A [‘Able’] - David Pratt and Geoffrey PrattB [‘Rock n’ Roll’] - Fuchs and Stratton

C [‘Haywire’] - Rogers and Lenton

D [‘County of Kent’] - Homard and Lowe

Thursday, 3^rd January 1957
On board M.V. Magga Dan
Noon Posn: 71deg 37’ S 14deg 30’ W

This morning at 0600 hrs we reached a wide lead which took us to open land-water. Since then we have been steaming a steady course at 12.8 knots. Tottan we learn, is now five hours ahead of us, which is due ro our delay making the flight and taking the aeroplane back on board, together with the fact that she was fortunate enough to have a shorter route from her impasse to land-water. Our route is taking us south about 20 miles from the coastal cliffs because a wide area of hummocked ice is fast to the ice shelf front.
This morning two telegrams were handed to me, first said that both Wordie and Professor FL brown had received knighthoods, which is splendid. I am particularly pleased about Wordie in view of our long association and his eminence in polar matters. The second message told me that Hilary [his daughter] had got engaged to the young schoolmaster I know of as ‘Howard’.
These events, together with the IGY man Alfred Amphlett’s ward of a BEM for work at Montebello caused me to give a small party this evening at which I detailed Wordie’s achievements and Allan Rogers spoke about Sir George Brown. The healths of Amphlett and Hilary were also separately drunk.
During the afternoon we had a general TAE talk by David Pratt on the subject of vehicles and their maintenance. Then in the evening, before the party, I held forth on camping methods and routine for the benefit of those who had not done any Antarctic field work before. At the end of the day it seemed that our earliest ETA Halley Bay would be about 1600 hrs tomorrow.

Thursday, 15^th November, 1956
On Board M.V.Magga Dan
In the Thames
To-day we set out on the second stage of the Expedtion when we sailed from Butler’s Wharf, Tower Bridge, at 11.40 just ten minutes after the appointed time.
Since our return on board Theron on 23^rd March, we have been busily preparing for the second stage. Three Sno-Cats (model 743) have been obtained from Oregon, tested in Norway, and very considerably modified by David Pratt. A Bombardier Muskeg tractor has come from Canada but remains unmodified. This will be used for unloading, both at Halley Bay (Royal Society Base) and at Shackleton. Two more Weasels have been completely overhauled and cabs built on. The de Havilland Otter aircraft was flown from Canada via Greenland by John Lewis and Gordon Haslop. This has a range of 1500 miles with the extra tank or can carry 14 men or one ton for about 900 miles. We also have the Auster float/ski plane which we had on the Theron and this has been completely overhauled by the RAF. Other stores include the specially designed aluminium and plywood hut for Depot 300 and 640 barrels of fuel.

On 1^st June Joyce [VEF’s wife] and I went over to Aalborg where Knud Lauritzen had invited her to name the Magga Dan. By the last week in September the ship was undergoing her trials and on Sunday 4^th November she berthed at Butler’s Wharf. Loading began on Monday and apart from the deck cargo of fuel barrels, the Otter, the Muskeg and two Sno-Cats. The Otter is cocooned but uncrated, the vehicles cocooned and crated.
By 13^th November all was ready for the Queen’s visit at 3 pm. Butler’s Wharf had been converted into a warehouse in a most astonishing and tasteful manner and there the Queen took tea after meeting the members of both the TAE and the Royal Society’s Expedition together with their respective Committees.
It was a great pleasure to accompany the Queen on her tour of the ship and to be able to talk feely about various pieces of equipment and some of our problems. The ship itself was described by Captain Hans Christiansen Petersen and Mr. Knud Lauritzen, one of the owners.
On leaving the ship the Queen had tea with Joyce ad myself, Col. and Mrs Smart, David and Carol Stratton and Mr and Mrs MacDowall. I found her delightful to talk to and most natural. Perhaps it was all made easier by the previous meeting when I went to the Palace to show the film of the Theron trip (Foothold on Antarctica) to her, Prince Philip and Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
At about 4.30 pm the Queen left and gradually people drifted away. By 6.15 pm I was at the Royal Geographical Society where Slessor and I greeted over 500 guests (mostly people from firms supporting the Expedition) at the Expedition’s cocktail party.
The next day was occupied by last minute preparations, particularly the final loading of the Magga Dan. It had not been possible to load our deck cargo of 650 drums of petrol owing to the Queen’s visit and that meant that the de Havilland Otter aeroplane which had to be loaded last, had had to remain over the side on the lighter.
Being due to sail on the 15^th at 11.30 am, most of us were down at the ship quite a long time in advance getting ourselves organised. Soon the ship was crowded with friends and relatives, who, in the end, were responsible for us sailing ten minutes late because so many could not be got ashore in time. Finally we pulled away from the wharf multi-coloured paper streamers were thrown from ship to shore and vice-versa. Soon we were steaming slowly down river, the crowded wharfside fading into the mist, while the Port of London Authoruty yacht, the St. Catherine, fell in behind and escorted us down river.
Later after the St. Catherine had departed, we stopped at Gravesend to pick up the Channel pilot together with a half ton of explosive to add to that which we had left at South Georgia and Shackleton last February. At Gravesend also we finally said goodbye to Eleanor Honnywill and Vicki de Rin who had accompanied us down river to help with all the last minute paper work.