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British Graham Land Expedition 1934-37
Summary
- This expedition had originally been envisaged by Watkins, who sadly was to die on an expedition to the Arctic. Rymill took up his idea and put together an expedition to investigate Graham Land, which was one of the least well known sectors of the Falkland Island Dependencies.
- 16 men led by Rymill left Britain on board the Penola, with the Discovery II bringing their supplies, including dogs and two aircraft.
- They set up base camps in Port Lockroy and in Marguerite Bay.
- Sledging journeys were carried out between September 1936 and January 1937. They had many significant findings, discovering that Graham Land was not an island as previously thought but was in fact attached to mainland Antarctica.
- Alongside this they mapped the Graham Land coastline and undertook zoological and geological observations.
View photographs from this expedition
The idea to explore Graham Land had first been that of Gino Watkins, however, due to a lack of funds he had instead travelled to the Arctic to lead the East Greenland Expedition (1932). Sadly on this expedition Watkins died and Rymill took over as leader. On his return Rymill began the preparations for an expedition to explore Graham Land.
When the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) was planned in 1933, Graham Land was believed to be the largest of a group of islands lying to the North-West of the Antarctic mainland and separated from it by three channels, the main one being the Stefansson Strait. Graham Land was part of the Falkland Island Dependencies, British territories and was one of the least well known sectors of this.
The expedition team comprised 16 men led by John Rymill, an Australian, who also acted as surveyor and second pilot. The shore party of 9 included several Cambridge graduates, some of whom had acquired experience of polar conditions in Greenland on expeditions with Watkins and Rymill. They left Britain on 10 September 1934 onboard the Penola. The budget for the expedition was £20,000 which was enough to buy the boat and an aeroplane but not enough to pay a crew, therefore, the expedition members were to also act as crew. The Penola was a three-masted schooner, powered mainly be sail although only a few of the expedition had sailing experience. This was the main transportation for the members of the expedition, the aircraft, dogs and stores were brought separately by a research ship, the Discovery II. They also took with them a De Havilland Fox Moth Aeroplane capable of operating with skis or floats - this was used extensively for reconnaissance, aerial surveying and depot laying.
At the end of November they reached the Falkland Islands, whilst there the ship’s engines developed problems but they decided to press on and try to sort these in the Antarctica rather than winter on the Falklands. In January 1935 the Penola reached Port Lockroy here the first year base was established 30 miles south of Port Lockroy (this was further north than originally intended to try and prevent further damage to the ship’s engines). Whilst there the expedition went to look for a land base in Northern Graham Land from which they could make their journeys southwards. In February 1935 a hut was constructed, and they hunted seals and collected penguin eggs to supply them through the winter.
In their first year the sledging season was short, due to ice flows breaking up they could go no more than 80 miles from the base. With the Penola’s engine problems fixed the party was able to move southwards to the Debenham Islands in Marguerite Bay. Here they formed a southern base camp, it was from this camp that their main survey and scientific work was carried out. They built another hut with materials that they found at an abandoned whaling station on Deception Island.
Once the second base had been built the Penola was to return to the Falklands, taking a minimal crew to sail the boat leaving the rest of the party to winter in the Antarctic. Several journeys were undertaken by dog sledge, the longest lasting 10 weeks exploring the coast 340 miles south of the Southern Base at Marguerite Bay. They travelled down the central channel separating Alexander Island from the Peninsula, making the first ever landings on the island collecting fossils and rock specimens. Another sledging party crossed what is now established as a Peninsula from west to east, coming close to the Weddell Sea.
A number of flights were made in their aircraft, although for safety these had to be limited to a round trip of 280 miles. The aircraft usage was limited due to low cloud and unsuitable landing surfaces, but it was valuable for route finding, surveying and depot laying.
The sledges were pulled by dogs, however, they found the going difficult due to soft snow and often had to relay their loads in halves. At other times one of the group would walk ahead whipping the ground with a 20 foot whip, if the whip failed to hit solid ground they would try somewhere else and alter the course accordingly. Most of the sledging journeys were carried out between September 1936 and January 1937. Their surveying discovered some significant results, for example Alexander I Land was shown to be longer than first thought, at over 150 miles in length. Their major discovery was to disprove a theory made by Ellsworth and Wilkins which claimed that whilst undertaking aerial flights they had seen channels between the Bellinghausen and Weddell Seas, making Graham Land an island. However, surveying this area on foot proved that such channels do not exist and that the Graham Land is one landmass and part of the Antarctic continent and therefore, is not an island. This demonstrated that flights over an area are not sufficient enough to tell the lie of the land, and that land excursions were necessary in order to back up aerial surveying.
Alongside this discovery they were also responsible for the mapping of the Graham Land coastline, and various scientific experiments and advancements including zoological and geological.
The Penola arrived to collect the wintering men on 23 February 1937 and left for South Georgia on 14 March. The men returned to Portsmouth, England on 4 August 1937.
Further Information
Rymill, J. (1939) Southern Lights. The Official Account of the British Graham Land Expedition 1934-37. The Travel Book Club. Reprinted: Malvern: the Knell Press 1986.
Headland, R.K (2009) A Chronology of Antarctic Exploration, A synopsis of events and activities from the earliest times until the International Polar Year, 2002-2009. Bernard Quaritch Ltd.
