Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911 - 1914)

Summary

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) was planned and led by Douglas Mawson, a geologist and experienced Antarctic explorer. He had been one of the party to reach the south magnetic pole during Shackleton's 1907 - 1909 Antarctic Expedition. The purpose of the AAE was to chart the Antarctic coast from Cape Adare westwards to Gaussberg and to conduct research in geology, meteorology, oceanography and terrestrial biology. With financial support from the Australian and some State Governments, and the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, the AAE embarked from Hobart in December 1911 on board Aurora. Five men, led by George Ainsworth, landed at Macquarie Island, to establish the Expedition's radio relay station and conduct the first investigation of the Island. Bases were established at Commonwealth Bay, in Adelie Land, and on the Shackleton ice shelf. During the summer of 1912 - 1913 sledging parties set out, the Far East party under Mawson coming to grief with Mawson the only survivor. Six men, including Mawson, overwintered for a second season, until being taken aboard Aurora in late December 1913. Achievements of the Expedition included: oceanographic surveys and deep-sea dredging around the sub-Antarctic islands; the discovery of the first meteorite in Antarctica; pioneering bacteriological studies; the discovery of King George V Land and Queen Mary Land; the establishment of the first radio connection to Antarctica (Hobart via Macquarie Island).

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Butler, Angie, The quest for Frank Wild (Warwick, U.K.: Jackleberry Press, 2011), 214 pp. Details
• Dartnall, Herbert J. G., Lost in the Mists: Leslie Russel Blake, Mawson's Cartographer and Hero of Pozière (Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2014), 382 pp. Details
• Davis, J. K., With the Aurora in the Antarctic, 1911 - 1914 (London: Andrew Melrose, 1919), 183 pp. Details
• Davis, J. K., High latitude ([Parkville, Vic.]: Melbourne University Press, 1962), 292 pp. Details
• Davis, John King: edited by Crossley, Louise, Trial by ice: the Antarctic journals of John King Davis ( Bluntisham, Huntingdon: Norwich, Norfolk: Bluntisham Books: Erskine Press, 1919), 195 pp. Details
• Ferguson, Richard, Antarctic Artefacts: a Selective Description and Annotated Catalogue of Artefacts in the Mawson Collection at the University of Adelaide (Adelaide: University of Adelaide, 1995), 282 pp. Details
• Hurley, Frank, Argonauts of the south: being a narrative of voyagings and polar seas and adventures in the Antarctic with Sir Douglas Mawson and Sir Ernest Shackleton (New York: London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1925), 290 pp. Details
• Jensen, David, Douglas Mawson's Antarctic bases: Cape Denison, Macquarie island and the Shackleton iceshelf (Sydney: Mawson’s Hut Foundation, 2010), 72 pp. Details
• Jensen, David, Mawson's remarkable men: the personal stories of the epic 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expediton (Sydeny: Allen and Unwin, 2015), 183 pp. Details
• Laseron, C. F., South with Mawson. Reminiscences of the Australasian Expedition 1911-1914 (Sydney: Australasian Publishing Company, 1947), 223 pp. Details
• Mawer, Granville Allen, South by Northwest: the Magnetic Crusade and the Contest for Antarctica (Kent Town: Wakefield Press, 2006), 319 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, The home of the blizzard: being the story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911 - 1914, 2 vols (London: J.B. Lippincott: Heinemann, 1915). Details
• Mawson, Douglas, The Home of the Blizzard: the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 (Kent Town, SA: Wakefield Press, 1996), 534 pp. Details
• McLean, Archibald; edited with an introduction by Riffenburgh, Beau, The Antarcic diary of Archibald Lang McLean (Norwich, U.K.: Erskine Press, 2020), 404 pp. Details
• Mills, Leif, Frank Wild (Whitby, U.K.: Caedmon of Whitby, 1999), 350 pp. Details
• Moyes, M. H., The aura of the Antarctic: Antarctic recollections of Captain Morton Moyes (Kent Town, S.A.: John Thrift Design and Publishing, 1994), 124 pp. Details
• Moyes, Morton Henry: as told to his nephew John Layton Moyes, Antarctica: ice, aloneness, ice (West Gosford, N.S.W.: J. Moyes, 1994), 12 pp. Details
• Riffenburgh, Beau, Aurora: Douglas Mawson and the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914 (Norwich: Erskine Press, 2011), 525 pp. Details
• Webb, Eric Norman; and Chree, Charles, Field survey and reduction of magnetograph curves, part 1: [together with] analysis and discussion of magnetograph curves, part 2 (Sydney: Government Printer, 1925), 285 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Griffiths, Tom, 'A polar drama: the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14' in Expedition into empire: exploratory journeys and the making of the modern world, Thomas, Martin, ed. (New York: London: Routledge, 2015), pp. 171-93. Details

Edited Books

• Hunter, Jenny M. ed., Rise and Shine: Diary of John George Hunter, Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1913 (Hinton (N.S.W.): Hunter House Publications, 2011), 219 pp. Details
• Jacka, Fred and Jacka, Eleanor eds, Mawson's Antarctic diaries (Sydney: Allen & Unwin Australia, 1988), 414 pp. Details
• Lucas, Anna ed., Swiss alps to Antarctic glaciers: the journals of Dr Xavier Mertz, Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914 (Melbourne: Fineline Studios, 2014), 206 pp. Details
• Madigan, J. W. ed., Madigan's Account: the Mawson expedition: the Antarctic Diaries of C. T. Madigan 1911-1914 (Hobart: Wellington Bridge Press, 2012), 608 pp. Details
• Mornement, Allan and Riffenburgh, Beau eds, 'Mertz and I': the Antarctic diary of Belgrave Edward Ninnis (Norwich (U. K.): Erskine Press, 2014), 448 pp. Details
• Riffenburgh, Beau and de Boos, Crispin eds, The Antarctic diaries of Andrew Dougald Watson and Alexander Lorimer Kennedy together with the paintings and drawings of Charles Turnbull Harrison (Norwich, U.K.: Erskine Press, 2018), 382 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Anon, 'Antarctica, geology and the Frank Stillwell Collection', Newsletter, Australian Academy of Science, 173 (2023), 4. https://www.science.org.au/academy-newsletter/july-2023-173/antarctica-geology-and-the-frank-stillwell-collection. Details
• Bateman, Roger; and Nunn, Elizabeth, 'Leslie Russell Blake: orphan, geologist, Macquarie Island expeditioner and decorated artillery officer at Mouquet Farm', Newsletter, Earth Sciences History Group, 45 (2018), 1-9. Details
• Dartnall, H. J. G., 'Antarctic vignettes VII: unsung heroes - researching the crew of the S.Y. Aurora 1911 - 1914', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 148 (2014), 11-5. https://doi.org/10.26749/rstpp.148.11. Details
• Davis, J. K., 'The soundings of the Antarctic ship Aurora between Tasmania and the Antarctic continent 1912', Geographical Journal, 42 (4) (1913), 361-2. Details
• Guly, Henry R., 'Bacteriology During the Expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration', Polar Record, 49 (2013), 321-7. Details
• Lucas, Anna, 'Mertz in Hobart: impressions of one of Mawson's men while preparing for Antarctic adventure', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 146 (2012), 37-44. Details
• Mawson, D., 'The Australasian Antarctic expedition', Geographical Journal, 37 (6) (1911), 609-17. Details
• Quilty, P. G.; and Goddard, P. H., 'The lower deck on Aurora H. V. Goddard's diary, 1913-14', Polar record, 40 (3) (2004), 193-203. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003224740300336X. Details
• Quinn, Kylie, 'Mawson's Men', Australian Antarctic Magazine, 22 (2012), 8-12. Details
• Riffenburgh, Beau, 'The Dogs of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914', Polar Record, 50 (2014), 128-37. Details
• Rudmose Brown, R.N., 'The Australasian Antarctic Expedition: a review', Scottish geographical magazine, 31 (3) (1915), 136-42. Details
• Webb, E. N., 'The magnetograph hut: a historic scientific laboratory of the A. A. E. 1911-14', Polar record, 17 (11) (1975), 294-7. https://doi.org/10.1017/S00322474000328. Details
• Williams, Nicola H., 'Polar weighing - an Oertling balance in Antarctica', Historical Records of Australian Science, 33 (2) (2022), 133-46. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR21013. Details

See also

• Ainsworth, G. F.; Power, H.; and Tulloch, A. C., Tabulated and reduced records of the Macquarie Island station: recorders G. Ainsworth, H. Power and A. C. Tulloch; reduction and tabulation of data by direction of H. A. Hunt and under superintendence of B. W. Newman (Sydney: Government Printer, 1929), 544 pp. Details
• Ayres, Philip, Mawson: a Life (Carlton South: Melbourne University Press, 2003), 321 pp. Details
• Bage, Freda, Cirripedia (Sydney: Government Printer, 1938), 19 pp. Details
• Chapman, Frederick, Ostracoda (Sydney: Government Printer, 1919), 51 pp. Details
• Chapman, Frederick; and Parr, Walter James, Foramifera (Sydney: Government Printer, 1937). Details
• Cheeseman, T. F., The vascular flora of Macquarie Island (Sydney: Government Printer, 1919), 64 pp. Details
• Chester, Jonathan, Going to extremes: Project Blizzard and Australia's Antarctic heritage (Sydney: Auckland: Doubleday Australia, 1986), 308 pp. Details
• Dendy, Arthur, Calcareous sponges (Sydney: Government Printer, 1918), 19 pp. Details
• Dixon, Robert; and Lee, Christopher, The diaries of Frank Hurley, 1912 - 1941 (London, New York: Anthem Press, 2011), 259 pp. Details
• Guly, H. R., 'Human Biology Investigations During the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration (1897-1922)', Polar Record, 50 (2014), 183-91. Details
• Hale, Herbert M., Isopoda and Tanaidacea (Sydney: Government Printer, 1937), 46 pp. Details
• Hamilton, H., Ecological notes and illustrations of the flora of Macquarie Island (Sydney: Government Printer, 1926), 30 pp. Details
• Hedley, C., Mollusca (Sydney: Government Printer, 1916), 89 pp. Details
• Hince, Bernadette ed., Still No Mawson: Frank Stillwell's Antarctic Diaries, 1911-1913 (Canberra: Australian Academy of Science, 2012), 240 pp. Details
• Johnston, T. Harvey, Ticks (Ixodoidea) (Sydney: Government Printer, 1937), 20 pp. Details
• Johnston, T. Harvey, Trematoda (Sydney: Government Printer, 1937), 30 pp. Details
• Johnston, T. Harvey, Cestoda (Sydney: Government Printer, 1937), 77 pp. Details
• Johnston, T. Harvey, Parasitic nematoda (Sydney: Government Printer, 1938), 32 pp. Details
• Johnston, T. Harvey; and Best, Effie, Acanthocephala (Sydney: Government Printer, 1938), 21 pp. Details
• Lucas, A. . S., The algae of Commonwealth Bay (Sydney: Government Printer, 1919), 28 pp. Details
• Madigan, C. T., Tabulated and reduced records of the Cape Denison station, Adelie Land (Sydney: Government Printer, 1929), 286 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, 'Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911 - 1914', Geographical journal, 44 (3) (1914), 257-86. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Records of the aurora polaris (Sydney: Government Printer, 1925), 199 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Hydrological observations, made on board S.Y. "Aurora", reduced, tabulated and edited (Sydney: Government Printer, 1940), 107-25 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Record of minerals of King George Land (Sydney: Government Printer, 1940), 373-403 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Sedimentary rocks (Sydney: Government Printer, 1940), 347-67 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Catalogue of rocks and minerals collected in Antarctic lands (Sydney: Government Printer, 1940), 407-29 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Marine biological programme and other zoological and botanical activities (Sydney: Government Printer, 1940), 131-67 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Narrative, part 1: cartography, part 2 (Sydney: Government Printer, 1942), 492 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Macquarie Island: its geography and geology (Sydney: Government Printer, 1942), 194 pp. Details
• Mawson, Douglas, Geographical narrative and cartography (Sydney: Government Printer, 1942), 364, [62] pp. Details
• McEwin, Emma, The many lives of Douglas Mawson (North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2018), 180 pp. Details
• McLean, A. L., Bacteriological and other researches (Sydney: Government Printer, 1919), 141 pp. Details
• Millar, David P., From snowdrift to shellfire: Capt. James Francis (Frank) Hurley, 1885 - 1962 (Sydney: David Ell Press, 1984), 160 pp. Details
• Rice, A. L., British oceanographic vessels 1800 - 1950 (London: Ray Society, 1986), 193 pp. Details
• Shaughnessy, Peter D. ed., Antarctic seals, whales and dolphins of the early twentieth century: marine mammals of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-14 (AAE), British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition 1929-31 (BANZARE) (Kingston, Tas.: Australian Antarctic Expedition, 2000), 158 pp. Details
• Smyth, Mike, 'Radio's forgotten pioneer [Walter Hannam]', in Critical comms, 2017. http://www.criticalcomms.com.au/content/industry/article/radio-rsquo-s-polar-pioneer-831744600. Details
• Stillwell, F. L., The metamorphic rocks of Adelie Land, section 1 (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1918), 230 pp. Details
• Stillwell, F. L., Amphibolites and related rocks from the moraines, Cape Denison, Adelie Land (Sydney: Government Printer, 1923), 259-80 pp. Details
• Tillyard, R. J., The insects of Macquarie Island (Sydney: Government Printer, 1920), 35 pp. Details
• Waite, Edgar R., Fishes (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1916), 100 pp. Details
• Womersley, H., Acarina (Sydney: Government Printer, 1937), 36 pp. Details