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The final residing member of the 10-man group that constructed Australia’s Mawson Station in 1954 has handed away in Brisbane, aged 101.
Key factors:
- John Russell was an engineer with the 10-man expedition that set sail for Antarctica throughout 1953
- The group constructed Mawson Station in 1954, the longest regularly working facility south of the Antarctic Circle
- Mr Russell died on Monday on the age of 101 and is survived by his daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren
A legend of Australia’s Antarctic exploration historical past, John Russell sailed to the icy southern waters on the MV Kista Dan to assemble the primary everlasting buildings that turned Mawson Station 68 years in the past.
Positioned about 5,200km south-west of Perth, Mawson Station is the longest regularly working facility south of the Antarctic Circle.
As a younger English diesel fitter and engineer fascinated with the ice-floes and wintry climate of the far south, Mr Russell got here to Australia hoping to affix the nation’s rising involvement in Antarctica.
Conflict and peace
World Conflict II, nonetheless, put Mr Russell’s desires on maintain.
He enlisted to battle for his adopted homeland of Australia however was later discharged after weeks of great sickness in Alice Springs.
Totally recovered, and together with his authentic division already abroad, Mr Russell signed as much as relieve the crew of British troop service Aquitana, spending weeks working within the ship’s engine room.
After his maritime profession ended, Mr Russell returned to Australia and joined the civilian development group despatched to rebuild a shattered Darwin after the bombing in 1942.
It was referred to as the Darwin Overland Cell Pressure.
However as Australia slowly recovered from struggle and turned its consideration as soon as extra to the south, his Antarctic dream remained very a lot alive.
Sir Douglas Mawson had been championing for an Australian dedication to take a position in Antarctica and, in 1947, the Australian Nationwide Antarctic Analysis Expedition (ANARE) was launched
Mr Russell’s alternative got here when he was appointed engineer for ANARE and a telegram summoned him to Melbourne.
Embarking on icy adventures
Mr Russell travelled to Macquarie Island within the winter of 1949, Heard Island in 1952, after which started work on the venture to construct Mawson Station in 1953.
His function was difficult — modifying gear and equipment so the group may work in Antarctica’s freezing circumstances.
Working in Melbourne, the group sourced and developed pre-fabricated buildings that might be shortly put collectively on-site to type what would turn out to be Mawson Station.
The group set sail on the MV Kista Dan in 1953 and by February 1954 arrived in Horseshoe Bay.
“The one place we may discover which seemed attainable from aerial pictures for this explicit base, [was] with a reasonably slim entrance into [Horseshoe Bay],’ Mr Russell instructed the ABC final yr.
“Across the bay have been little bare-nosed rocks protruding, and one massive rock shelving down from the ice.
“That is the place we constructed the bottom and it is nonetheless there right this moment.”
He mentioned the group needed to work quick, with the ship staying put for 10 days, by which period that they had constructed the kitchen, residing space and two retailer huts.
By the tip of 1954, after months of labor, the ten males had constructed a residing quarters, works hut, engine shed, retailer huts and a carpenter’s store.
Biscoe Hut, the eight sq. metre authentic residing and sleeping quarters Mr Russell’s group constructed, nonetheless stands right this moment.
After Antarctica
After the Mawson Station expedition concluded, Mr Russell returned to Antarctica in 1958 with Individuals at McMurdo Station — his final journey south earlier than settling into married life together with his spouse Joan and daughter Sue.
By his lengthy and diverse profession, he labored for BP, ran a banana plantation, and lived in Singapore earlier than ultimately settling in Brisbane.
Mr Russell outlived all of his 1954 Mawson Station expedition friends and later collaborated on a e-book about his experiences.
In January, shortly earlier than transferring into respite care from his Deception Bay residence of a few years, Mr Russell donated to the ANARE membership his assortment of journals, papers, photographs and technical drawings, which dated again to 1948.
His daughter, Sue, mentioned Mr Russell handed away peacefully on Monday evening — two months shy of his 102nd birthday.
As per his needs, his physique has been donated to science, after residing a “full and noteworthy life”.
Mr Russell can be survived by two styepsons, his daughter’s husband, six grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
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