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Thursday, 11 October 2012

Dr Ian Godfrey had no idea that his UWA studies would lead him to the windiest place on earth and a prefabricated hut that symbolises the heroic spirit of the first Australians to explore Antarctica. As the nation celebrates the centenary of Douglas Mawson’s epic expedition, Dr Godfrey talks to Trea Wiltshire about his own trips to the frozen continent.

Dr Ian Godfrey, Head of the Department of Materials Conservation at the West Australian Museum, says that on graduating with Honours in organic chemistry he had no clear idea about a career path. However, when he became involved in

archaeological conservation, the graduate appreciated how useful his degree would be: in helping to stabilise the timbers of a famous shipwreck, and, more recently, in preserving the historic huts that are the legacy of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911–1914).

Dr Godfrey’s role at the State museum was initially focussed on the salvaged Batavia shipwreck that is the major drawcard at Fremantle’s Maritime Museum. His chemistry expertise proved vital in analysing and understanding materials, determining their degree of deterioration and formulating conservation plans.

“When wooden timbers are waterlogged and buried, a lot of sulphur is incorporated into the wood,” he explains, “but when brought to the surface, the sulphur is oxidised and produces acids that attack the wood. What helps preserve it in the marine environment begins to destroy it, so we devise ways of halting that deterioration.”

Work with the Batavia earned the museum an international reputation that led to invitations to work with other famous wrecks including the extraordinary Vasa, a 17th century warship that sank on its maiden voyage and is now one of Sweden’s most popular tourist attractions. Dr Godfrey’s work in Sweden also led to lecturing on archaeological conservations at the University of Gothenburg.

“WA Museum conservators have become world leaders in the on-site monitoring of shipwrecks, studying wrecks and doing underwater analyses that allow us to give archaeological advice on whether to raise, leave or even treat artefacts on the sea floor,” says the UWA graduate.

Back in the early 1990s, Dr Godfrey made his first trip to Antarctica for an Australian National University project focussed on freeze-drying waterlogged timbers. His interest in the historic Mawson huts at Cape Denison that are a legacy of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition was immediate, and his expertise led to an invitation from the Mawson’s Huts Foundation to join a team investigating the preservation of the huts in the 2000/2001 summer.

Dr Godfrey has since made five trips to Port Denison, a rugged tongue of ice, snow and rock projecting into Commonwealth Bay. He says the sight of the towering blue ice cliffs that periodically calve into the sea as icebergs is always breathtaking.

“Initially we had to get a feel for what was there at the Mawson’s Huts Historic Site and to set up monitoring and documentation,” he explains. “There were debates about whether or not to remove the snow and ice from the interior of the Main Hut because they were clearly providing an anchor that kept it from being blown away while also deterring souvenir hunters.

“However, that conclusion was open to question when in 2002 the temperature was above nine degrees for five consecutive days and there was a lot of melting that allowed us to see the damage being caused by the interior snow and ice.

“I was field leader in 2006 when we put a new skin over the roof, but before doing so we had to convince others that taking this action wouldn’t bring about negative changes. For instance, would the new skin alter the internal environment and lead to increased corrosion of the bolts that hold the structure together?

“We don’t want to compromise the interior in the hut in any way because the philosophy guiding restoration is that with a place like this you do only what’s necessary to prevent further deterioration.

“There is certainly no intention of turning it into a museum piece or tourist attraction like the Scott Hut in the British part of Antarctica. While tourists can visit the Main Hut, visits are strictly managed with only three people and a guide allowed in at one time. In all there might be 500 visitors over the Antarctic summer.

“When we arrived to put on the new roof, the Main Hut was almost entirely covered in snow and ice and the team of carpenters said there was no way they could do anything. However, we managed to dig out 80 cubic meters of ice to expose the roof. We used chain saws to cut big ice blocks and used them to create walls around the hut.

“In working to protect the roof, my museum experience came to the fore because I knew that back in the 1600s builders added a layer of ‘sacrificial pine’ around ships’ hulls so that the oak underneath could be preserved.”

The Main Hut comprises two prefabricated Oregon-framed timber huts. Structural timbers are bolted together with tongue-and-groove Baltic pine used for the internal and external cladding.

The conservators have wrapped the original roof in a protective shell comprising batons attached to the structural timbers underneath, a semi-permeable membrane, and on top the sacrificial pine.

Dr Godfrey says that Mawson’s account of the expedition, Home of the Blizzard, is well named because harsh, non-stop katabatic winds make this part of Antarctica the windiest place on Earth at sea level. He vividly recalls the ever-present force carrying huge drifts of snow and ice that literally ‘ice blast’ structures.

In 1913 the wind at Port Denison was recorded at 143km per hour for 12 hours. After some practice, members of the expedition were able to abandon crawling and walked in the 90-mile torrents of air by ‘leaning on the wind’ – one of the expedition’s most memorable photographs.

Many of Mawson’s 30 member team were graduates of Australian universities – the average age was 26 – and 22 were Australians, three being veterans of previous Antarctic voyages.

Personal space in the Main Hut was limited but the men did their best to put their stamp on cramped bunk space, for only Mawson had his own cubicle. Pictures were pasted on walls, initials were painted on bunks and a convivial young group occupying bunks on the southeast corner dubbed it Hyde Park Corner.

Efforts were also made to civilise daily life: there was a library, gramophone and board games and the novice cooks experimented turning local wildlife into edible fare for hungry men. Photographer Frank Hurley had a small dark room in the northwest corner and was also known for creating short plays to entertain.

Mawson was determined the expedition would produce useful scientific data and routine observations were made regardless of conditions. Night watchman duty was rotated and with it came the rare luxury of a bath (the men washed every 18 days).

Expeditions were made into the interior, with sledges being hauled mostly by men, sometimes by dogs. During one, Hurley’s diary records trekking to within 80km of the South Magnetic Pole, despite terrible weather conditions. “Things are now serious,” he observed. “We have but a few days ration left, and have the choice of remaining here … or making a desperate dash for the hut. If we stay here and the weather does not clear we starve miserably …”

They made it back safely but Mawson’s mapping expedition with two men and eighteen dogs ended in tragedy. One of his companions fell into a crevasse and was never seen again, and without the provisions on his sledge, dogs died of exhaustion or were killed for food. Mawson’s sole team mate then fell ill and was towed on a sledge until he died.

Cutting his sledge in half and, starving and frostbitten, Mawson began the one-month trek back to Cape Denison. He too fell into a crevasse but managed to pull himself out. He arrived back at the Main Hut on 8 February 1913 in a state of total exhaustion, just three hours after the departure of the Aurora. Volunteers who had stayed to search for him endured another winter in Antarctica as they nursed their leader back to health.

One of the reasons Dr Godfrey has invested so much time in Antarctica since 2001 is to ensure the survival of the historic huts and to raise the profile of that first Australian Antarctic expedition. Clearly, he has also relished the challenge posed by the huts and the landscape.

Seeing the interior of the Main Hut for the first time, Dr Godfrey recalls his eyes being immediately drawn to the once-cheerful hub of Hyde Park Corner.

“I knew from the reading I had done that this corner was a social hub with nine people squeezed into incredibly cramped conditions,” he says. “I knew the two bunks belonging to the men who died while mapping with Mawson were never used again and these bare bunks must have been a daily reminder of their loss.”

In future, further snow and ice will be removed from the shelves and floor of the Main Hut to further stabilize the structure. Dr Godfrey says that once the stabilisation is complete he’ll “walk away and leave the project for new eyes and fresh blood”.

There are, however, aspects of Antarctica he’ll never forget: “For me the greatest impact was always coming into the bay and seeing this puny little hut against the massive backdrop of the Antarctic landscape – and wondering how the hell they had managed to stay there all that time. It was an incredible feat."

Published in Uniview Vol. 31 No. 3 Spring 2012

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