Masson, correspondence

• MS 100/73/1-3;D Letters (3) to Hugh Robert Mill, 21 June 1911 to 16 July 1922 [Views on the British Relief Expedition, 1917] 8 leaves, holograph

The correspondence includes mention of the British Relief Expedition, 1917 which was sent to rescue the ten men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, [Ross Sea Party] 1914-1917. This expedition was organised by Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton to meet the party from Endurance who were to sledge across the Antarctic from the Weddell Sea. After visiting Macquarie Island to provision the Commonwealth Meteorological Expedition the Aurora (Captain Mackintosh) sailed to Ross Island. When ice prevented the creation of a base at Cape Crozier the ship continued to Cape Evans where ten men became stranded when on 6 May 1915 Aurora was driven from her moorings in a blizzard. With minimal supplies and equipment the party laid depots towards the Beardmore Glacier for the expected Weddell Sea party. Three men including Captain Mackintosh died between March and May 1916. During the 1916 winter a party of four wintered at Cape Evans while a party of three were at Hut Point. Aurora (Captained by Stenhouse) drifted for ten months in the Ross Sea before returning to New Zealand. The seven survivors were rescued in January 1917.

Chronological.

The Institute holds several archival collections containing material relating to the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, [Ross Sea Party] 1914-1917. The Institutes collection for John King Davis also contains material relating to the British Relief Expedition, 1917.