Interview of Brian C. Dalton by Dian O. Belanger

• Main Author: Dalton, Brian C.
• Other Authors: Belanger, Dian Olson, 1941-
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program 2009
• Subjects: United States. Navy > Medical personnel > Interviews; Operation Deep Freeze; Oral history; Arctic regions > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Polar regions > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Antarctica > Discovery and exploration > Interviews; Dalton; Brian C. > Interviews; Antarctic; Arctic; Byrd; Byrd Station; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1811/36729

The Antarctic Deep Freeze oral history project was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and supported by the Antarctic Deep Freeze Association. The original paper copies and unaltered tapes have been deposited in the library of the National Science Foundation. Dr. Brian Dalton had scarcely arrived in the United States from his native Ireland for additional medical studies when he was drafted for military service. Obtaining a commission as a Navy lieutenant, he quickly volunteered for Antarctic duty, to experience an adventure that few would ever know. A last-minute and inexperienced substitute, he became the physician and officer-in-charge of Byrd Station over the winter of 1957, when the IGY began. Among Dalton's challenges were the fact that numerous building and food supplies and, especially, beer never arrived at the tiny inland outpost. Despite the spartan conditions and social divisions along educational lines, the camp remained generally peaceable although news of the privation brought Admiral Dufek himself on an inspection visit in the spring. Dalton's worst medical emergency was burns to his own hands when a spirit lamp exploded. National Science Foundation Antarctic Deep Freeze Association