Remembering Sidney Jeffryes and the darker side of our tales of Antarctic heroism
Antarctica is famous for its survival stories, but one of the most compelling has languished in the shadows for over a century. An unmarked grave in the public cemetery at Ararat has been the resting place of Sidney Jeffryes, the remarkable radio operator of Douglas Mawsons Australasian Antarctic Ex...
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Conversation Trust
2018
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| Online Access: | https://theconversation.com/remembering-sidney-jeffryes-and-the-darker-side-of-our-tales-of-antarctic-heroism-105034 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/135446 |
| Summary: | Antarctica is famous for its survival stories, but one of the most compelling has languished in the shadows for over a century. An unmarked grave in the public cemetery at Ararat has been the resting place of Sidney Jeffryes, the remarkable radio operator of Douglas Mawsons Australasian Antarctic Expedition. In 1913, Jeffryes achieved a world first when he made ongoing two-way wireless contact between Antarctica and Australia. However, his mental illness during the expedition, and his subsequent committal to a high-security asylum, meant his contribution was swept under the carpet. Only now has his important role in Australian Antarctic history been recognised with the laying of a plaque on his grave. A Queenslander, Jeffryes was working as a shipboard radio operator and already making claims to long-distance telegraphy records when in 1911 he applied for a position on Mawsons expedition. Although another applicant was selected, Mawson considered Jeffryes a very good man. It is unsurprising, then, that the following year, when the expedition vessel, the Aurora, left Hobart to bring the expeditioners back from Antarctica, Jeffryes was offered a place as its wireless operator. What he didnt realise was that he would end up spending an unexpected year in the far south. |
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