Davis Station Postmasters
John King Davis - Antarctic navigator who in 1907 became chief officer of Shackleton's steam yacht Nimrod, sailing for Antarctica on 07.Aug.1907.
After the British Antarctic Expedition, Davis commanded the Nimrod, sailing via Macquarie Island and Cape Horn. In 1911 he was then appointed master of the Aurora, and second-in-command of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14, under Douglas Mawson. During the expedition he made five cruises, essential in establishing and relieving the wintering bases at Macquarie Island and, on the Antarctic mainland, at Commonwealth Bay and on the Shackleton Ice Shelf.
In 1916 he commanded the Ross Sea Relief Expedition, mounted to rescue Shackleton's 'shore party' left at McMurdo Sound to support their leader's epic but ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea. After being marooned for two winters with inadequate supplies and equipment, its members reached New Zealand in the Aurora on 9 February 1917.
A career Royal Australian Navy officer, he took leave to command the Discovery during the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition 1929-30 under Mawson.
Australia's second station on the Antarctic Continent, established in 1957, was named Davis Station in his honour.
Further to my last blog, some readers may know that I have been writing an encyclopaedia of Antarctic philately. As a part of this I have been trying to document the people who have been postmasters at the Australian Antarctic bases. I will publish all these in coming blog posts, but here is what I know of the Postmasters during expeditions to Davis Station:
1958 Elliott Trigwell
1959 Ray Torkler
1960 not known
1961 Alex Brown
1962 Dave Ward
1963 Bryan Eyre
1964 Ron Whelan
1965 (not operational (N.0.)
1968 (N.0.)
1967 (N.0.)
1968 (N.0.)
1969 Ken Bennett
1970 Richard Westwood
1971 Brian (Red) Ryder
1972 Peter Butcher
1973 not known
1974 not known
1975 not known
1978 Dagur Vilhjalmsson
1977 not known
1978 not known
1979 Ray Hinchey
1980 not known
1981 Ron Sidebottom
1982 Ray Hinchey
1983 Shane Jeppson
1984 Bob Orchard
1985 Patrick Haddock
1986 Tim Price
1987 Allen Rooke
1988 Dennis French
1989 Rod Williams
1990 Peter Croser
1991 Lloyd Symons
1992 David Neudegg
1993 Tonny Powell
1994 Allan Riach
1995 not known
1996 Bob Libbiter
1997 Dail Opuskls
1998 Peter Pokomy
1999 Tom Stokes
2000 Wally Owen
2001 Dave Correll
2002 Paul Wilson
2003 Jeff Becker
2004 Steve Morrow
2005 Sara Conway
2006-2010 not known
2011 Joe Glacken
2012 Joe Glacken
2013- not known
If anyone knows of mistakes or additions, then please drop me a line at p-6-1-B-at-protonmail-dot-com - or via this website.
I've already published in previous blogs a list of Postmasters at:
Macquarie Island Station
Casey Station
Heard Island
Merry Christmas fellow Antarcticans, and a happy 2019!
