Two years below the horn: Operation Tabarin, field science, and Antarctic sovereignty, 1944–1946

Abstract

"In "Two Years Below the Horn," engineer Andrew Taylor vividly recounts his experiences and accomplishments during Operation Tabarin, a landmark British expedition to Antarctica to establish sovereignty and conduct science during the Second World War. When mental strain led the operation's first commander to resign, Taylor--a military engineer with extensive prewar surveying experience--became the first and only Canadian to lead an Antarctic expedition. As commander of the operation, Taylor oversaw construction of the first permanent base on the Antarctic continent at Hope Bay. From there, he led four-man teams on two epic sledging journeys around James Ross Island, overcoming arduous conditions and correcting cartographic mistakes made by previous explorers. The editors' detailed afterword draws on Taylor's extensive personal papers to highlight Taylor's achievements and document his significant contributions to polar science. This book will appeal to readers interested in the history of polar exploration, science, and sovereignty. It also sheds light on the little known contribution of a Canadian to a distant theatre of the Second World War. The wartime service of Major Taylor reveals important new details about a groundbreaking operation that laid the foundation for the British Antarctic Survey and marked a critical moment in the transition from the heroic to the modern scientific era in polar exploration."-- List of Illustrations; List of Maps; Acknowledgements; Editors' Note; Introduction; PART ONE: PREPARATIONS AND DEPARTURE; 1. Recruitment and Goodbyes; 2. Beyond the Tropics; 3. From the Falklands Southward Bound; 4. The North Coast of Graham Land; PART TWO: PORT LOCKROY; 5. Establishment at Port Lockroy; 6. The Winter Months; 7. The Manhauling Journey of 1944; 8. Spring at the Base; 9. Moving; PART THREE: HOPE BAY; 10. Hope Bay; 11. March 1945; 12. Early Winter 1945; PART FOUR: THE FIRST SLEDGING JOURNEY; 13. Preparations for Sledging; 14. Start of the First Sledge Journey. 15. Nordenskjöld Haunts16. Polar Rationing; PART FIVE: THE SECOND SLEDGING JOURNEY; 17. Interlude; 18. The Second Sledge Journey-1945; 19. East Ross Island; 20. West Ross Island; 21. North Toward Home; AFTERWORD: Taylor and His Manuscript; Notes; Bibliography.