Antarctica 1940–1960: A Second World Warand a New Order of Business

Abstract

The Second World War was to have a very different impact on the global politicalpicture and its effect on Antarctica than its predecessor. The First World Warpunctuated the end of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, with its Eurocentricfocus stopping Antarctic exploration in its tracks! This was a predictable outcomefor a war that was in everyone’s backyard, characterized by patriotism andsupport for king and country. Following the First World War the world wasreduced in size by a revolution in communication and transport systems. TheFirst World War dominated to the extent that news of Shackleton’s survival—astory of unparalleled endurance against the odds—failed to make the front pageof London papers. The equally dramatic story of Shackleton’s support partystranded at the Ross Sea was largely forgotten. It was a decade after war’send before the next chapter of Antarctic discovery was to begin—and then paradoxicallywith a technology owing much to the war effort: aerial survey introducedby the Australian aviator Sir Hubert Wilkins in 1928.