You don't just throw a Trans-Antarctic Expedition or an International Geophysical Year together.  These things take planning.
Here's some background on the planners and introductions to some of the doers. 

Several years of Macquarie Island winters receive attention as I chill out under a Casuarina after several fraught months.

I give voice to another almost but not quite lost snippet from "Big Dead Place" and I give the microphone to Adam Fitzgerald who voices the introduction to Jeff Maynard's new book, "The Frontier Below."

In 1983 Australian glaciologist Trevor Hamley joined a Soviet traverse from the Russian coastal station, Mirny, to Dome Charlie, high atop the Antarctic plateau. Bouncing about in the back of a T-55 tank converted into a living quarters/galley/dining space/lab, recording locations on audio cassette tape, wielding a hammer, and ignoring the ideological and political drivers of the cold war in the name of survival, camaraderie, and science, Trevor experienced Antarctica in a unique context at a unique point in history.
His book, "Vodka in a Vegemite Jar" recounts his experiences during the preparation for and during the traverse in compelling prose that keeps one eye on the immediacy of the narrative and another on the forty year perspective 2023 affords on his time in the back of a Kharkovchanka.
Introduced to Trevor by Jeff Wilson, who recounts his own Antarctic tale in episode 151, I spent an afternoon with the Hamleys after reading a galley proof copy of the manuscript. I listened intently as Trevor mapped the overall arc of the story he recounted in his text as well as the story of bringing that text together. Fortunately I remembered to press record on the Zoom H4N, so you get to listen intently, too.

I am proud to bring "Vodka in a Vegemite Jar" to the attention of "Ice Coffee" listeners and I encourage them to head to https://www.trevorhamley.com/ to see what's on offer for $30 plus postage.
My copy arrived in the mail today and I'm over the moon to see the finished product in its colour illustrated glory. That's going straight to the pool room.

Australian Antarctic Division alumnus, Jeff Wilson, recounts his experiences at Australian stations and in the Ross Sea.
Road trip with our eldest.
Good company at Anglesea.
Good food.
Good audio.
One of the best days 2023 offered up.

The ANARE presence at Heard Island runs to 1955 and switches focus to continental Antarctica. 
The Island taught Australians to work on glaciers and to run dog teams, saw John Bechervaise cut his Antarctic teeth and lead the first ascent of Big Ben, and claimed the lives of two winterers. 
"Ice Coffee" leaves Heard Island alone for a bit having documented its reputation as a very difficult place to operate boats, keep sheep, and traverse safely.
Don't think Heard Island counts as proper Antarctic?
Head to 53 deg S and say that. 

ANARE occupation at Heard Island ran short but intense, and sometimes in tents. 
In addition to large quantities of wind and sleet the island provided a training ground for Antarctic travelers and their dogs. 
Challenging maritime approaches led to innovative approaches by maritime challengers, and everyone got home safely, this episode. 

Argentina and Britain needle each other over what huts go where around the Antarctica Peninsula and notes of protest change hands at a fevered pace.
Hot heads at low temperatures lead to a low ebb in high latitudes camaraderie ashore at Hope Bayhia Esperanza.


And Chile was there, too. 

Yet another amazing interview through which to inform you and by which to relieve myself of the burden to write and record a chronological narrative episode this month. 
"Ice Coffee": where me goofing off and being lazy still results in audio gold. 

Professor Meredith Nash spent two years studying and reporting on the culture within the Australian Antarctic Division.  Their findings, released late in 2022, may prove a turning point in the history of Australia's presence in Antarctica.  Professor Nash spoke to me about their research and their experiences in Antarctica as part of the inaugural Homeward Bound voyage.

Michael Marshall knows more about the flat Earth movement than anyone who doesn't believe the Earth is flat, and many of those who do, too.  Marsh spoke to me about how Antarctica fits into the history of and the models put forward by flat Earth adherents. 

Finally, an important update about the past and the future of "Ice Coffee."

Josh Jensen spent an austral summer keeping LC-130 Ski Hercules operational out of McMurdo.  I spoke to him about the challenges that throws up and found out the days of boiling a pot of oil over the stove and pouring it into the sump ended with the last big roundy engines to depart the continent in the 1970s.
Cheers to Josh for putting aside time to discuss the confluence of my two of my favourite things: Antarctica and aviation. 

Some historical and political context for the Russian return south in Soviet Union form. 
Bolsheviks: form soviets and roll out.

I haven't interviewed other Antarctic podcasters because that would make for dull content.
"Do you press record?  Wow!  I do, too!  Hey, how good is Audacity?  Antarctica's cold, huh?"
This episode I interview Samantha Hodder about her Antarctic podcast because the stories told in her series, "This Is Our Time," lie so far outside those recounted in my series that there's a lot to discuss beyond the bones of the medium.
 

Paul Emile-Victor's charges are ashore and charging. 
But wait, there's more.
Call now and get this free base fire valued at over five buildings.

Port Martin.
Port Au Francaise.
Port Malloy.
Port Jean d'Arc.
You'd think the French would switch up it with some cognac or cointreau. 

If you set an AI process in motion to build a hard as nails nineteenth century seadog you'd likely arrive at Dave Donnelly in ninety-nine percent of your iterations.  Dave looks and moves through the world as though he just stepped out of the pages of a Joseph Conrad book. 
Have a listen to episode 140 to understand why I value Dave's company and regularly seek out his insights into whale biology. 

Professor Daniella McCahey of Texas Tech discusses sexism at Antarctic stations. 




* Except by HamiltonSuites, who should lie on their left side, raise their right knee to their chest, lubricate this episode and stick it up their arse.

Ice'll kill ya'
That's what I said
Ice'll kill ya'
And then you'll be dead

Thomas Walkington speaks about the wreck of the Pegasus and his time on the ice as part of VXE-6.
Jim Butler showers praise on me and my output after discussing how he engages with Antarctica from half a world away.
Jeff Maynard maps how he chose what to include and what to leave out of his most recent book about Sir Hubert Wilkins.

Strap your ears in, folks.
This is a big 'un. 

I wasn't expecting the Greek shipping magnate.

Three members of the NBSAE drown in an accident on the barrier edge. 
Every other member of the NBSAE does their bit in making the project one of the most productive and smooth running examples of its type and of its time. 
Besides kicking off or sustaining the high latitudes careers of several scientist with extremely long Ice Coffee legs the glaciology, geology and meteorology carried out during the two winters and three summers spent at Maudheim gave the footing for and set a high bar for subsequent scientific projects coming down the IGY pike. 

John Giaever storms it in as a high latitudes can-do-mo-fo with an international team of scientists.  No matter how many committees got involved and put their bureaucratic handbrake on the NBSAE, the residents of Maudheim got south and got on with their data gathering and trail prep.

The role of ham radio operators in keeping Antarcticans sane through the long dark is given some attention. 
Additional audio of Vivian Fuchs speaking to Donald Milner at the BBC was made available by Thomas Henderson of Graceful Willow Productions and with the permission of Jules Madey (http://www.gwillow.com/)

The music closing out this episode is "Can you hear me: part 1" composed by Wally Gunn (http://www.wallygunn.com/) and performed by Passepartout Duo (https://passepartoutduo.com/).

A brief and patchy history of Chile as context for the nation's expeditions southward in the twentieth century. 

Heard and Macquarrie Islands: tragedy, rockets, sheep, and ham.

The first Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition gets moving.  Led my Campbell, informed by Mawson, and ignoring any potential input from Davis, the first foryas didn't kick all the committee proposed goals but a start is a start.
Heard Island.
Macquarrie Island.
The last Antarctic outing of the Wyatt Earp. 
The first Antarctic outing of LST 3501, which was almost also the last.

A mixed bag of achievements and tragedy for the 1948 FIDS.
New faces with big Antarctic careers ahead of them show up in the narrative.

If you are working through the series in order and don't usually listen to episodes immediately after they're released I urge you to give this one an early play as there's an important message about pies near the end that's only relevant for the weeks immediately after I hit the "Publish" button.

Where the history of other nations involved in the Antarctic land grab received plenty of attention in the series to date, Argentina only received mention as being close to the Antarctic Peninsula.  I've sought to redress that in this episode.
Thanks to Jim for test piloting the new audio settings. 
Hope I don't blow anyone's speakers with unexpected volume.

While theft is rare in circumstances where most needs and wants are catered to by management other crimes occur in Antarctica with surprisingly monotonous regularity, given the small numbers of people in the far south at any given moment. 
Other podcasts have dedicated episodes to the matter but that doesn't mean I shouldn't cover it too, so I did.
The Australian Antarctic Division recently announced it was decreasing alcohol allowances and banning home-brew.  In part the change was geared to make women feel safer on base.  It doesn't deal with the root cause of that problem but if it helps bring about positive change then that's something.  We already tried doing nothing and it didn't work. 


 

A formal book review of "With Scott Before the Mast," an informal review of "Operation Deep Freeze II Gooney Birds," and interviews with Associate Professor Priscilla Wehi, Elodie Camprasse, and Evan Townsend. 

Trail operations, survey flights, tension, and a surprise for the Darlingtons. 
The RARE comes to a close and departs Stonington Island with the aid of the Operation Windmill ice breakers.
The FIDS stay to keep the lights on at Base E. 

In this episode I fail to respect, let alone defer to, religious beliefs and the artifacts and structures dedicated to various deities' alleged glory while recounting the ongoing story of religion at high southern latitudes.  
Happy to take debates on the merits of religion generally or your religion specifically if this outing causes sufficient umbrage.  I've got a podcast for exactly that sort of dialogue and it's rare it gets an airing because most local theologians know to give me a wide berth.  Come at me if you need to.  Perspective adjustments on the merits of the apologia you've been fed by your faith leaders provided free.
Ice Coffee: brewing up, blaspheming, and shedding brittle snowflakes unable or unwilling to present a compelling case that I should respect their faith, let alone adopt it. 

The Ronnes sulk about the FIDS as the RARE settle in to their digs on Stonington Island but realise they have to Voltron up or get little done.  
George Takei makes his series debut in company with Katie Sagal and Billy West. 

Worried that you might be feeling cheated on the history front, this month, here's some hefty chunks of trail experiences from the pen of one who lived it. 
Do you want your word hoosh thick or thin?  I can add extra p flour, if you want. 

Sean McBride intends taking electric flight to Antarctic and I am excited about it. 
I'm also excited about my own investigations into heading south to follow in Wilkins and Eilson's prop steps but uncertain whether it will or should happen. 

US Navy ice breakers get ground control parties ashore to provide fixed points of reference for Operation Highjump aerial photographs. 
Helicopters work ship to Antarctic shore for the first time.

The RARE draws nearer its destination and the FIDS head out on trail.  Will the confluence of two Antarctic expeditions in the same place at the same time conflict with the laws of physics? 
Listen to 119 and find out.


Oooh, see what I did there?
Sizzly call to action.
Getting good at this marketing shit, ay?

The largest ever Antarctic expedition runs its course.
The Sennet heads north with its bow in a sling, divers get with the diving, and the DC-3 makes its "Ice Coffee" debut while the Sea Bees make everything else. 

The United States Navy returns to Antarctica, this time under Admiral Cruzen, though Admiral Byrd was there and waving hard at the cameras and yelling that we shouldn't forget that he's the mayor of Antarctica and firsted all the firsts. 
While not the first fatal air accident in Antarctica, the George 1 becomes the first fatal air accident in Antarctica anyone can recount with any degree of certainty, with white-out conditions leading to controlled flight into terrain, foreshadowing further aviation tragedies in the far south. 

This month, in a very special episode of "Ice Coffee" Amanda Zimmerman shares her insights on life at McMurdo Station.
Timely stuff for those listeners applying for USARP slots for the first time.
Best of luck with your applications, people.

Large quantities of stores, lumber and conviviality go ashore and become Trepassey House, home to FIDS and their dogs for several subsequent years. 

The Tabarin mooted, Marr demurred Base E arises on Stonington Island, five nautical miles from the BGLE hut on Barry Island but two hundred yards from the Johnny-come-five-years-ago East Base. 
Ted Bingham leads the first iteration of the FIDS and sets the tone for subsequent cohorts. 
Scones, rum, freshies and the sort of treats that make Brits wave their hands about like Wallace from "Wallace and Gromit" while saying, "Ooooh, lovely," but which would leave anyone from any other culture saying "What the hell kind of celebratory repast is this?  Am I being punished for something in some passive aggressive British fashion, because that's the only reason I can conjure that you would feed me mince pies"
Or is that just me? 

Finn Ronne makes ready for his return to Stonington Island, getting away late, in debt and with morale already fraying at the edges. 


My apologies to anyone who downloaded the place holder episode used to keep this place held while I finished editing episode 113.  Here's the real deal.

With a hundred meg of storage in my name and a lot of audio snippets with nothing better to do I give you the bits episode. 
Mind the neck bolts.
This episode features the first competition I've run in a long time.  As usual it's biased in favour of early listeners who are old and who are me. 
Voices from the past.
Voices I hope will feature in the future.
One voice that long since broke.
We belong Dad.

Hope Bay's second tranche of winter residents settle in.
Then they head home to a less than heartening reception than their Swedish predecessors experienced, though Taylor didn't die in a public transport accident, so there's that. 

Penguin sex gets the attention it deserves after Murray Levick deprived the world of his observations due to his prudish Victorian era sensibilities.  Professor Lloyd Spencer Davis gives you the good oil on the oily birds getting it on (early birds only get worms).
Extended and diminished visibility and lights in the sky at high latitudes receive some attention from a non-physicist who will accept corrections with gratitude and alacrity. 

James Marr takes his military expedition south and sets up shop on Goudier Island at Port Lockroy in Bransfield House, and also Base A. 

More fuck! than you can poke a stick at.

So fuck! it warrants spelling fark!

Fuck!

Keystone cops.
Byrd at his finest.
Fumes and fuming.

Lincoln Ellsworth convinces Sir Hubert Wilkins to head south once again and achieves very little. 

The War to End All Wars didn't do what it said on the box and political and economic pressures to fascist all over Europe, China and the Pacific led to another protracted period of bloodshed and barbarism. 
This episode is short and short on Antarctic content but it's important to understand the motives and outcomes of the morass of conflicts we came to call the Second World War because war and its wake once more held a lot of sway in what happened in Antarctica and by whom it happened to happen.  No mere happenstance but economic and politically driven outcomes lie in the offing and only those nations not completely economically crippled by conflict could afford to get south again in the short to medium term. 
Not a pleasant episode to write or record and likely little fun to listen to.  Huskie antics and people doing heroic and dumb things lie in the offing, I promise. 

Nazis don't deserve theme music, soundscapes or even my best efforts at editing out narrating flubs. 

Driven south by the Third Reich's thirst for fat, the Schwabenland (ship version) carries two cool flying boats and a load of fucking nazis to Antarctic shores. 
No house keeping and no calls to action, this episode, because I hate nazis and writing, recording and editing this episode made me grumpy. 

Given that I parted brass rags with Quark expeditions because one of their guests called me a nazi and I told him to go fuck himself only re-doubles my anger at having to incorporate nazi assholes into my narrative.  Even Richard Byrd doesn't get me this pissed off. 

The British Graham Land Expedition comes to a close but it's not the last we'll hear of its members or the repercussions of the work they carried out.

The British Graham Land Expedition near the end of their second year in Antarctica.  Much flying, sledging, surveying and the first crossing of Graham Land.
Huzzah.

John Rymill picks up where Gino Watkins' death left off and leads the most efficient Antarctic expedition to date. 
Lots of new discoveries, competent seamanship, sledging and flying ensue. 
The BGLE set the mold for safe and competent operations in the high southern latitudes.

I've traveled with Santiago for three austral summers and his humour and humanity have buoyed my moods while his perspectives on the birds we encountered opened my eyes to biological vistas I'd previously not spotted due to my focus on the mud. 
I only just met John Marsden ten minutes before pressing record but his tales of high latitudes aviation warrant further attention than the ten minutes afforded at Seaworks. 
I hope to spend a lot more time in company with these people in the future but until then here's a sonic record of our encounters. 

And some faux advertising to let you know what I've saved you from/what you're missing out on.

Next month, the BGLE get moving. 

Lincoln Ellsworth's money returns to Antarctica with new pilots, no meteorologist and Norwegians all but ready to throttle him. 
Job's a good 'un, though, in spite of the lack of oomph, patience and skill the money bags brought with him. 

Herbert Hollick-Kenyon nails one of the best put downs in Antarctic history while puffing on his pipe, munching on boiled sweets and reading westerns. 

Lots of penguins, seals and Swedes in the aural background.

Still holding off on throwing the switch on the Patreon account as there's one more episode in the offing, this month. 
patreon.com/icecoffee

Ellsworth's money gets it into its head to be the first to cross Antarctica.
Wilkins, Balchen, Braathen and another polar pig get tangled up in his weak sauce Ahab routine.

Soundscapes featuring Port Circumcision and the waters just off Two Hummock Island, which I'm sure is the British Hydrographic Office's cleaned up label for a rude sailor name originally given that land mass by some sailors who'd been at sea for a really, really long time or who knew a woman with really unusually shaped breasts.   

Two interviews with three fellow Drake Passage crossers and a thunder accompanied decompression after recent upheavals.
Anyone who feels hard done by in the third act is welcome to a right of reply. 

Also putting out my shingle via Patreon once more.
https://www.patreon.com/Ice_Coffee outlines what's on offer in return for financial support but I won't start processing episode releases through the Patreon system until people who signed up years ago have a chance to check they still want to contribute at the levels they pledged. 

Back to history next episode with some more on-site recordings about Lincoln Ellsworth's further efforts to make a name for himself by paying other people to do all the things.

In an epic episode spanning an hour and a half and featuring a singing leopard seal, blowing humpbacks and the tuneless honking of the penguins the residents of Little America and Bolling Advance Base and the various dog and half-track teams reconvene and get out of Dodge aboard the Jacob Ruppert and the Bear.

Byrd gets exactly what he asks for, what he deserves, and then saved, spoiling the symmetry of an otherwise well mapped story of hubris and punishment in the Greek myth mold. 

Byrd's second expedition re-colonises Byrd's first expedition's digs after lots of digging. 
Gentoo penguins under the hut floor provide ambience. 

Boom!
Two episodes in two days. 
Take that, incomprehensible download statistics.  Let's see me make sense of you now. 

Byrd returns south to finish...    something...  something brave and stirring and laudably scientific and humanitarian, no doubt.  Prolly work it out in payroll.  Or in a post-hoc rationalisation that will remain in publication for half a century. 

More importantly, I get to share music I love with you.
Egoism's song "What are we doing" rounds out this episode and I hope you're inspired to check out their offerings, available at https://egoismband.bandcamp.com/

Iceolation and why it's not a big deal these days, a fourteen year old interview with Professor Timothy Naish, and an excuse to use my favourite quote from my favourite robot.

Jeff Maynard returns to the dive hut to discuss the non-voyage of the Nautilus and we receive a visitation from the ghost of an Antarctic feline.
Then the sustained influence of James Wordie and the efforts of Gino Watkins get some attention to set the scene for further British efforts in the south. 
Oooh, foreshadowing and ghosts.  Woooooooooooo!

Lars Christensen funds extensive coastal exploration in concert with his whaling exploits.  A decade of Norwegian effort gets compressed into a single chagrined episode. 

The best acronym in Antarctic history draws to a close and Sir Douglas leaves the southern continent for the last time. 
Similarly the Discovery makes its final transit of the Southern Ocean.  |
Some errors of fact that warrant addenda pass into your ears. 

The first BANZARE voyage plays out with much tension, flying and coal.

Old Dux Ipse thought he was the ducks nuts but the BANZARE looks more a dog's breakfast than the dog's bollocks. 
Another not-a-race sees the Discovery racing south on its penultimate voyage. 
Sir Douglas Mawson and John King Davis get on each other's nerves ninety years ago. 

Three interviews with staff at Bransfield House, Port Lockroy, one with a descendant of Bartholomew Sulivan, second mate on the Beagle under Fitzroy and Falklands Island farmer, and animal noises from the islands. 
Happy April, one and all. 

Sam Edmonds is good company at high and low latitudes but you'll know that for yourself by the end of the interview, conducted north of Sydney with sulphur crested cockatoo and DeHavilland Canada Beaver accompaniment.

Much has been written on high latitudes food but the residues receive less attention.  After finding out about Antarctic sewage and sewerage I now understand why, but having done the yards it's only right that I put the information in your ears.

The world didn't stand still and await the outcomes of Wilkins' and Byrd's efforts with bated breath.  This episode catches you up on Antarctic pertinent developments that the buzz caused by the aviators eclipsed.
The episode also features an interview I recorded with Dr Andrew Atkin while I was in Sydney.  Yes, if you get in touch and tell me you like the series there's a chance I could turn up in your home, drink your coffee, eat your food and sleep on the spare bed, too, all while talking non-stop about Antarctica.  You never know your luck.

Victor and I spent time in the Zodiacs around the Antarctic Peninsula in late 2018.  This unassuming man quickly demonstrated a tremendous experience in and love of Antarctica and cherished the opportunities our work offered him. 
I sat down with Victor to record a brief history of his Antarctic career after one of the presentations he gave to our team.  This episode comprises that interview and audio from another of the presentations he gave, detailing his experiences at Vostok Station, the most remote and coldest of the permanent human presences in Antarctica.  Vostok will feature in its own episode as the series approaches the era of the International Geophysical Year and again to re-recount the story of the winter without a power plant. 
I could write at length about Victor but I think he says it better and with a cooler accent, so get him in your ears. 

Byrd and Wilkins are done in Antarctica for the 1920s and head north, leaving many loose ends in the snow next to the dog corpses. 
With the depression changing the playing field it would fall to the primo fund raisers and the independently wealthy to pick those loose ends up in the 1930s but I'll get to that after covering some Australian and Norwegian 1929 action and knocking out some interviews I picked up in my travels through the austral summer. 
Victor the vostoknicchi coming your way in episode 078.

Some news and a correction.

Wilkins returns to the arena, negating the worth of the winter spent at Little America.
Byrd gets his pole flight and drunk.

Sly grogging among a large company of over winterers makes Byrd's winter on The Barrier a very different experience to that of previous expeditions.

I set up a paypal account for anyone who wants to support the series.  You can flick me some bucks for books, hosting services and travel expenses at https://www.paypal.me/icecoffeepodcast

The first of the on site recordings for this Austral summer, episode 072 examines the preparations made to finally take aviation south and the echoes of Scott and Amundsen that resonate through the stories of Byrd and Wilkins. 

The final full episode arising from my trip to Hobart.  Ron Hann, Peter Reid and Rob Nash speak about their time in Antarctica and I bloviate about my favourite podcasts.
Ah, narrowcasting, you path to digression, you. 
I'm hoping the next time you'll hear from me I'll be speaking about November 1928 events at Deception Island at Deception Island in November 2018.

The second tranche of interviews from my time at the Australian Antarctic Festival in Hobart.  Barry Becker, Denise Alan and Trevor Luff discuss their time with ANARE and I look forward to seeing Dr Brewin in December. 

A look at practical, political and ecological developments arising as the whaling fleet, largely comprising Norwegian vessels and crews, set about the business of ridding the Southern Ocean of those pesky cetaceans. 

I'm none too fond of the booze culture of my home nation, the other nations I've lived, and Antarctic bases, but Nicholas Johnson's legacy warrants light, so I recorded one of the articles missing from the resurrected Big Dead Place website for inclusion in this episode. 

Four of the interviews I recorded at the 2018 Australian Antarctic Festival in Hobart. 
Bob Tompkins, Joe Johnson, Ian Toohill and John Gillies share some fo their experiences in the south and Dave Davies rounds the episode out with some Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Bringing to a close the trilogy of Arctic aviation episodes, this episode ties up loose ends sufficient to fully set the aviation scene for the first flights in Antarctica. 
I've really enjoyed putting these episodes together. 

Recent Tasmania adventures get some sizzle but the content won't reflect my time in Hobart until later this month.

Flying in the Arctic posed a dodgy prospect but faint heart never ended up dead on a tundra. 

With aircraft offering opportunities to keep the feet dry and singalling a possible end to the miseries of sledging in all its forms, key players were keen to get flying. Efforts in the north require some attention as the experiences in the Arctic shaped the approach those key players took when they brought flying machines south.

Sir Ernest makes his final alive foray to South Georgia before making two further Atlantic voyages while dead. 

With Sir Hubert Wilkins set to take a prominent role in several episodes I sat down for coffee and a chat with Jeff Maynard, who knows more about Australia's forgotten polar explorer than I know about most of my family.

Boom!
Two episodes in quick succession.
Weren't expecting that, were you?
I was too excited about sharing the story of Lester and Bagshawe to wait a month to get this out and so trebled the five buck monthly outlay on the hosting service to service my need to let you know about the two and the dogs. 
The most disarmingly charming chapter in Antarctic history. 
Enjoy.

Many Antarctic veterans served in the First World War.  This episode I outline the military service of several of those veterans who will make return appearances in the south.
The Great War also affected the political landscape of Antarctica and that gets some attention, too.

How long's it been since I published a short episode?
You'll be halfway through some task or errand and you'll hear me making the house keeping announcements, but don't freak out.  You haven't gone blank or nodded out  I'm just keeping things in their lane as much as I can.  Likely that won't last long as I can see multiple concurrent expeditions looming and with radio keeping them in touch and influencing outcomes where previously everyone operated in isolation it's likely that my discrete expedition/episode strategy is going to come to grief. 

The various parties of the ITAE come in out of the cold and most of them immediately head off to war. 

Frank Worsley knocks it out of the park, navigating across eight hundred nautical miles of open ocean with four sextant shots.  Tom Crean breaks through thin ice for the final time in our saga.
Shackleton tries to get back to Elephant Island and the fourth time's the charm.

The Endurance sinks.  Plans form, change, re-form, change again, get discarded, get reinstated and re-form after changing.  Hoosh is the only constant.

The Ice eats The Endurance.
Plans form, change, re-form and change again as the Weddell Sea gives Shackleton's team a thorough stuffing about.