1961 Winter Over Personnel of Wilkes Station

WILKES - Winter 1961
all IN on V2(60-61)
Officer in charge:  Neville Robert Smethurst
Medical Officer: Mervyn Noel Orton (deceased)
Cook: Ronald Lester Maines (deceased)
Senior Diesel Mechanic: Hilton James White
Assistant Diesel Mechanic: Maxwell George Berrigan (deceased)
Mechanic Driver: John McGhee
Electrical Fitter-Mechanic: Arnold  S Thorp (deceased 5 October 2010)
Plumber: Maurice Geoffrey Hickey (deceased)
Supervising Technician (radio): Peter Bernard Stansfield (deceased)
Radio Officer: Stanley William Church
Radio Officer: Thomas James Cordwell (deceased 11th July 1998)

Radio Officer: William Edley Hogan (deceased)
Radio Officer: Raymond Melville Torckler

Biologist: William Stanley Wilson - Virginia Fisheries USA
Technical Officer (biology): W Saunders - Virginia Fisheries USA (deceased)
Meteorologist: John E Breckenridge USA
Weather Observer: Edward Charles Harrigan USA
Weather Observer: Peter George Paish
Weather Observer: Joseph (Sepp) Stadler
Weather Technician: George Larry Hemphill USA
Technical Officer (ionospheric): Stephen William Grimsley
Geophysicist: William Martin Burch
Geophysicist: Fred Jewell
Glaciologist: William Francis Budd

The station was manned during winter by 20 Australians and four Americans. Eight field parties travelled a total of 2400 km in mechanised vehicles and 1600 km by dog sledges. The main field journey was a seismic traverse taking three months and reaching 563 km south of the station.

On 8 November an American aircraft en route from Mirny to McMurdo called at Wilkes. Shortly after take-off the aircraft exploded resulting in five deaths. Four survivors were treated for burns at Wilkes before returning to McMurdo.

Reference "Antarctic Events Database" data of the Australian Antarctic Data Center

Wilkes 1961 Winter Crew

                                         

Orton Burch Hogan Stadler

Paish Budd Berrigan

Grimsley Torckler Cordwell

Photo thanks to AAD Image Library.