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1919 (Dec. 10) autographed letter (2 sides) on 'Mitre Hotel,…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
20-Sep-2011
Lot No.
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Description:
1919 (Dec. 10) autographed letter (2 sides) on 'Mitre Hotel, Oxford' notepaper, to 'Silas' Wright from Victor Campbell; regarding their plans to get together over a meal at the army and Navy club. Campbell adds, rather amusingly, 'I Am Calling You Major Wright, If You Are a General Or An Admiral Forgive Me.' from 1910, Campbell was first Officer on Scott's Terra Nova expedition, after arriving in Antarctica in January 1911, his role was to lead an Eastern party of 6 men to explore and carry out scientific work in King Edward VII Land, to the East of the Barrier. on 26 January 1911, Campbell's party left in the Terra Nova and headed East, after failing to find a suitable landing site on the King Edward VII Land shore, Campbell decided to sail to Victoria Land. on its return westward, Terra Nova encountered Roald Amundsen's expedition camped in the Bay of whales, an inlet in the Barrier, after returning to cape Evans and informing Scott of Amundsen's location, Campbell's party were renamed the Northern party and set off again, sailing northwards and put ashore at Robertson's Bay near cape Adare, they built a hut and wintered at cape Adare but due to the sea ice conditions were unable to fulfil much of their intended summer 1912 explorations. in January 1912, Terra Nova returned from New Zealand, and transferred the party of Campbell, Raymond Priestley, G.M. Levick, G.P. Abbott, H. Dickason, and F.V. Browning to Evans Coves. However, they only had sledging provisions for six weeks with the intention of completing the geological work in a couple of weeks, after the work was done they were left with rations for about four weeks. It was not anticipated the ship would have trouble picking them up as arranged in February but the Terra Nova could not reach them due to heavy pack ice. Unable to connect with their ship, the Northern party was forced to winter in Antarctica again, they built an ice cave on Inexpressible Island where they spent the winter in miserable conditions. on September 30, 1912, they set off for cape Evans, finally arriving on November 7th after crossing more than 200 miles (320 km) of sea ice, after learning of the death of Scott and the entire polar party, as the senior remaining naval officer, Campbell assumed command of the Terra Nova expedition for its final weeks.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Militaria & Weapons: Ephemera