See also: Dogs of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
The Australasian Antarctic Expedition, under the leadership of Douglas Mawson, left Hobart, Tasmania, on 2 December 1911 in SY Aurora. Members of the expedition were organised into three parties, two in bases established on the Antarctic mainland and the third on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. The Main Party base, under Mawson, was established at Cape Denison in Commonwealth Bay, at 67°0'S, 142°40'E. A Far Western party, under Frank Wild, was based on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, at 66°0'S, 100°E. The Macquarie Island base under George Ainsworth, as well as carrying out meteorological and other observations, acted as a wireless relay station connecting the Antarctic to Hobart.
Aurora, the expedition's ship, conducted a series of oceanographic surveys as part of the expedition and was captained by John King Davis, who also acted as the expedition's second-in-command.
| Name | Age | Image | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Astronomer, assistant magnetician, recorder of tides. | Member of party that remained for second winter, 1913 Bage served with the Royal Australian Engineers in the First World War, and died at Gallipoli on 7 May 1915. | ||
| 22 | Member of party that remained for second winter, 1913 Bickerton was selected for Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition as motor engineer, but on the outbreak of war in August 1914 he joined the British army, serving in the Royal Flying Corps. | |||
| 40 | General duties; assistant collector, member of several sledging parties | |||
| 19 | Mechanic, assistant physicist. Member of Eastern coastal sledging party | Acted as photographer on Auroras final cruise, 1913–14 | ||
| 26 | Wireless telegraphist, assistant magnetician | Left base February 1913, replaced by Sidney Jeffryes | ||
| 26 | Cartographer, sketch artist, assistant meteorologist | Member of party that remained for second winter, 1913 | ||
| 23 | Biologist | Acted as biologist on Auroras final cruise, 1913–14 | ||
| 24 | Official photographer and cinephotographer | Hurley was the official photographer accompanying Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–16, and returned to Antarctica in 1930 with the British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE). | ||
| 27 | Wireless operator, replacement for Walter Hannam | Joined base February 1913. Suffered mental breakdown; after the expedition he was confined to an asylum in Ararat, Victoria. Died 1942. | ||
| 25 | Taxidermist, biological collector. Participated in several sledging journeys | |||
| 22 | Meteorologist, in charge of dogs during second season | Member of party that remained for second winter, 1913 | ||
| 30 | Geologist, expedition leader | Only survivor of party of three sledging to east of base, 1912–13, Ninnis and Mertz having died. Mawson returned to the Antarctic in 1929 and 1931 as leader of BANZARE. | ||
| 26 | Chief medical officer, bacteriologist | Member of party that remained for second winter, 1913. Editor of "Adelie Blizzard" (expedition publication) during second season | ||
| 28 | Died 7 January 1913 during sledging journey | |||
| 32 | In charge of expedition stores | Had been designated leader of a third Antarctic base that was not established. | ||
| 23 | Died 14 December 1912, falling into a crevasse during sledging journey | |||
| 23 | Geologist | |||
| 22 | Chief magnetician | Webb was the last survivor of the expedition, dying on 23 January 1984, aged 94. | ||
| 29 | Surgeon | |||
| Name | Age | Image | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Cartographer | Member of western sledging journey that reached Gaussberg. | ||
| 43 | Biologist and Artist | Accompanied Wild on eastern sledging journey. | ||
| 24 | Geologist | Member of western sledging journey that reached Gaussberg. | ||
| 24 | Medical officer | Member of western sledging journey that reached Gaussberg. | ||
| 22 | Magnetician and assistant cartographer | Accompanied Wild on eastern sledging journey. | ||
| 25 | Meteorologist | Remained at base during the main sledging journeys. In 1916, Moyes acted as navigator on Aurora during the rescue of the marooned Ross Sea party at the end of Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Moyes also participated in BANZARE in 1929–30. | ||
| 24 | Geologist | Accompanied Wild on eastern sledging journey. | ||
| 38 | Leader of Western party. | Veteran of the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the Nimrod Expedition, 1907–09, Wild was a member of Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–16 and led the Elephant Island group. He was second-in-command of Shackleton's final expedition in the Quest, 1921–22, and acted as its leader after Shackleton's death in January 1922. | ||
| Name | Age | Image | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Leader, meteorologist | Visited Antarctica during the final cruise of the Aurora, 1913–14. | ||
| 21 | Cartographer and geologist | Visited Antarctica during the final cruise of the Aurora, 1913–14. | ||
| 26 | Biologist | Visited Antarctica during the final cruise of the Aurora, 1913–14. | ||
| 25 | Wireless operator and mechanic | Visited Antarctica during the final cruise of the Aurora, 1913–14. | ||
| 26 | Wireless operator | Left expedition in August 1913 due to illness. | ||
| Name | Age | Image | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Chief officer, final Antarctic voyage | ||||
| 28 | Master of Aurora and second-in-command of the expedition | Davis had been chief officer, and later captain, of Nimrod during Shackleton's 1907–09 expedition. In 1916 he captained Aurora again, during the Ross Sea party rescue mission. In 1929–30 he captained Discovery during the first BANZARE year. | |||
| Chief officer, second and third Aurora voyages, replacing Toutcher. | |||||
| 35 | Chief engineer | In 1916 Gillies served as chief engineer of Aurora during the Ross Sea party rescue mission. | |||
| 22 | Second and navigating officer | ||||
| class=nowrap | 19 | Third officer | In 1916, served as Auroras first officer during the Ross Sea party rescue mission. | ||
| Chief officer, first Antarctic voyage, succeeded by Fletcher. | |||||
More than 90 persons are listed by the Australian government's Antarctic Division as serving on Aurora during the duration of the expedition, including the crew that brought the ship from London to Australia in 1911. In general, the crews changed for each of the Antarctic cruises, but a few served on more than one cruise.
Mawson names several others who took part in one or more of the Aurora cruises, but were not members of the landing parties: Captain James Davis, a whaling authority; C.C. Eitel, the expedition's secretary; T.T. Flynn, biologist; E.R. Waite, biologist; J. van Waterschoot, marine artist.