Late July 1956

Waiting at the base for the next trip was never Syd’s strong point. The three sea-ice expeditioners nursed very severe and painful frostbite for over a fortnight before Syd’s diary entry showed he was bored …

Wed 25th July 1956.

 A dirty old day, a gusty wind averaging 50 knots with low cloud and fairly low temperatures. Pottered about getting ready to go to Bretangen Bay and giving Haggis  a hand … Gave the met boys a hand to get a ’sonde away about four, she was quite  a spirited old release but she went which means they still haven’t missed a day this month.

My only bright spots of the day were the reflected sunlight on the clouds to the south making the plateau look like a great low pearl grey cloud and the moonrise in a gap ’specially arranged in the clouds so that we could see the view. It was shiny as platinum and as big as a cart wheel and flashed by blue grey draperies of cloud. Beautiful.