Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

In mid-July we listened to the FIDS broadcast again – now mainly the usual
‘kelper’ (Falkland Islander) brand of popular music, predominantly ‘country &
western’. Ralph was having trouble with the radio, but we heard officially that the
Governor was now en-route for London. Later we overheard on the radio that Dr
Fuchs was shortly going south on a 30-day depot-laying sledge trip. In August we
listened again to the FIDS programme on the radio and enjoyed the records for a
change. There was another message from Dave Jones (Base E) re glaciological
equipment. In the middle of August Ralph, trying to send out our monthly air-letters,
met with the usual procrastination. (This was a facility enabling us to send one air
letter a month to one named contact in the UK, and receive one.) We tried to listen
again to the FIDS programme but the reception was bad and we heard little.
On 15 August I drafted the Fortnightly Report, but the transmitter gave a crackle
and a flash as Ralph was sending and took sometime to repair. As a result he
couldn’t send the airmail letters out. I hoped our personal orders (to make up for the
deficiencies of supplies on base) wouldn't ‘miss the boat’. We later managed to send
out a message to say that we were closing down for four days to overhaul the
generator. Ralph dismantled, cleaned and reassembled it with some help from me.
Radio reception improved: we heard a FIDS radio programme but only records
and small talk. On the Overseas Service there was reference to discussions on British
Colonies and the question of the Trusteeship of the Antarctic was aired. Chile was
said to be against it. But the programme was very uninformative; we hoped to hear
more. Another day we overheard a radio message indicating that a sledging party
was three days overdue at base F (Argentine Islands). Also a message from Eric Platt
at G (Admiralty Bay) told us that he had found an outcrop of quartz diorite.
Eavesdropping was one of the few ways we had for getting news about the
organization and we became increasingly frustrated over the months by the lack of
official information on matters of import and interest to us. Ralph was at the radio for
a long time getting data on station frequencies from Jimmy Knox and then drew up a
chart.
Another afternoon we listened again to the FIDS radio programme. Matthews, the
ColSec who was leaving soon, had some interesting information: about Penelope, a 40
ton carvel-oak ship was now in the Falklands; on the political situation we could
expect an official message on government policy when the Governor returned from
London. This was to be the last programme in the series. Next day Ralph overhead
signals about Penelope – she was to be manned by naval officers and crew, a
Commander, 3 lieutenants and a met man.
Approaching the end of August Ralph made contact with some interesting
amateur radio stations in the Belgian Congo and other parts of Africa, and South
America. On 31 August he was repeatedly trying to send a message to base G re
seals. Terry Randall's voice broke in and then there was atmospherics and a lot of
W/T keying in Morse code), trying to find a suitable frequency – and then the
generator failed – it was out of petrol. Ralph found that the voltmeter was bust and
of course by the time it was mended there was no point in trying to contact the others
again that day. These are a few examples of the many frustrations we experienced in
our isolation. Later there was a message from Dr Fuchs, referring to our geological
discoveries, and showing interest in our “enterprising fishing". He had seen a snow
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