The Last Days of Wilkes
By John Gillies, reprinted from Aurora September 1989 Vol. 9 No 1.Although Casey was opened on the 19th of February 1969, the lights were not turned out for another seven weeks at Wilkes. There was a very hurried changeover, because the Thala Dan had been stuck in the pack ice for three weeks and ANARE was anxious to return it to Australia as it was on sub-charter from the French and there would have been financial penalty for delaying the French program too late in the season.
Four days were taken to unload the ship with the aid of the crew and machines, landing craft and helicopters, of the U.S.C.C. Southwind that had broken the Thala free and forced a path through the remaining pack, despite being shunted in the stern when it stopped quicker than the Thala did!
The short changeover did not allow the planned installation of the new Collins 208U10 10 Kilowatt Radio Transmitters at Casey to be started during the changeover. Four radio technicians led by Graeme ("Chompers") Currie, Len Holbrock, Colin Taylor and myself, had been sent down to install the new equipment and bring the old equipment from Wilkes to build Radio VNJ at Casey.
This meant that the Wilkes radio section had to be kept going until the new transmitters were operational. Ron Wiggins, a Wilkes veteran Deiso, kept the power running for the four Radio Operators, Keith ("Blue") McDonald, Sydney ("Chick") Henderson, Lee Collins and Mike Riley, and Radio Tech. John Gillies. Later Cosmic Ray Physicist, Philip Johnstone, came over to look after the monitors to ensure continuity of their program and prepare for their shift to Casey.
Our small group moved their beds into the mess kitchen area, making a dormitory area near the bar at the end of the large room, so that there was less heating required and therefore less fuel consumed, as it was not known how long the stay would be. The timber structure reeked of distillate that had seeped in over the years and every time the fire alarm went off, there were seven very worried expeditioners. The fire alarms were due to water melting into the wiring, as it leaked in through the wooden roof when the sun shone on the black pitch that had been used to try and patch the leaks that found the smallest holes each summer.
We took daily turns at being chef, although I found tomato soup was not appreciated, served after I had a nose bleed (caused by vitamin deficiency) the night before. Ron, being an excellent bread baker, kept us well fed. Supplies from Willi Kalss, the chef at Casey, were regularly brought over by those curious to see the strangers who were keeping the messages coming, and see what the old station looked like. The OIG, Ted Howells, and Bill ("Bilko") Macha came over to take the remaining stores and clothing that were still at Wilkes.
Two land lines had been laid along the coast from Wilkes radio office to Repstat in the previous year; these were used for the Met Teleprinter and a telephone. Drift static electricity on the long line caused a problem to the exchange in blizzards until some bleed resistors allowed the charge to leak away. Radfone calls could be made from Casey using the phone line, with the operator at Wilkes switching the push-to-talk key, and the caller listening to the receiver at Casey.
When the new transmitters were connected to the antennae system, built by Roger Williams and the 1968 crew, Chompers found, to his horror, that as he increased the power to the antenna, the fibreglass rods that supported the dipoles of the new Log Periodic array, burst into flames making a spectacular fireworks display as it burnt and fell down. Replacement fibreglass sections, which had been inside all year, burnt in the same manner. Fortunately I had worked in the P.M.G. laboratories where they had done work on corona effects and prevention for Radio Australia.
We were able to devise a method of finishing the ends of the dipoles, using loops from the open wire antennae feeders and spare insulator sections from the Wilkes antennae changeover switch (designed by the PMG Lab. where I had worked) so that there were no sharp ends on the dipole to fibreglass clamps. Once all the dipoles were modified they did not cause any more problems when the full 10Kw was applied. The manufacturers supplied some form of modification for the next changeover, but by then the antennae were a tangled mess on the ground, but that's another story.
Ron Wiggins kept busy replacing the Hotchkiss HB40 Light-Tracked Carrier tracks and packing mechanical equipment to go to Casey, while Phillip counted the high energy particles that would stop for no one. A group came over one weekend to take the dog teams to their new, and final, dog lines. Although one female broke away and returned to have her pups in the old spherics building, the two pups were extremely wild and difficult to catch, when we found their tracks in the new snow cover and discovered where they were living.
Early in April a large party with all the vehicles and sledges they could find came to Wilkes; the station switched off, the wiring to the racks cut away, all the receivers and teleprinters and spare parts were taken out through a doorway that had been opened near the old Met office and was enlarged to allow the large racks out, and a ramp dug through the accumulated snow to allow easy access to load the sledges.
Ron finally switched off the power then turned off the faithful Cat generator system on the 9th April 1969. I, for one, was extremely glad to leave the potential fire trap, comfortable though it may have been with a large group of fellow expeditioners to maintain a constant watch throughout the station.