Who Am I?
Researched by E3161 Victoria Edwards (RMC 2003)
- I was born in Canada in 1887
- I was educated at Upper Canada College, the University of Toronto and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, England.
- I was the only Canadian among the six scientists on the 1910-1913 British Antarctic Expedition (Terra Nova Expedition) led by Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole. As the expedition`s official physicist and glaciologist, I studied glacier ice, snow and sea ice, magnetism, gravity and aurora. I was a member of the first supporting party on the 900-mile journey to the South Pole. I made it to within 283 miles of the Pole before being turned back by Scott. When Scott and a 5 man party reached the South Pole on Jan. 17, 1912, they discovered that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten them by days. The next spring, I was part of the search party of eight men and seven mules who searched for Scott and the pole party, who had frozen to death eleven miles from a cache of food and fuel. I discovered the party’s tent on the Ross Ice Shelf.
- In 1914, I joined the Royal Engineers as a second lieutenant and served in France. I was appointed General Staff Officer in wireless
intelligence. I was awarded the MC and OBE. - I joined the Admiralty Research Department in 1919. I became superintendent at Teddington in 1929.
- As director of scientific research at the Admiralty between 1934 and 1936, I played a key role in the early development of radar and detection of magnetic mines and torpedoes.
- I was awarded the KCB in 1946 and was appointed chief of the Royal Naval Scientific Service.
- I served as scientific advisor to the Admiral at the British Joint Services Mission, Washington DC.
- I was appointed director of the Marine Physical Laboratory of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at La Jolla, California in 1951.
- In 1955 I joined the staff at the Pacific Naval Laboratory in Esquimalt, British Columbia.
- I revisited Antarctica in 1960 and 1965.
- taught at the Royal Roads Military College from 1967 until I retired in 1969. I also taught during this period at UBC.
- I retired to Saltspring Island near Victoria in British Columbia in 1969.
- I died on 1 November 1975.
- My grandson, Adrian Raeside has been promoting his new book, `Return To Antarctica: a personal Journey back to the 1910 Scott Expedition to the South Pole`, a non-fiction account of the role I played.
http://www.returntoantarctica.com/
a) Charles (Silas) Wright
b) Raymond Priestley
c) Griffith (Griff) Taylor
d) Thomas Griffith Taylor,
e) Frank Debenham
f) Edgar Evans
Answer:
a) Sir Charles Silas Wright
