Harry Dickason took part in Scott's last expedition to the Antarctic. He was a petty officer in the Royal Navy and a member of 'The Northern Party', a group of six men led by Victor Campbell, which carried out scientific research and exploration on the coast of Victoria Land and the Ross Ice Shelf. The group spent two winters at Cape Evans on Ross Island and when the expedition ship Terra Nova was unable to pick them up they spent seven months in a snow cave on Inexpressible Island without enough supplies before returning to the Cape Evans base.
Picture from 'Antarctic Adventure Scott's Northern Party' by Raymond E Priestley published by Hurst & Company London.
In the underground ice-cave they lived in awful conditions, freezing, suffering from dysentery and near starvation. They were often sick because of the smoke and smell of the blubber used for heating and cooking. Born in 1885, he was awarded the polar medal for his work with the expedition and his diary is kept by the Scott Polar Research Institute. The Institutes records show that he signed aboard 'Terra Nova' in 1910 aged 25 with an address of 42 Hazlehurst Road Tooting, his previous ship was HMS 'Defiance' which was a torpedo training school.
Harry seems to have been the youngest of four brothers Reg, Albert, Sidney, Charles and HARRY. His father, Herbert Dickason ,was born in the Maldon Essex area in 1894 and all the family bar Harry emigrated to New Zealand before the turn of the century. After WW1 his father returned to England and with his cousin took over a Public House in Kingston Surrey. Harry died in 1943.
Links
The Archives Hub provides information about access to records held at the Scott Polar Research Institute. Type the name Dickason into the search window.
BBC - Beyond the Broadcast A BBC TV programme about the Northern Party
When
Hell Froze Over
~ by David S Young, Writer of Antarctica
The Guardian, Tuesday October 9, 2001 - Click below.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/Ronan_Vibert_ology/page56.html
The National Archives, is this the same Harry Dickason? click below.
http://www.nra.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/dpdocs.asp?DPR=D4099