Two long-misidentified Antarctic landing sites made by pioneering Australian explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins in 1939 have been pinpointed, thanks to detective work by independent researcher Sue Hilliard, supported by Professor Simon Harley in the School of GeoSciences. Sir Hubert Wilkins, the legendary Australian Polar explorer, voyaged into Prydz Bay on the Wyatt Earp, sailing along the remote Ingrid Christensen Coast. Braving ice and sea, he made landings at three sites where he deposited proclamations and other small items as records of his visit. While his final landing at Walkabout Rocks has long been known, the exact locations of his first two stops have been misattributed in books and maps for decades. Ever since I began by geological studies of the Rauer Islands in 1983, I’ve been intrigued by the records of those who had been there before me. The brief accounts of Wilkins’ possible landings always struck me as inconsistent with what I knew of the area. Professor Simon Harley School of GeoSciences By aligning Wilkins’ original photographs, rare film footage and expedition logs, detailed coastal maps, and drawing on deep field knowledge of the region, the team has now shown that:The first landing on 8 January 1939 took place on Skipsholmen in the Svenner Islands, not in the Rauer Islands as previously believed.The second landing, made the following day, was on the mainland at Macey Peninsula in the south-east corner of the Rauer Islands, not on Mule Peninsula in the Vestfold Hills, as long reported.The breakthrough came when Prof Harley re-engaged with the puzzle and connected with Sue Hilliard, who had been re-examining Wilkins’ routes. Hilliard’s work indicated that the first proclamation site was not in the Rauers at all, but some 30 miles to the south on Skipsholmen in the Svenner group, a conclusion that Prof Harley supported and could back up using his decades of mapping in the region.The second key discovery hinged on a still frame from rare 1939 expedition footage. (a) Scene from OSU film clip, flipped horizontally. Box 95, reel 10.wmv, Sir George Hubert Wilkins Papers, SPEC.PA.56.0006, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University. (b)View from main summit ridge of Macey Peninsula, looking east to the plateau and “Dragon Peak” (S Harley unofficial name). Digital photograph taken at approximately latitude 68o 54’ 52 “South, longitude 77o 55’ 19” east on 1 February 2007 during a geological traverse of Macey Peninsula by Professor Harley (University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK) and Dr Tomokazu Hokada (NIPR, Tokyo, Japan). Professor Harley collection. The matched view identified the spot as Macey Peninsula, precisely where Wilkins’ party had stood in 1939. Being given the film footage and stills by Sue and then flipping the still frame that contained the image of a landscape I vaguely recognised, to see that it matched one of my own photos was a real eureka moment. After viewing the original still frame I couldn’t sleep, and when I flipped it to reveal the true landscape and realised I had actually been at the same site I just couldn’t stop. Professor Simon Harley School of GeoSciences The findings, published in Polar Record, now sets the historical record straight and underline Wilkins’ pivotal role in Australia’s Antarctic story. As the authors note:“Wilkins’ was a visionary whose achievements were sometimes under-recognised in his lifetime. Resolving the mystery of his 1939 landings ensures his place in Antarctic history is properly understood.”No one has yet revisited the two proclamation sites now identified but due to this work, planning is now underway for an expedition to locate, document and ensure the preservation of these highly significant Antarctic cultural and historical heritage sites.Beyond solving a long-standing mystery, the study weaves together the newly confirmed Svenner and Macey landings with the well-documented stop at Walkabout Rocks to offer the most complete account yet of the exploration phase of the 1938-39 Ellsworth-Wilkins’ expedition, insights that may also inform how historical assertions of sovereignty in East Antarctica are understood today. Read the full article Hilliard, S.M. et al. (2025) ‘Locating Sir Hubert Wilkins’ enigmatic 1939 landing sites in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica: an 86-year-old puzzle resolved and the importance to the history, exploration and discovery of Princess Elizabeth Land’, Polar Record, 61, p. e19. doi:10.1017/S0032247425100053. Research profile View Simon's research profile Publication date 08 Sep, 2025
