Abbreviation | BAMT |
---|---|
Formation | 2008 |
Type | charity |
Purpose | Promote the achievements of members of the British Antarctic Survey who have carried out hazardous duties in the pursuit of scientific knowledge within the British Antarctic Territory. |
Headquarters | London, UK |
Chairman | Roderick Rhys Jones |
Website | www.antarctic-monument.org |
The British Antarctic Monument Trust is a charitable trust [1] set up in 2008 to promote the achievements of men and women of the British Antarctic Survey who have carried out hazardous duties in the pursuit of scientific knowledge within the British Antarctic Territory. The trust also aims to improve the public understanding of how Antarctic exploration and science contributes to our knowledge of Antarctica and the impacts of human activity on the natural environment.
The trust also maintains a complete list of all those who have perished in the British Antarctic Territory since the first permanent British base was set up at Port Lockroy in 1944.
The trust has placed The Antarctic Memorial tablet in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral. It was dedicated by Canon Treasurer Mark Oakley on 10 May 2011. The tablet has the inscription "For those who lost their lives in Antarctica in pursuit of science to benefit us all". The memorial was designed by Graeme Wilson and the sculptor Fergus Wessel. [2]
In addition to the tablet, the trust is organizing the British Antarctic Monument. This monumental sculpture will have a section installed at the Scott Polar Research Institute and a section located on the Falkland Islands. [3] Sculpted by Oliver Barratt (who created the Everest Memorial), the monument features a sculpture in two parts – the northern part is made of British oak and represents the mould from which the other part, a stainless steel needle, is cast. The northern section is sited outside the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge and the southern in Stanley on the Falkland Islands.
The northern sculpture was unveiled on 12 May 2011 by Oliver Barratt and Roderick Rhys Jones (Chairman of the British Antarctic Monument Trust). [4] During the unveiling the Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Professor Julian A. Dowdeswell, welcomed friends and relatives of those who died in the Antarctic.
The trust has four well-known ambassadors – Felicity Aston, [5] Paul Rose, John Killingbeck and Dr. Russell Thompson. Each promotes the trust’s work through lectures and acting as guides and interpreters on Antarctic tour ships.
The Antarctic is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other island territories located on the Antarctic Plate or south of the Antarctic Convergence. The Antarctic region includes the ice shelves, waters, and all the island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence, a zone approximately 32 to 48 km wide varying in latitude seasonally. The region covers some 20 percent of the Southern Hemisphere, of which 5.5 percent is the surface area of the Antarctica continent itself. All of the land and ice shelves south of 60°S latitude are administered under the Antarctic Treaty System. Biogeographically, the Antarctic realm is one of eight biogeographic realms of Earth's land surface.
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
Edward Adrian Wilson was an English polar explorer, ornithologist, natural historian, physician and artist.
The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It was instituted in 1857 as the Arctic Medal and renamed the Polar Medal in 1904.
The British Graham Land expedition (BGLE) was a geophysical and exploration expedition to Graham Land in Antarctica between 1934 and 1937. Under the leadership of John Riddoch Rymill, the expedition spent two years in the Antarctic. The expedition determined that Graham Land was a peninsula. The expedition used a combination of traditional and modern practices in Antarctic exploration, using both dog teams and motor sledges as well as a single-engine de Havilland Fox Moth aircraft for exploration. Transportation to the Antarctic was in an elderly three-masted sailing ship christened the Penola, which had an unreliable auxiliary engine. Additional supplies were brought on the ship Discovery II.
The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south of Cambridge.
The Battle of Britain Monument in London is a sculpture on the Victoria Embankment, overlooking the River Thames, which commemorates the individuals who took part in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War.
A number of governments have set up permanent research stations in Antarctica and these bases are widely distributed. Unlike the drifting ice stations set up in the Arctic, the Research stations of the Antarctic are constructed either on rock or on ice that is fixed in place.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on behalf of the UK. It is part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). With over 400 staff, BAS takes an active role in Antarctic affairs, operating five research stations, one ship and five aircraft in both polar regions, as well as addressing key global and regional issues. This involves joint research projects with over 40 UK universities and more than 120 national and international collaborations.
The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration was an era in the exploration of the continent of Antarctica which began at the end of the 19th century, and ended after the First World War; the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition of 1921–1922 is often cited by historians as the dividing line between the "Heroic" and "Mechanical" ages.
Christian buildings are the only religious buildings on the continent of Antarctica. Although they are used mostly for Christian worship, the Chapel of the Snows has also been used for Buddhist and Baháʼí Faith ceremonies. Some of the early religious buildings are now protected as important historical monuments.
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of Earth and lies on the opposite side of Earth from the North Pole.
William Robert Colton was a British sculptor. After completing his studies in London and Paris Colton established himself with solid, career-long business relationships, secured admission to exhibitions at the Royal Academy and the Salon in Paris. His works included commissions for busts, statues and war memorials. His clientele included royalty in England and India.
Felicity Ann Dawn Aston is a British explorer, author and former climate scientist.
The Bromley Parish Church Memorial commemorates the deceased parishioners of World War I. The war memorial was designed and constructed by British sculptor Sydney March, of the March family of artists.
Brian Birley Roberts was a British polar expert, ornithologist and diplomat who played a key role in the development of the Antarctic Treaty System. A biography of Roberts has been published.
Kim Crosbie is a former Executive Director of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and has been working in the polar regions since 1991.
Surgeon Captain Edward W. Bingham, was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer who had the rare third clasp added to his Polar Medal.
Antarctica in World War II covers events in Antarctica from 1939 to 1945 starting with the Third German Antarctic Expedition (1938-1939). Antarctica during this period was home to multiple scientific expeditions with no documentation of fighting taking place on the continent. Many countries such as Britain, America and others sought to claim land and so sent out expedition forces with the hope that the war would hide their advances on Antarctic land.