Evening star., 1949-08-15
Byrd Hopes to Explore
Vast Antarctic Area
Additional 100000 Square Miles May
Be Accessible to New Planes
By Thomas r. Henry

Dv HOW0S n henry
No human being ever has seen an area
which constitutes more than 1000, 900 square
miles Of the earth's surface
This makes up approximately third Of
the Antarctic continent beyond the South
Pole"
In other words. it is the region extending
from the continental coast south Of Africa
to the pole-presumably completely ice
covered land which Is approximately BIZ
sected by the meridian of Greenwich.
It is by far the greatest unknown left
for the explorer this side Of the moon. This
is the country over which Rear Admiral
Richard E. Byrd expects to fly this winter
on his proposed fifth Antarctic expedition.
Such flight has become possible only
with the latest developments in aviation.
Planes Of the type Of the Nays Truculent
Turtle. it is expected. will be able to fly
completely over the continent and return.
Inaccessible Region.
Hitherto the region has been completely
inaccessible. Land planes based on Byrds
old camp at Little America could barely
make the approximately 700 miles to the
pole and return If the plan succeeds Ad-
miral Byrd will have fulfilled dream of
years. On his last expedition, by pushing
his plane to the extreme limit he succeeded
in getting about 10 miles beyond the pole
from Little America and was able to over
look, quite superf1cially. radius Of about
100 miles.
It has been impossible to establish an air
strip Of any kind on the African side of the
continent. The great Weddell Sea pack Is
essentially Unacceptable while the Ross pack.
which lies south of New Zealand, always can
be penetrated, although sometimes with
great difficulty and peril, during mid-sum-
mer.
The one major effort to move inland from
the African side was that of Sir Ernest
Shackleton in 1914. This ended in q dismal
failure when his ship was crushed In the ice
and his men drifted for more than year on
the Weddell pack, finally reaching the island
of South Georgia after enduring about the
greatest hardships yet recorded for polar
expeditions.
German Expedition Recalled.
The territory over which Byrd proposes to
fly was Adolf Hitlers New Schwabia. In the
winter of 1s3s-4o a German expedition
skirted the pack and sent planes little way
inland. Markers were dropped claiming the
territory for the Third Reich.
The German flyers, however, did not get
beyond the rim Of mountains which sur
rounds the continent. Their records are
available and extremely valuable. Among
the features spotted from the air were sew
eral ice-free "oases," presumably similar to
one found at the other side Of the continent
on Admiral Byrd's last expedition.
New Schwabia has been claimed by Nor
way-a claim recognized by Great Britain
and has been renamed Queen Maud Land.
No territorial claims in the Antarctic are
recognized by the United States.
While the greater part Of the territory Is
completely unknown some faiSly safe pre-
dictions as to its nature can be ventured.
It presumably will be an extension OF the
great, level high plateau which extends
from Antarcticas mountain rim to the
pole. The ice over the land Is ut least mile
thick. It may be much thicker. It hides all
natural features except the tops Of very
high mountains.
Plans Taking Shape.
Arrangements for this nth expedition now
are taking shape. Ice-breakers will break the
way through the Ross pack. Bases, under the
proposal, would be set UP in New Zealand, on
the edge of the Antarctic and on the Ross
Shelf.
There are two major objects In addition
to the first exploration Of the "beyond-the-
pole' unknown by air.
First Of these Is the testing OF material
and training Of personnel In polar conditions.
It is becoming more and more apparent that
in almost any future war the polar regions
fighting might even develop over the ice
sheets. Such an operation would be largely
In the air, but the problem Of maintaining
and supplying bases is Of outstanding i'm
portance.
Second is the completion Of the work Of
the 1946-47 expedition which attempted.
among other objectives, to prepare precise
map of the Antarctic coast line by observa.
tions from the air. Much of their work, IN
order to become valid, must be checked by
ground parties. The present plans call for
sending several Of these over the Ross Shelf
and the established reference points especially
along the eastern coast and in the general
region of the Rockefeller Mountains. This
was an area originally discovered by Admiral
Byrd.
The ground parties would consist largely
of United States Marines.
Questions and Answers
A reader can set the answer g any question @