LOST IN ARCTIC.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 103, 4 May 1931, Page 7

LOST IN ARCTIC.

SEARCH FOR BRITONS. Expedition on Greenland's Icecap. AIR ROUTE SURVEY. (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph-Copyright) (Received 12 noon.) LONDON, May 3. A message from Reykjavik, Iceland, says the patrol boat Odin has reached the icefield and found a suitable landing place for the aeroplane in which Captain Ahrenberg is flying to search for Mr. A. Courtauld, the member of the British air survey expedition, who is lost in Greenland.

Captain Ahrenberg left Reykjavik for Angmagsalik, but returned later owing to fog. The Odin's seaplane has returned to Reykjavik owing to a defect in her engines.

A message from Copenhagen states that after making a vain attempt to reach Mr. Courtauld by sledges, Mr. Watkins, leader of the British expedition, with two companions, carrying only a few provisions, set out from the base a fortnight ago and they have not been heard of since. Presumably they are roaming on the ice~ sheet in the interior of Greenland. Captain Lemon has sent a wireless message saying Mr. Watkins' party should now be in the immediate neighbourhood of the Greenland icecap, where Mr. Courtauld is lost. Meanwhile other members of the expedition, Messrs. Hatton and Cousins, feverishly repaired the Moth machine for the purpose of a search for Mr. Courtauld. They left Angrnagsalik on Saturday morning, and will also search for Mr. Watkins and his companions. "There ie no need for alarm' regarding the Watkins party," says a British Arctic air expedition authority. "I am in direct touch by wireless with Angmagsalik, where everything is going forward according to plan. Watkins has five weeks' provisions. We do not expect to hear from him as yet, as the party has no wireless. Aeroplane communication has not yet been established." Major Sydney Cotton, the English airman, is joining the search and is at present fitting a monoplane with extra petrol tanks giving a range of 1200 miles and ten hours. He sails on May 5 for Reykjavik, whence he will fly to Angmagsalik. He will carry packets of provisions ready to drop by each packet being sufficient for one man for a fortnight. This will enable him to succour either Mr. Courtauld or the search parties. A message from Angmagsalik states that Captain Ahrenberg has arrived, having covered the 500 miles of sea crossing in 1\ hours. Mr. Courtauld's family have so far expended £8000 on the rescue expeditions, said Mrs. Courtauld in an interview with the "Evening Standard." When" they were in mid-ocean coming homeward she and her husband sent a wireless message to the expedition at the base saying: "Spare no expense to save our son Augustine."