Antarctic Questions Yet To Be Answered

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28528, 6 March 1958, Page 11

Antarctic Questions Yet To Be Answered

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, March 5

“Several questions still remained to be answered about the trans-Antarctic expedition,” says Noel Barber, the “Daily Mail” special correspondent, discussing the completion of the journey by Sir Vivian Fuchs and Sir Edmund Hillary.

“Was Hillary right to push on to the Pole before Fuchs, the leader of the expedition? "Did the two men seriously quarrel? "There is no doubt,” says the correspondent, "that Hillary’s dash to the Pole did, at the time anyway, rob Fuchs of much of the glory of the first half of his trek. "Although Hillary was in actual fact being employed in a purely supporting role he got to the Pole first and it was never originally intended that he should go to the Pole at all. “Like a supporting actor he stole the scene from the star and Fuchs, every inch a leader who believes in running the expedition with the ice-cold efficiency of a ship’s captain who expects to be obeyed implicitly, did not like it. “But Fuchs is also a big man and to him the Pole was always nothing more than a point on the

map to be passed on the way from coast to coast. “The famous exchange of telegrams when Hillary advised Fuchs to stop the expedition at the Pole certainly showed some strain between the two men. “It was a pity that through an incredible piece of bungling by the New Zealand authorities these private telegrams should have been made public. “Hillary had every right to advise Fuchs privately though his advice has been proved to be wrong but it should have been kept in the family as a private matter. “When the two men met at the Pole they were affable enough but they certainly were not wildly enthusiastic about each other. “On the other hand I don’t think there ever was a deep and serious rift and the reports I heard that Hillary was so fed up he wanted to back out were absolutely untrue. "Steadfast and Loyal’*

"He remained steadfast and loyal to Fuchs and, though to Fuchs must go the credit for deciding to carry on after the Pole, Hillary’s assistance from Depot 700 to Scott Base probably made all the difference to the success of the venture.

"The main point, of course, is that between them they did reach Scott Base.

"They made what is perhaps man’s last great land journey of adventure but it was made by a team and not by a group of individuals. It was a team drawn from many parts of the Commonwealth.” wrote Barber. Mrs Hillary Brooks, 22-year-old daughter of. Sir Vivian Fuchs spoke to her father by a 13,000 mile radiotelephone call with Scott Base says the ‘‘Daily Express.” She is married to a schoolteacher, Mr Howard Brooks, whom her father has not yet met. “It’s wonderful to hear your . voice again after all this time,”* said Sir Vivian Fuchs to his. daughter. “How is Howard?” Hillary told him: “He is busy at school today and sends you his love. We shall both be here to meet you when you come home. Oh. I almost forgot, congratulations on your knighthood. Howard was wondering what he should call you.” “He can call me what he likes. ‘Bunny.’ I should think. That’s the best,” her father replied.