Mosli Mailz
02.02.1980.
Miles Mosley, Base Commander at Halley Station, lost his life whilst photographing a low flying aircraft on 2 February 1980. Miles is believed to come from Pately Bridge, Yorkshire. Before working at Halley Bay he worked at Stonington 1971 - 73. Drummond Small, who travelled with Miles and Tim Christie on a summer survey in 1971 - 72, says that Miles was the official "Doggy Man" on base "keeping an eagle eye on all the health, welfare and breeding/bloodline information on the Stonington dogs."
The accident occured when a BAS Twin Otter that was conducting an aerial geomagnetic survey from Rothera called into Halley for refuelling. Very few aircraft, at that time, flew to Halley Bay deep in the Weddell Sea and therefore there was a sense of occasion in the otherwise uneventful life on this remote base. One other plane landed that year in the support of Sir Ranulph Fiennes' Trans Globe Expedition.
Miles and a number of other men from the base climbed on to a caboose to get a better view, and pictures, of the aircraft doing a low pass. The landing gear of the plane hit Miles, killing him instantly and injuring Colin Morrell, an ionospheric scientist. Extracts from the diary of Steven Smith's doctor on base at the time can be seen under Memories.
Miles Mosley was buried at sea from the sea ice adjacent to Halley Bay.
Drummond has given his kind permission for the reproduction of a photograph of Miles on the right with the blue jacket with Malcolm McArthur (left) and Rocky Wyeth (middle) in the Lammers Glacier in the summer of 1972.
Antarctic Place Name in honour of Miles Mosley
Following a campaign by the British Antarctic Monument Trust, it is gratifying to note that a new feature identified from satellite observations on Luitpold Coast, close to Halley Bay, has been named after Miles Mosley.
The official entry in The Gazetteer of the British Antarctic Territory states:
Mosley Ice Stream, centred at 77 degrees 21’ 36’’S. 33 degrees 13’ 43’’W, is an ice stream flowing north-west into the Weddell Sea on the Luitpold Coast. Named in commemoration of Miles Mosley (1946-1980), who worked for BAS as a GA at Stonington Island 1970-1973 and Base Commander at Halley 1977-1980. Mosley died in a tragic accident at Halley in 1980, when he was struck by an aircraft as it made an overpass of the landing area.
The accident occured when a BAS Twin Otter that was conducting an aerial geomagnetic survey from Rothera called into Halley for refuelling. Very few aircraft, at that time, flew to Halley Bay deep in the Weddell Sea and therefore there was a sense of occasion in the otherwise uneventful life on this remote base. One other plane landed that year in the support of Sir Ranulph Fiennes' Trans Globe Expedition.
Miles and a number of other men from the base climbed on to a caboose to get a better view, and pictures, of the aircraft doing a low pass. The landing gear of the plane hit Miles, killing him instantly and injuring Colin Morrell, an ionospheric scientist. Extracts from the diary of Steven Smith's doctor on base at the time can be seen under Memories.
Miles Mosley was buried at sea from the sea ice adjacent to Halley Bay.
Drummond has given his kind permission for the reproduction of a photograph of Miles on the right with the blue jacket with Malcolm McArthur (left) and Rocky Wyeth (middle) in the Lammers Glacier in the summer of 1972.
Antarctic Place Name in honour of Miles Mosley
Following a campaign by the British Antarctic Monument Trust, it is gratifying to note that a new feature identified from satellite observations on Luitpold Coast, close to Halley Bay, has been named after Miles Mosley.
The official entry in The Gazetteer of the British Antarctic Territory states:
Mosley Ice Stream, centred at 77 degrees 21’ 36’’S. 33 degrees 13’ 43’’W, is an ice stream flowing north-west into the Weddell Sea on the Luitpold Coast. Named in commemoration of Miles Mosley (1946-1980), who worked for BAS as a GA at Stonington Island 1970-1973 and Base Commander at Halley 1977-1980. Mosley died in a tragic accident at Halley in 1980, when he was struck by an aircraft as it made an overpass of the landing area.
Family's archive photos
