Brabant Island, 64°27’ South, 62°14’ West is nearly 561m long and 24km wide and is the second largest island in the Palmer Archipelago. At one time it was one of the largest still to be explored in the world. It lies 400km south of the Antarctic convergence and east of Grahamland, sitting in a rather weather-beaten zone where winds are regularly above force 12.
Brabant Island has been activated from 1983 through 1985 by a British Joint Service Antarctic Expedition which overwintered in tents and carried out multidisciplinary works.
The British Joint Services Expedition was organized in three phases and included a total of 35 men. The first summer leg was organized from January to March 1984, the winter leg then lasted until the 29th of December and finally, the second and last summer leg took place from December 1984 to March 1985. Most of the members of the expeditions weren’t university-level scientists but rather experienced mountaineers. This gap was however filled by the support of numerous research institutions including, among many others, the Belgian Antarctic Committee. An impressive total of 60 scientific projects were carried out, covering topics ranging from natural sciences to sociology and human physiology. “This diversity of aim is, we believe, only possible in a Service expedition such as this free from the constraints of publication, academic rivalry and the need for immediate results.
Base Camp was right in the middle of a colony and the smell took some getting used to. The expeditionners set about unpacking and organising their 15 tonnes of kit. Farewells were brief and the 12 man team had started its big adventure. The first few weeks flew by as we erected a small tri-wall hut for use as a laboratory and a meeting place, and carefully worked out the stores and food area. This had to be marked and carefully recorded for soon it would be buried in snow. With a ready stock of most small things in the hut annex, the stores system worked very well, and only occasionally they have to dig in to find a some of the items
At that tine VP8BDG did operate HF from there, so a WAP reference number WAP GBR-2Ø has been given. (TNX GM3ITN for QSL)
See: Joint Services Expedition to Brabant Island, Antarctica by John Kimbrey
AJ 1986 139-144 Kimbrey Brabant.pdf (alpinejournal.org.uk)
Almost 40 years after the expedition, the island has not yet finished unveiling all of its stores and camps, but the positive actions undertaken in recent years offer a glimpse of the possibility that it could, one day, be cleaned up completely. A victory that is however somewhat tinged with bitterness, as it is global warming that is freeing the waste from their frozen embrace.
While waiting another HF operation at Brabant Island, which remains a wanted “New One” for most of the Antarctic hunters, see the article pubblished about here on WAP website on last march 2024, where you can see also a 47′ video of the operation
Brabant Island; when a Hamradio operation from there? – W.A.P. (waponline.it)