Roll Call

Alan Leask, from Yell, Shetland Islands first went to the whaling as a 16 year old in 1958. As was the case for many who went to the whaling, it was his first time leaving Shetland when he set off for South Georgia. His first season was spent working at Leith Harbour and his second on Southern Harvester.

Alister Thomason from Yell, Shetland went first to South Georgia aged 16 in 1954. During his time working in South Georgia he spent two seasons over-wintering, where he picked up skiing for fun. During his time at the whaling Thomason was mostly based at Leith Harbour, where he worked at various jobs during his six seasons.

While he was a winch operator, he worked hard to make sure that others around him was safe. Hauling a huge whale on a winch had a lot of pressure on and if the wire had snapped it could have caused injury. Later Thomason moved on to the meat extract plant, where he worked in the steaming plant making condensed whale extract. This was a slow moving plant, where they had to try to extract as much from the whale as possible as it could be sold for high profits. Workers in the plant, like Thomason, could expect to get a lot of money for doing overtime here.

Thomason took some of his own images while working at the whaling. Serving as important documents for showing what life and work was like for whalers. Especially true of his images from the winches and within the laundry, of which there are few examples.

Following his time at the whaling Thomason returned back to the North of Yell, becoming a successful fisherman.

Arthur Dinsdale went to the whaling in search of adventure. As an engineer he was fascinated with the whaling vessels in his home port and wanted to see where they were going to, rather than work on them in port. He recounts his experiences and life in an autobiography titled The Cobbler’s Nephew: And his Viking Ancestors, 2012.

Davy Clark, came from a family tied to the sea from Yell, Shetland. His father, Gibbie, was a whaler and when he turned 16 he decided he would follow him to work in South Georgia. This began a whaling career for Davy, that lasted for nine seasons working on whaling catchers. Although he found his time at the whaling hard, he enjoyed staying home in Shetland over the summers. With few other job prospects, or the option of being conscripted, Davy continued his whaling career until 1962. His recollections are captured in a book written by his sister, Andrina Tulloch, Fast Fish.

Douglas Bremner worked in Husvik Harbour recording details of the whales shot for the Crown Agents in London. He describes a strong recollection of the bleached whale bones on the South Georgia beaches. He also remembers socialising with the whalers and going on trips around the island. When his uncle learned that he was going to South Georgia, he insisted that Douglas bring his uncle’s 35 mm camera along. Douglas returned from South Georgia with both colour and black and white photographs documenting his time there. Douglas looks back fondly on his time in South Georgia, remembering the spectacular scenery and happy memories with the others on the island.

Einar Strand, Norway, is thought to be the one of the longest serving whalers. First working at Ocean Harbour and then moving to Grytviken whaling station, he taught countless blacksmiths throughout his long career. He was well-respected and well-regarded, known to many as bestefar, or grandfather in English.

Eric Stevenson, Peebles, Scotland went to the whaling as a young lad. He found his calling on the whaling catchers and worked for them over eleven seasons for the factory ships. His keen interest in photography is represented in the Whalers’ Memory Bank and you will see many of his photographs throughout. Especially in the Whale Catcher section. Here his documentary photographs of conditions on board the whale catcher help to bring to life the roughness of being ‘down at the ice.’

At South Georgia Museum, we are extremely grateful to have been donated clothing Stevenson wore at the whaling, and even a jacket that was brand new. After his return home in 1962, he was making ready for another season at the whaling. Sewing a new canvas jacket for himself with cosy blanket tweed inside from the local mill in Peebles. It was then he got word that there would not be another whaling season.

Geoffrey Smethurst was born in 1924 and joined the Merchant Navy in 1944. He started working for Marconi after doing night-school training for two years to become a radio officer. Firstly, on trawlers and then down to South Georgia with whaling catchers. Radio officers played a vital role to keep in touch with between the factory ships and the whaling catchers. Smethurst spoke about the long hours that the radio officer had to work to keep in touch 24 hours a day – especially when working on the factory ships.

Although it was not his favourite job, he worked on the whaling catchers for two seasons. Here he saw the full process of whales being killed. He was astonished by the size of the first Sperm whale they caught, but this soon became the normal thing to see. Whilst on the catchers, small radio transmitters were used to flag where whales were and it was part of his job to fix these if broken.

Smethurst continued working for Christian Salvesen until 1973.

George Cummings, Edinburgh, served as a mess boy for two seasons just after the Second World War. Aged only fifteen when he first went to the whaling he remembered that the mess boys were not being able to ‘get any lower’. At this time he was simply learning the ropes and getting to know the whaling industry as a whole. However, he soon learned what was expected of him and got used to the long 12-hour shifts on board – but he did not enjoy the night shifts compared to the day shifts.

After taking a break from the whaling he returned for another season in 1961-1962. He did not return when he saw that the writing was on the wall for the industry and knew it would be coming to an end.

An artistic streak has always been present in Cummings’ life, early on his parents tried to encourage him to go to school for art. Although he did not pursue a professional career in art he has certainly been a prolific painter. Mostly of marine scenes and a large number of these being Antarctic or whaling related. These paintings hang in whaling museums all over, from Norway to the USA. Cummings has also delivered lectures and won awards for his accurate paintings.

Cummings has played a large part in Salvesen Ex-Whalers’ Club, serving as Chairman for a number of years. Their group enjoyed travelling around Scotland to distilleries and other excursions, to see friends in Shetland and to visit old colleagues in Norway.

Gibbie Fraser, West Mainland, Shetland, is another example of a young man who went to the whaling aged only 16 years old. As was the case for many young Shetlanders it was his first time away from the islands and was a real eye opener.

Employed first as a Deck/Mess Boy, Gibbie soon learned the ropes of the whaling catcher. Getting to know, intimately, all the parts of the whaling catcher ships. His initial trips were with Southern Broom attached to the floating factory ship Southern Venturer. During his time on the catcher he made sure to spend his time learning about the other jobs on board. Spending time in the engine room with the engineers, learning how to stoke the engines with the Fireman, in the barrel with whoever was on lookout or on the bridge learning how to steer in the unforgiving Southern Ocean.

Fraser’s contribution to whaling history is never ending. As Chairman of Shetland Ex-Whalers Association he has been a charismatic leader for the community to look up to, and has been vocal in ensuring that whaling is not forgotten about as an industry. With the Association being set up in 2009/2010 to organise a Whalers Reunion it was then decided that funds should try to be raised to create a memorial to the hundreds of men who went to the whaling from Shetland. Afterwards, there was money leftover from the memorial and it was decided that a book would be created to share the story of Shetland’s Whaling Tradition, 2015. In 2001 Fraser also compiled a number of men’s recollections from the whaling days in Shetland’s Whalers Remember…. These resources have been hugely influential in the creation of the Whalers’ Memory Bank.

Fraser retired from the whaling and continued a career related to the sea… but as many other whalers, always hopes he will return one day to South Georgia.

Ian Mackintosh worked as 2nd Doctor in Leith Harbour during his early time in South Georgia. In the 1956-57 season, Ian worked at Grytviken whaling station. The station Manager, Ken Pierce-Butler, had requested Ian’s assistance pending the arrival of a new Doctor at the station. Ian returned to Leith Harbour in 1960 and worked as sole Doctor in 1961-62. Ian was a keen photographer and spent time taking and developing photographs during his leisure time in South Georgia. He was also a keen journal writer. His family donated transcribed copies of his 1956-57 and 1961-62 journals to the South Georgia Museum. The originals are held by the University of Edinburgh Archives.

James Balfour from Sullom, Shetland went to the whaling as a young boy and worked in the whaling industry on whale catchers for ten seasons. Although from Shetland, his Norwegian was near perfect as he worked with majority Norwegian crews. He is remembered for his ability to pick up the accent from the Southern region of Norway where many of the whalers came from.

James Yorkston followed his older brother’s footsteps and did his first whaling season in 1958/1959. His brother had started in 1954 and told Yorkston it was a good job, so he decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, when he arrived at the Bernard Street office in Leith, he was told that there were no jobs available for that season. So he returned to his job driving and delivering chocolate for a chocolate company. A week before his ship sailed, he received a telegram that there was a space and he left his chocolate job with only a few days notice.

In 1960 Yorkston spent the winter ashore working at South Georgia. After his winter trip he came home with a paycheck of £1100 and at that time a house in Edinburgh cost between £500 and £600. It was a great pay off to a young person returning from the whaling. But Yorkston, along with many others, knew the whaling was coming to an end. When it finished, many people were out of work and searching elsewhere, for him it lead to a career at sea. Where he ended up working with the Fishery Protection for 29 years.

He recalls that his favourite part about the whaling was meeting so many different people. Having been a member of Salvesen’s Ex-Whalers Club since its establishment it enabled him to maintain those connections where they otherwise might have been lost.

John Alexander first went to the whaling in 1954. First working ‘from the island’ being stationed at Leith Harbour and later from the Factory Ships. From the beginning of his time in South Georgia he was taking Kodachrome images to show family and friends at home. Wishing to share with them some of the incredible things he saw while away. Now these important images have also helped to illustrate, not only his, but his fellow whalers’ story at South Georgia.

While working on factory ships Alexander spent time on both Southern Harvester and Southern Venturer. He recalls these feeling much more cramped than working at Leith Harbour, since they could not only house and accommodate hundreds of workers but process whales on board. Many of the men knew that ‘the writing was on the wall’ for the whaling industry when poor catches were being recorded in the early 1960s. Alexander noted this was especially true of his second season on Southern Venturer.

Following his whaling career Alexander went on to receive a British Empire Medal for his work with BP, who he remained working with until he retired. He has also shown exhibitions of his photographs from South Georgia and continues to support South Georgia Heritage Trust where possible with his photographic collection.

John MacLean is not unusual in going to the whaling at 15 years old. Many others went away while they were young to make some money and usually try to save up for something, MacLean was saving up for a teddy boy suit!

Norman Jamieson was born in Yell but spent most of his life living in Leith, Edinburgh until he retired to Lerwick.

Jamieson followed in his family’s footsteps in starting a career at the whaling in South Georgia. His father had been at the whaling and his brother, Hamish, went four years before him. Jamieson recalls it was a tough start on the whaling catcher ships, when he first went aboard Southern Wheeler he was seasick for a week. With only his canvas kit bag to keep him in his bunk!

He soon got over this and slowly, began to enjoy more responsibility. Sometimes, learning the hard way with some close run ins to other vessels. Noting that this was when his time at the whaling became most enjoyable when he knew the jobs on the catchers inside and out. During his time at the whaling he did two winter seasons working at Leith Harbour, where he, like many others learned to ski and competed in sports days.

Jamieson is a talented craftsperson, he created some ship-in-a-bottles and was kind enough to donate one of Southern Wheeler to South Georgia Museum. It was common for people to have crafts to keep them occupied during the winter or to create crafts inspired by their experiences in South Georgia, as Jamieson did.

Jamieson was lucky enough to return to South Georgia working on supply boats between the Falklands and South Georgia, as well as for environmental clean up in the 1990s. He said it was incredible to return but that the life had gone from the place with there being “no steam whistles. No movement.”

Jamieson has been a long standing member of both Salvesen’s Ex-Whalers Club and Shetland Ex-Whalers Association.

Peter Tilbury started working in the whaling industry after serving as an Observer in the Royal Air Force. He worked as Able Seaman on Christian Salvesen & Co. ships during the whaling seasons 1945-47. From 1948, he left whaling to join a venture for hunting sea lions in West Falkland backed by the Falkland Islands Government. The project used ships Golden Chance and Protector III. In 1952 the project was abandoned after lacking success.

Captain Sinclair Begg, originated from Caithness, Scotland. One of eight children, he went to sea to find employment in 1909 aged only 16. His career at sea led him to join a Christian Salvesen company ship in 1911 and this began a long employment with the company. In 1921 he gained his first mate’s ticket and sailed with the company on Soutra. It is believed his first trip to South Georgia with the company was in 1928 when he served as master on Sellasia.

Captain Begg was remembered as being a solid station manager at Leith Harbour. Between 1947-1950 he would sail as master from Scotland to South Georgia on Saluta, then remaining at Leith Harbour until the end of the season when he would take up the role of master to command the ship back to Scotland for the end of the whaling season. He retired from the company in 1951 after working a short while at the Christian Salvesen offices in Leith.

The late Sir Gerald Elliot was an important figure in Antarctic whaling. His mother’s grandfather, Christian Salvesen, founded the company in his name, in 1872. The company expanded into the Antarctic whaling in the early twentieth century.

After a short career in the Indian Army, and further education at Oxford, Elliot was recruited by his uncle for the family business of whaling. His first trip down was only two months after he began working for the firm. This trip was about learning the whaling industry inside and out, and soon he was managing some of the factory fleet. Organising those who would be staying behind for a winter season to help with repairs and readying the fleet again for summer. 

He became a partner of the business in 1955 and often spoke with the International Whaling Commission about how to conserve whale stocks. He worked with Soviet authorities in the 1960s to arrange whaling quotas. Later, in his book, he noted that the cessation of whaling was due to countries not being within their quotas. In our interview he noted that they were not surprised by the end of whaling, given the falling catch numbers year on year.

Elliot’s interest in whaling was not only in the business side, but he was also fascinated by the history of the industry. His uncle, Harold Salvesen, had written extensively on the topic, but had never produced any writing about it. Elliot used some of this history and wrote his own take on the company’s business in Whaling Enterprise: Salvesen in the Antarctic. 

Following the whaling years, Elliot went on to become Managing Director of the company and then Chairman until his retirement in 1988. His involvement with station life was appreciated by the whalers, both on shore and on factory ships. He was fondly spoken about by the whalers, who respected him and the company, even decades after the demise of the whaling industry. 

Tom Johnston, Bixter, Shetland,  is one of the youngest of the ex-whalers. Heading for his first season straight after leaving the school at 15 to work as a mess boy on Southern Broom and Southern Gambler. In his second season he was part of a crew who were towed back to Norway from South Georgia on Southern Lotus. Despite being at sea for weeks through horrid storms, Johnston was not put off by working for Salvesen and continued with their fleets in the Merchant Navy for several more years.

Thomas Balfour from Sullom, Shetland first worked for Christian Salvesen at their whaling station at Olna in Shetland. Later, going with them to work at the whaling in South Georgia. Shetlanders were in demand to go to work in South Georgia, since the company knew many former employees from the Olna whaling station were hard working. Both his sons James and Thomas followed in his footsteps to work at the whaling.

Thomas Laurenson, from Bressay, Shetland was stationed at Leith Harbour during the Second World War. Written about by Jonathan Wills in Sixty North to Sixty South, which documents his life in tandem with how his wife was living in Shetland during the war. In contrast to her far travelled husband, Jessie only left Shetland once in 1936 when the couple married in Edinburgh.

Tony Howard signed on to join Southern Venturer as Mess Boy at eighteen after leaving school in 1958. After learning of Tony’s GCE results, the ship’s doctor asked Tony to join him and his assistant in the surgery. During his time on Southern Venturer, Tony assisted the ship’s doctor and assistant with their work. On the ship, the doctor’s work ranged from attending to minor cuts and illnesses to performing surgeries such as appendectomies. Tony was also tasked with bringing food from the galley to the ship’s hospital. Tony was a keen climber before joining the whaling and spent time exploring the mountains of South Georgia during his leisure time ashore.

Walter Fraser, from Shetland had two seasons at the whaling in South Georgia. Firstly, in 1939-1940 and again in 1945-1946 when he took a camera with him and developed photos while in South Georgia. At the time photographic paper was scarce, so many of the photos are printed on smaller cut-up sheets.

William Loftus, was an English Helicopter Pilot for Alan Bristow for two seasons on Southern Harvester between 1954-1956. Helicopters were added to the whaling factory ships in order to go on scouting missions to locate whales. They would use the factory ship as a base and fly out from there to the surrounding area to survey and report to whale catchers in order for them to find whales.

His time at the whaling was not all smooth flying – being in a helicopter accident in his second season on 5 November 955, near Brazil. The unfortunate accident led to the death of the pilot and Loftus, being co-pilot, made a recovery. Within his collection donated to South Georgia Museum there is also a copy of his accident report. From a letter within the collection sent to Mrs. Loftus, Loftus was not injured from the crash and was picked up by a Norwegian factory ship Kosmos III. All this was while on their was south for the 1955 – 1956 season, and the flight had simply been a test one.

While working in the whaling industry Loftus captured his memories with 8mm film. He was also an artist, mostly working in watercolours and sketching. Many of his works depict whales and highlights how important it would have been for him to recognise those different blows that they produced.

In addition to his diary there are various cables, a Christmas 1956 Menu for Southern Harvester, pay chits, and letters from Salvesen. This all adds to his legacy and helps us to understand what it was like for a pilot working in such difficult conditions.

After his experiences in the whaling industry he moved on to working for Alan Bristow.

Billy Craigie, Lerwick, Shetland, found that a life in the North Sea did not hold enough adventure for him. After attending nautical training he decided that he wanted to go to the whaling for a real voyage. His varied work at the whaling led him to being the mess boy in the hospital – one of the best jobs of his life, he said.

Craigie enjoyed his time at the whaling hugely, picking up some new interests one particular winter. He got into developing photos since he had access to a dark room in the hospital. They would tint photographs for some of the boys, bartering six or a dozen photos for a few hundred cigarettes. In the evening they would all convene in someone’s cabin – taking craft hobbies with them. Carving whales’ teeth, painting whale eardrums or making mats from the old pieces of the nylon lines.

Craigie has large collections of photographs gathered together over the years from friends and other whalers. When on board the factory ships he also had access to some of the officers records and would record them on his tape recorder to play for his entertainment.

Willie Lonie worked as a Plater for Salvesen & Co working in the whaling around the early 1960s.

Murray Thomson, a colleague of Willie’s at R.G.C. at Methil, Fife in the 1980s, recorded anecdotes from Willie’s time in South Georgia:

‘Willie was of a quiet disposition and this advice stood him in good for the rest of his time in the whole time in Antarctica.  His first impression when docking at the Leith whaling station, the sea was covered in blood as far as the eye could see. Good days, it wasn’t all work and there was the odd football match, he said (the penguins always came to his end!).

Late one night the foreman knocked on his accommodations door and came in “Get you gear on and come with me”.  It was late at night and never the best of weather conditions to do anything.  The foreman pointed to one of the rowing boats equipped with burning gear for steel with oxygen and an acetylene bottle with tubes and a cutter on the end.  The foreman rowed out to a large ship in the bay.  There was a large buoy attached to a chain from the ship, he gave me the burning gear and pointed where to sever the chain with the burning gear.  I got out the boat on to the buoy with the burning torch in my hand and immediately he pointed to get back in the rowing boat.  It was very awkward to reach the chain.  The foreman steadied the rowing boat with an oar, eventually the moment I cut the chain the buoy sank!  The foreman had a hold on me and pulled me onto the seat on the rowing boats and rowed away. On reflection he had saved my life as going into the icy water was fatal, with his knowledge and experience he knew the buoy was hanging on the chain from the ship!  It was hard to ascertain in Antarctic weather temperatures.  Such was the danger we had to face.’