Laura Snow is a retired educator with thirty years of classroom experience and five years in administration. She is the youngest daughter of Mildred Snow and Ashley Clinton Snow, Jr., who was born in Meridian, Mississippi, to Laura Granberry Snow and Ashley Clinton Snow, Sr. Her father attended Marion Military Academy in Marion, Alabama from the first grade through completion of his first year of college. The following is an abbreviated selection from the United States Antarctic Service website (www.usas1939.org) created by John Dyer, son of J. Glenn Dyer/cadastral engineer/USASE 1939-1941, and Laura Snow.
Joining the Navy in 1927, Ashley Snow, Jr. was accepted into flight school in 1929, and received his wings in 1930. In 1939, he applied to the United States Antarctic Service as a pilot and was accepted. The two expedition ships, the USS Bear and the USMS North Star sailed for Antarctica in November of 1939. He was pleased to be assigned to the historic USS Bear, a three-masted barquentine built in Scotland in 1872. Life on the Bear was spartan, but it was an extraordinary experience that Snow never forgot.
Four aircraft were utilized during the expedition. Two aircraft, a Beechcraft and a Curtiss-Condor, were assigned to West Base. Only one aircraft, a Curtiss-Condor, was assigned to East Base. The Bear carried a Barkley-Grow that was on loan from a private individual and was returned to the United States with Admiral Byrd. The Barkley-Grow had a longer range than the other expedition aircraft and was therefore more suitable to flights of exploration planned by Admiral Byrd. The fact that East Base was provided with only one aircraft resulted in a precarious situation for that base.
The first stop in Antarctica was Little America where West Base was constructed. As the USMS North Star was unloaded, it was Admiral Byrd’s plan to take the Bear to explore the surrounding region of the Antarctic Peninsula. Byrd did not stay for the two years of the expedition; he returned to the United States when the ships left the Antarctic.
Flying duties included reconnaissance flights to find the best sledging routes for the trial parties, cache-laying flights, and photographic flights which documented the geography of the Antarctic Peninsula. Flights were made in order to deliver photographs to trail parties to assist them in locating the best routes to their destinations.
The original mission of the USASE was to establish two permanent bases where personnel would operate for a year until they were relieved by the next group. These plans were cut short due to concerns about Japanese activity in the Pacific and the belief that the United States might enter the war. The Bear and the North Star returned to Antarctica in 1941, evacuated West Base and subsequently sailed to East Base. East Base, located at Stonington Island, proved to be difficult to evacuate due to the pack ice. The Bear sailed to Mikkelsen Island and personnel established a landing field on top of the island.
On March 21st, Captain Cruzen gave the order to evacuate East Base the next day. Every man knew the Condor had been patched up several times and there was a significant chance the aircraft might not be able to return to East Base for the second flight. My father and Earle Perce, co-pilot, took off with twelve passengers aboard the Condor. The aircraft landed atop MIkkelson Island at 7:15 a.m., where the Bear was waiting.
The Condor returned to East Base at 10:00 a.m. By 11:10 a.m., the aircraft was refueled and the pilots and twelve passengers were aboard. A takeoff was attempted, unsuccessfully, and 500 pounds of personal possessions had to be dumped. At 12:15 p.m., the aircraft took off successfully and landed at Mikkelsen Island by about 2:00 p.m.
Human tragedy was averted as another tragedy occurred. There were sixty-seven sled dogs that could not be taken aboard the evacuation flights. The airfield surface was softening as the temperature warmed. The aircraft was in dubious condition. Additional flights were deemed too risky. The decision had been made the night before that the dogs would have to be destroyed.
Finally, when the Bear was underway with all evacuees aboard, Snow and Perce were happily surprised to find that seven puppies, just ten days old, had been smuggled aboard the aircraft.
For more information about this expedition, go to www.usas1939.org
Each member of the East Base personnel has a page of information and photographs of him on the website.