The world suffered an immeasurable loss with the passing of Sir Edmund Hillary on 11th January, 2008, and at the time, Australian journalists paid amazing tributes to this great man through television, press, and radio. Numerous tributes referred to him being amongst the greatest adventurers of the 20th century, with many also making special mention of his philanthropic aid to the people of Nepal, and his beloved Sherpas. 

From a beekeeper to a mountaineer, his achievements, such as being the first man to stand on top of the world, conquering Mount Everest and safely returning in 1953, will ensure his name is indelibly written into the historical records. As a testament to how highly regarded this outstanding achievement was on a world scale, he was knighted.

Amongst the many media tributes to Sir Edmund Hillary, there were a number of interviews from the years prior to his passing, where invariably he was seen as very humble in respect to the accolades bestowed upon him for his mountaineering and exploration achievements. In sharp contrast, he was extremely proud of his contributions to improving the living conditions and way of life of the Nepalese people in general, and the Sherpas, in particular. That was what he wanted to be most remembered for, and he had dedicated a large part of his latter years to establishing trusts to ensure that this work continued.

Some other life facts about Sir Edmund Hillary – Mountaineer, Explorer and Adventurer

Other quite remarkable achievements, though perhaps not receiving the lasting recognition of his earlier feats included when, in 1977, he led a jet boat expedition from the mouth of the Ganges River to its source in the Himalayas. Then, in 1985, he became the first man to stand at both the South and North Poles AND on the summit of Mount Everest. Further mountaineering accomplishments included climbing ten other peaks in the Himalayas in 1956, 1960-1961, and 1963-1965, as well as being, in his earlier years, the first person to climb the southern ridge of Mount Cook (New Zealand’s highest mountain) in 1948.

He was fearless on the mountains of Nepal, and in the harsh and dangerous conditions of the Antarctic and, as has been written many times, luck follows the brave. This seems to be the case when, in 1960 in America, he narrowly missed becoming an air disaster victim due to (fortunately) being late for his flight. There was then another near miss in 1979 when, due to other pressing commitments, he was unable to provide commentary for an Antarctic flight scheduled for the 28th November, 1979. Up until this point, Sir Edmund had provided commentary on a number of Antarctic sightseeing flights, however, he was unable to make Air New Zealand Flight 901, and was replaced by his close friend, Peter Mulgrew who had accompanied him to the South Pole, putting him amongst the 257 on board who were killed when the aircraft crashed into Mount Erebus. 

60th Anniversary of the Sir Edmund Hillary-led expedition to the South Pole, the first to use motorised surface vehicles

After conquering Mt Everest in 1953, the next adventure to create world recognition for Sir Edmund was when he led the first surface expedition to the South Pole (America’s Amundsen-Scott Base) using motorised surface/land vehicles - all prior expeditions had used dog sled teams. Three Ferguson tractors (out of the original five farm tractors that had been modified to cope with the harshest weather conditions imaginable but offered only very basic protection for the drivers) and a US Weasel track vehicle (a specifically designed vehicle for polar conditions) departed Scott Base on 14th October, 1957, and despite having to abandon the Weasel due to mechanical problems, the rest of the expedition reached, geographically, the most southern and isolated location on the planet on 4th January, 1958, after travelling 1,250 miles (2,000km). The party, comprised of Sir Edmund Hillary, Murray Ellis, Peter Mulgrew, Jim Bates, and Derek Wright, were the third expedition to reach the Pole overland, preceded by Amundsen in 1911, and Scott in 1912.

I recall on 11th January, 2008, learning of the passing of Sir Edmund Hillary when switching the television on for the mid-morning news. I called my wife Janice and had started to remind her that he (Sir Edmund), was the fellow who took the Fergies to the South Pole and, suddenly, there they were on the screen roped together.

Only for a few fleeting seconds but they were there - those little grey tractors but in a coat of expedition red for obvious reasons, southward bound on the adventure of their lifetime, ploughing through snow and into the history books.

Once again, they were on the world stage, albeit in this instance, as a tribute to the man who had originally put them there. 

How did Sir Edmund become involved in this expedition using motorised vehicles?

Sir Edmund’s involvement began in 1953, only months after he had conquered Mount Everest. He was a high profile figure and national hero in New Zealand when British explorer, Sir (Dr) Vivian Fuchs, approached him to lobby the New Zealand Government to support a Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition that he (Fuchs) was planning, which would become officially known as The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1955-58 (TAE). 

In brief, the expedition was to travel from the east of the Antarctic continent, from Vahsel Bay on the Weddell Sea, where the closest land mass is South America (Argentina and Chile) to the South Pole before travelling on to, and concluding at, McMurdo Sound on the Ross Sea, where the closest land mass is New Zealand (South Island). 

This would be the first attempt to cross the continent overland since Shackleton’s ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 50 years earlier in 1914. In that era, dog sled teams were the traditional mode of transport in polar regions as they could virtually live off the land on a diet of seal meat, however, this would be the first expedition using motorised surface vehicles which was a very ambitious plan as the logistics involving fuel and supplies were enormous.

Fuchs had earlier made approaches to the British Government for support, and in 1955, funding was forthcoming, along with promises of support from other Commonwealth countries including New Zealand. Non-government offers also came from trusts and companies including Massey-Harris-Ferguson UK who offered to loan tractors to the expedition. With New Zealand’s participation, Sir (Dr) Vivian Fuchs would now lead the British party (the Crossing Party) while Sir Edmund Hillary would lead the New Zealand contingent (the Ross Sea Party). It was planned that the expedition would coincide with the National Geophysical Year (NGY) running from 1st July, 1957, through to 31st December, 1958. 

Fuchs’ twelve-man party would be using mainly US vehicles designed for polar conditions, including three Sno-Cats, two Weasels, and one specially adapted Muskeg tractor. 

With Massey-Harris-Ferguson’s offer on the table, Hillary opted for the tractors, so the vehicles supporting his team included five modified Ferguson TEA20 tractors and one Weasel, as well as a DHC-2 Beaver aircraft.

Fuchs had initially opposed the use of tractors on the basis of them being unproven in the harsh polar conditions that they would encounter, though this was an unfounded opinion.

Fergusons (Ford Fergusons) were first imported into New Zealand in the early 1940s to be used by farmers, however, during these War years, they were also used by The Royal New Zealand Airforce on airfields as a ‘tug-a-tractor’. The Little Grey Fergies, as part of the British Ferguson range built by the Standard Motor Co., were imported from the late 1940s and, by 1953, they had well and truly established a strong reputation for their reliability – a fact which Hillary was very aware of. 

Importantly, Hillary was able to qualify his tractor choice especially in the face of Fuchs’ opposition. Firstly, the tractors had a known ability to cope with icy conditions, due to a half track configuration that had been developed for Ferguson in Norway, which handled the harsh and icy Norwegian winters very well, and was available factory fitted. Secondly, with respect to the polar conditions, Hillary had knowledge of a Ferguson working in the Antarctic in 1954, using the half track option during the polar winter, at the Australian Mawson Base. This tractor had an unchallengeable record of reliability - 550 plus engine hours without mechanical problems in the harshest conditions, often getting down to minus 10°C. The opposition was withdrawn and Hillary’s expeditionary party was provided with the five Fergusons in 1955.

Hillary’s tractors were prepared for the Antarctic Expedition at Ferguson headquarters in England during 1955, and in 1956, prior to despatch to New Zealand, they were briefly displayed at dealerships. The tractors were made available through Massey-Harris-Ferguson local agents, C.B. Norwood in New Zealand, and all five came fitted with full tracks which was considered the best to cope with the loose snow that would be encountered on the trip to the Pole. A mid-wheel had been fitted within the full track configuration, enabling a simple conversion to half track. They were painted red - not the normal Ferguson grey - to make them more visible in the snow. Roll bars and canopies were not fitted until after their arrival at Scott Base. It was planned that the fifth tractor would be fitted with a Ferguson high lift (banana) loader operating on half tracks, and would be used mostly for loading the sledges that would be used when moving all supplies on the ice shelf to the inland Scott base. All tractors were shipped to the Antarctic and stationed at the new Scott Base site in early 1957, though only three of these Fergies actually went to the South Pole.

Preparing for the TAE 

Fuchs’ party arrived at Vahsel Bay in late 1956 and supplies were unloaded on shelf ice before being moved 3km inland to establish Shackleton Base (named in honour of the earlier Antarctic explorer from 1914). Interestingly, when visiting the base, Sir Edmund noticed a Ferguson working on half tracks, moving supplies from the ice shelf inland to the Base camp. 

Records indicate that previously, there had actually been two Fergusons at Shackleton until, during a storm the shelf ice broke away, resulting in the second one being lost at sea, along with a considerable amount of stores. 

A second smaller base about 480km inland to the south was established and named South Ice Base. 

The Hillary party with their five Ferguson tractors, the Weasel, and their supplies arrived at McMurdo Sound in early January, 1957, and all cargo was unloaded over a three week period on the ice shelves and moved the 15km inland to the site where Scott Base would be established in honour of the earlier explorer, Robert Scott, who had led a party of five and reached the South Pole on 17th January, 1912 (sadly, all perished while returning from the Pole).

While the base was being established, a dog sled team, which was accompanying the Hillary party, was used for reconnaissance, to enable survey of the safest route for Fuchs’ party to complete the Antarctic crossing from the Pole to Scott Base.

The tractors were then used to establish the three depots, codenamed 700, 480, and 270, which were simply the miles that Fuchs had to travel to reach Scott Base, for example, Depot 700 equated to 700 miles (1,100km) to Scott Base, with these depots then forming the storage points for essential fuel and supplies that would be needed by Fuchs’ party.

A base also had to be established at the South Pole geographical site and fittingly, was to be named the Amundsen-Scott Base. Amundsen was the leader of the Antarctic expedition of 1910-12, and the first to reach the South Pole, on 14th December, 1911, while Scott’s party, as said previously, reached the Pole on 17th January, 1912. The base was to be established by the United States using aircraft, in readiness for Fuchs’ arrival. 

A well-planned expedition running perfectly to plan, at that point

Hillary’s Ross Sea Party departed Scott Base on 14th October, 1957, followed by a delayed departure by Fuchs’ Crossing Party from Shackleton Base in November, 1957.

It was planned that the two teams would meet up after Fuchs’ party had passed the Pole, at Depot 700, with Hillary then guiding them onward to Scott Base.

Even after encountering extreme conditions, the Hillary-led team reached its planned destination point, Depot 700, on 15th December. The conditions were, without exaggeration, extreme, and surpassed any Hollywood adventure movie, especially as the participants were really putting their lives on the line for every day of that journey. They had radio contact but the intensity of the combination of ice, snow, and howling blizzards were the harshest on the planet and would take any man to the limit. They had some up-to-date technology and weather protection in the form of the US-built Weasel track vehicle but unfortunately, it struggled under the extreme conditions and developed mechanical problems leading to it eventually being abandoned.

Three of the Fergusons, however, ploughed on, with driver comfort consisting only of a canvas clad roll bar with a front wind shield, and the top open for easy ‘escape’. Resting drivers did have some respite from the cold, with a confined eating and sleeping facility shared with radio equipment, that was built on a sledge towed by one of the tractors. 

The most threatening moments would be when travelling on unstable ice, during which, at the extreme end, party members would have to proceed first, treading lightly on those areas and using ice-pick axes to test the depth of the ice so that the best path for the tractors could be surveyed and determined to ‘safely’ negotiate the fields of crevasses. The speed of the Fergusons was often the difference when they were negotiating the thin ice, with crevasses appearing behind them, and some big enough to swallow the entire party. For safety reasons, for most of the journey to this point, the Fergusons were joined together by rope. There were still many frightening encounters such as, on at least two occasions, a tractor was perched precariously on the edge of a crevasse with the driver carefully climbing off before the other tractors could rescue the endangered Fergie using ropes;  the ropes would also sometimes be used almost as snatch straps. There were numerous other near misses equally as frightening - they were not only on an expedition, they were also adventurers and heroes rolled into one and to write that they were often on the ‘brink’ would be an understatement.

However, drama of another kind was about to unfold when they learned that the British team was significantly behind schedule and would not reach the New Zealanders for about another month. On 20th December, Sir Edmund made a decision that, without confirmed approval, would create controversy from the Pole to London. His decision was to continue on to the South Pole and meet Fuchs’ Crossing Party there.

Amazing only one year before he died, Sir Edmund returned to Scott Base in January, 2007, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the epic trek. It was here that he recounted why he had made the decisions he did, that created the last stage of this journey. In the media-filmed interview he gave at this time, he said, that when the expedition was within a 100 miles of the South Pole the party were sick of travelling, having encountered some very difficult conditions in the preceding days. He said that it was at that point he made the decision to go to the Pole without a further camp stop. He gave the order to start the tractors and the expedition drove non-stop, except for meal breaks, for 90 miles at 3mph, a trip of 30 hours duration to reach their ultimate destination.

When Sir Edmund and his team reached the US Pole Station on 4th January, 1958, it was to great fanfare, and he later wrote that, as he headed into the station and out of the weather, “I took a last glance at our tractor train…our Fergusons had brought us over 1,250 miles of snow and ice, crevasse…soft snow and blizzard, to be the first vehicles to drive to the South Pole”(1), while his famous telegram to the Massey-Harris-Ferguson Farming Company read, “Despite quite unsuitable conditions of soft snow and high altitudes our Fergusons performed magnificently and it was their extreme reliability that made our trip to the Pole possible. Stop. Thank you for your good wishes - Hillary”.

The Amundsen-Scott Base Station had been fully operational from the 3rd January, 1958, with Fuchs’ party reaching the Pole on the 19th January, 1958, where Hillary met with them the following day. 

Fuchs then continued on, following the route that Hillary had surveyed. Sir Edmund joined the party to guide them through the several hundred miles of crevasses-laced areas, eventually reaching Scott Base on 2nd March, 1958. The overall distance covered came to 3,473km (2,158 miles). Fuchs was Knighted for his contribution and achievement.

What happened to the Fergusons after the Pole?

The three Fergusons that travelled to the South Pole were immediately shipped back to New Zealand when they returned from the Pole to Scott Base.

Sue: the lead tractor, belonging to Sir Edmund Hillary, was then returned to England and first displayed in the museum at Stoneleigh, before being moved to the Massey Ferguson Museum at Banner Lane, Coventry, in 1965. With the closure and sale of the Banner Lane factory property in 2002, Sue was moved and is displayed to this day, at the Massey Ferguson Technology Centre in Beauvais, France. 

The two remaining tractors that went to the Pole are on display at the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch, and the MOTAT Museum in Auckland, respectively.

The fourth Fergie was a victim of a crevasse and never recovered, and for the fifth Fergie, Serial No. TEA512091, I was lucky enough to have the following information provided to me by Mr David Frazer. 

David’s dad, Gary Frazer, who sadly passed away in 2015, had owned one of the largest collections of Ferguson system tractors and implements in the southern hemisphere. He had completed detailed research work on all Hillary’s Fergies some years previously, with a lot of the information coming from a mechanic who had travelled to the South Pole with Sir Edmund. 

This Ferguson did not travel on to the South Pole but was instead permanently stationed at Scott Base, originally with bombardier half tracks and fitted with a Ferguson high lift (banana) loader. The loader was scrapped at some stage while still in Antarctica, and the tractor was converted to a full track which was a simple procedure that required the refit of the portion of the track that was removed when it had been converted to a half track, and relocking the front kingpins.

Sir Edmund, before returning to New Zealand, had arranged transfer of ownership to the Americans at the Amundsen-Scott Base (the South Pole). This was in acknowledgement for the support provided by the US contingent on their arrival at the Pole and arranging transport back to Scott Base. 

So, what did the Americans then do with it after Hillary gifted it to them? They painted it white (as it remains to this day), which was a strange choice - white in the Antarctic? However, it then disappeared off the radar for some time (not surprisingly), before finally turning up at an American surplus store clearing sale in New Zealand. 

A farmer living near Ashburton in the South Island, purchased it intact and converted it back to a farm tractor. The Frazer family purchased it in the 1990s, where all the parts to convert it back to a full track came with it. It was converted back to a full track but otherwise left in the state it had been purchased in. 

It was leased to the Hermitage Museum in Mount Cook for a brief display in 2008. This coincided with a commemorative display dedicated to the first person to climb the southern ridge of Mount Cook (New Zealand’s highest mountain) in 1948, which just happened to be Sir Edmund Hillary. 

The Ferguson was sold at Gary Frazer’s clearing sale in March, 2015, (just before his passing) for $40,000, which is believed to be the highest price ever paid for a Ferguson TEA20. It was purchased jointly by the Antarctic Heritage Trust, the Canterbury Museum, and the Commodore Hotel, and is presently on display at the Commodore Hotel, pending completion of the renovations to the Canterbury Museum. In due course, it will be put on display with the other tractor that made the historic trip to Antarctica and onto the Pole. This tractor was the pride of David’s dad’s collection, and part of the Frazer family for nearly 20 years. David considers it a great privilege to have been involved with this amazing piece of history, and even more amazing to be one of a very few to have been able to drive this very special little Fergie. Thank you David Frazer, for sharing your family’s story with us.

*David Wareham

Recreating the South Pole Expedition in 2014

Sixty years after the event, Massey Ferguson, now under AGCO, and Sir Edmund Hillary, are still inspiring a new generation of adventurers. In 2014, the Antarctica2 expedition came to completion, emulating Sir Edmund’s achievement of utilising Ferguson 28hp TE20 tractors to travel to the South Pole.

Manon Ossevoort, an intrepid 24-year-old, in fulfilling a lifelong dream she had of driving a tractor to the ‘end of the world’, recreated Sir Edmund’s journey. She fulfilled her South Pole odyssey, also on a Massey Ferguson tractor, but this time, with a MF5610. 

It began in 2005, from an international theatre festival in the Netherlands. The young actor/storyteller had been performing her own production, “DO”, about a girl collecting the dreams of those she encounters as she travels on her tractor and taking them to the end of the world. The performance ended with the storyteller, Manon, driving out of the theatre on her own tractor, to start the actual journey, which took her through Europe, the Balkans and down through Africa, performing her story all along the way, and actually collecting over 1,000 dreams from all those she met, on little slips of paper. It took her four years and over 38,000km but it seemed to all come to a screeching halt when she arrived at the Cape of Good Hope where she was supposed to board the ship that would have transported her to Antarctica. 

“I literally missed my boat,” she says. “I had no sponsors, nothing,” says Ossevoort. “But I had thousands of dreams in the back of my tractor that I had promised to bring to the South Pole, a continent where there’s never been war”.

Massey Ferguson were quick to offer sponsorship and assistance for this final leg (a round trip of 5,000km from the coast of Antarctica to Pole and back), with their new 5600 Series tractor that had been modified to be “the ultimate polar-expedition tractor”, so Manon could realise her own dream.

“I’ll symbolically finish my epic story at the geographical South Pole by building a snowman with the ‘dreams of the world’ in its belly.”, Manon said. (My Farm Life.com)

Manon, and the team reported that, “After 17 days and 2,500 kilometres, we are at a red and white striped pole with a reflective ball on top, surrounded by flags. This is South 90 – as far South as anybody can go. It’s unbelievable – at the South Pole there is a red Massey Ferguson tractor! We’re all ecstatic to be here and so proud to be taking our hero shots with the tractor that never gave us cause to doubt that it would be up for the challenge. Thank you all for your support”.

The Antarctica2 expedition has been officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the first expedition to the South Pole in a wheel tractor, with a certificate awarded to Manon (nicknamed ‘Tractor Girl’). The official website for the expedition is http://www.antarcticatwo.com/

“We are thrilled that the amazing Antarctica2 adventure has been recognised as a world-first,” says Campbell Scott, Massey Ferguson Director Marketing Services. “We are all so proud that our MF 5610 tractor was chosen to make the trip and that it excelled in every way to ensure that Manon and her team safely reached their destination. It was an awe-inspiring mission that is now firmly part of Massey Ferguson’s story of achievement”.

It proved to be a tough experience for both the tractor and the team who had to battle through the bitter cold, high altitude, solid ice, snowdrifts while trekking across the most extreme, remote terrain. 

Richard Markwell, Vice-President and Managing Director, Massey Ferguson, Europe/Africa/Middle East, summed it up when he said, “We were gripped by Antarctica2’s adventure across the ice and over some of the roughest terrain on the planet. Congratulations to the whole team! It’s an immensely proud moment for Massey Ferguson and everyone associated with our farm machinery. As a great example of Massey Ferguson’s straightforward dependability, our tractor had a job to do and delivered on all fronts. Manon’s challenge to us to accompany her on her expedition was one which we were willing to accept and always confident to win. As such, Antarctica2 is a reminder to a global audience of the challenges facing a new generation of farmers and of the rugged, reliable equipment they need to meet the world’s growing demand for food. Challenges which Massey Ferguson is committed to help them win too”.

Leading industry partners that supporting Antarctica2 included Massey Ferguson, Trelleborg, Castrol, AGCO Finance, AGCO Parts, Fuse Technologies and MechaTrac.

Saving Sir Edmund’s Hut in 2016

The latest to pay tribute to the Hillary feat was the Antarctic Heritage Trust, with a group of three tractors (two of the original Hillary TE20s and the third was a new 120hp MF5612, similar to Manon’s tractor) who traversed New Zealand from Piha Beach to Aoraki Mount Cook, to travel the exact 2,012kms covered by Hillary to get to the South Pole.

There was a serious conservation issue at the heart of this latest adventure - Expedition South, as it is known. It centred around restoring and maintaining Hut A, the hut that Sir Edmund used as his office and from where his South Pole trek began; it also contained his bunkbed. It was the first building constructed at Scott Base in Antarctica, and after 60 years, it was in a serious state of disrepair, so a conservation plan was drawn up by the Trust to save the hut. 

During the trek, the communities that the tractors passed through were encouraged to give ‘a fiver’, as, fittingly, the New Zealand $5 note has Sir Edmund’s face on it, with all money raised going towards the cost of the restoration, along with other donations and pledges.

After 27 days, the convoy finished their mammoth journey at Aoraki Mount Cook just below Hillary Ridge, with Sir Edmund’s son, Peter Hillary, driving one of the tractors to the finishing point.

As reported in the Otago Daily Times on 27th January, 2017, the project was successful and, during the preceding three months, a team of carpenters and conservation specialists had worked hard to save the hut and the artefacts contained within it. 

Nigel Watson, the Trust Executive Director, confirmed that the restoration was complete, saying, “The hut has been extensively renovated and is now asbestos-free. It has also been repainted to its original colours - bright orange and yellow.

“It certainly stands out among Scott Base’s green buildings”.

Throughout all of this, the Ferguson tractor and the Massey Ferguson company has been the defining factor that has enabled these dreams to succeed.

*David Wareham AND TOMM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Massey Ferguson – part of AGCO (NYSE: AGCO) who are a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery

Hellbent to the Pole by Geoffrey Lee Martin

www.nzaht.org/explorer-bases/hillarys-hut-scott-base#

www.antarcticatwo.com

My Farm Life.com

Daily Mail Australia - John Hutchinson for Mailonline

Otago Daily Times