The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds 704 - The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition
Oct 7, 2025
Dive into the harrowing tale of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition! Discover how Adolphus Greenlee's journey turned into a survival nightmare filled with leadership tensions and tragic decisions. As supplies dwindled, crew morale plummeted, leading to desperate measures including cannibalism. Hear about the gritty details of their harsh winter, including improvised shelters and the shocking execution to preserve rations. Finally, feel the tension of their remarkable rescue and the public's reaction to the calamities that unfolded.
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Episode notes
Sunflower Seed Van Incident
- Dave recounts a van story where Luke spat sunflower seed debris into a can that Dave then accidentally drank from.
- The hosts use the episode opener to set a comic, gross-personality tone before the Lady Franklin Bay story begins.
Greely's Unusual Qualifications
- Adolphus Greely had a long military and scientific career before the Arctic mission, combining telegraphy, meteorology and army leadership.
- That background made him the logical but imperfect choice to lead a polar weather expedition in 1881.
Danger Of One-Way Arctic Dropoffs
- The Proteus dropped the party off and sailed away, expecting to resupply them later, a risky Arctic decision.
- Early warm-season sailing misled planners into underestimating how quickly ice could block resupply routes.
