Ross Sea Appeal - Children Meet Hillary

In this November 1955 newsreel, Sir Edmund Hillary addresses 2000 Wellington school children, as part of a pitch to win support for an Antarctic expedition. Ed shakes hands with pint-sized fundraisers, and one of his crew models Kiwi-made cold weather gear. The voiceover mentions a "New Zealand Antarctic expedition", but Hillary's team would actually form half of a Commonwealth team, led by UK explorer Vivian Fuchs. After leaving supplies for the British crossing party, Hillary controversially went on ahead to the South Pole. Both BP and the NFU filmed the expedition.

...public interest in Fuchs' project was now growing in New Zealand and I did all I could to encourage it. Schools adopted a husky and individuals could buy 'Share in Adventure' certificates. In the end New Zealanders raised more money per capita for the expedition than the United Kingdom.

– Sir Edmund Hillary, in his 1999 book View from the Summit, page 164

Key Cast & Crew

Pat Smyth

Director, Editor, Writer, Narrator

Kell Fowler

Camera

Brian Cross

Camera