Iggy the Scott Base cat.

A tiny kitten had flown on a Globemaster in the pocket of an American sailor, but had not been allowed onto the US Navy base. Its saviour was RNZAF cook Morrie Speary, who took it to Scott Base, where it got an interesting reception from the dogs.

Named Iggy (in honour of the IGY) the kitten spent most of the time in the galley, where she was fed steak, tinned salmon and water. She used her ‘scratch box’ of earth and stones, made the occasional foray outside and was cared for during the winter.

At the end of the next summer Iggy returned to Christchurch and was fitted up with a harness and a lead. However, on seeing grass, trees and birds she ran off and was never seen again.

An excerpt from ‘Call of the Ice – Fifty Years of New Zealand in Antarctica’ by David Harrowfield