The following
biographical sketch is kindly provided by Mr. R.B.D. Hughes
Chairman of the Mullock Heritage Council:
Captain GEORGE FRANCIS ARTHUR MULOCK, FRGS, DSO, RN, RD, RNR was
born in Fleetwood, Lancashire in February 1882 and educated at
Stanmore Park and HMS Britannia (BRNC Dartmouth). Of an
Anglo-Irish family Mulock was a cousin to Sir William Mulock
KCMG, PC (1843 - 1944) Canadian Postmaster-General, Air
Commodore Redford H "Red" Mulock CBE, DSO & bar, RNAS, RCAF,
Canada's WWI Air Ace and Mr Richard Mullock, first manager of
the Welsh Rugby Team and "Father of the Welsh Rugby Union".
As a sub-lieutenant he was appointed to the relief ship Morning,
attached to Scott's National Antarctic Expedition, 1901 - 04,
transferring to the shore party in March 1903 in exchange for
Ernest H Shackleton, many reasons for this change of personnel
have been muted, but Mulock had qualified in marine surveying
while serving in HMS Triton and was a more competent
Cartographer & Surveyor. In addition to survey work, Mulock was
given primary responsibility for holds, stores, provisions and
deep-sea water analysis.
Mulock was just 21 when he transferred to Discovery, although
her Chief Engineer, Lt Reginald Skelton was less than impressed.
"Mulock is distinctly peculiar for such a youngster, a mixture
of sulkiness, attempts at sarcasm, great readiness to take
offence where none is meant, a little conceit." In September
1903 he accompanied Lt Michael Barne on what was to be a
ten-week southern journey to explore an inlet of the Western
Mountains; weather and surface conditions drove them back soon
after they had reached Barne Glacier. The temperature fell to
-67.7 Fahrenheit and Seaman Ernest E. Joyce got badly
frost-bitten feet. The situation grew so serious that Barne and
Mulock took turns to hold them against the pits of their
stomachs and knead the ankles for several hours, saving his feet
from certain amputation.
Scott had a very high opinion of Mulock's abilities and
initiative, frequently recording praise of him in his diaries.
In his written account of the expedition, Captain R F Scott
wrote "Mulock was then only twenty-one years of age but...having
a natural bent for his work, his services proved invaluable". On
the return of the expedition, King Edward VII awarded the Silver
Polar Medal Mulock and the Admiralty lent him to the Royal
Geographical Society for a year to complete the compilation of
the survey. His results were published by the society in 1908 as
The Charts of the Discovery expedition and in the same year he
received the coveted Fellowship of the Royal Geographical
Society
In 1907, Scott approached Mulock, Barne and Skelton about the
possibility of another expedition. Then on 12t" February,
Shackleton announced that he had secured £30,000 and was to
attempt to go south. Shackleton wrote to Mulock asking him to
become expedition surveyor & cartographer, although flattered to
be asked, Mulock declined on account of a gentleman's agreement
with Captain Scott. Correspondence between Mulock and Shackleton
is held at the Scott Polar Research Institute
During the First World War, he served with distinction in the
Gallipoli campaign, as Beach Master at Cape Helles and Sulva
Bay, receiving the Distinguished Service Order for his
gallantry. By late 1916, Mulock had been advanced to Commander
and was made Captain of HMS Bee, a river gunboat of the
Aphis-Class in the China Squadron. In 1920 he retired from the
Royal Navy after 25 years service and joined the Asiatic
Petroleum Co. as Marine Superintendent at Shanghai.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Mulock was re-activated
and advanced to Captain. Due to his experience Captain Mulock
was appointed XDO S'Pore - Extended Defences Officer for the
British Crown Colony of Singapore. It was Mulock who was charged
with the evacuation of the civilian population as Japanese
forces closed in. Mulock and other officers were captured in
February 1942 following the fall of Singapore to Imperial
Japanese Forces under General Yamashita. The Japanese took over
100,000 prisoners at Singapore following the surrender. Many
would later die building the infamous Burma-Thailand railway and
endure the appalling treatment of POW Camps.
The most senior naval officer to be captured at Singapore,
Mulock was also one of the oldest officers (he was 63 when
released in 1945) to be transported to Taiwan and held at the
Karenko and Shirakawa POW Camps.
After the Second World War, Captain Mulock retired to Gibraltar
where he died at the age of 81, on the 26t" December 1963.
Mulock's lasting contribution to the study of the Antarctic
continent was his charts of the region, later used by many
expeditions. His obvious talent for surveying and cartography
led to the production of accurate and highly detailed works. The
Mulock Inlet and the Mulock Glacier were discovered by the
British National Antarctic Expedition and were later named in
Mulock's honour by the NZAPC.
Third lieutenant in charge of holds, stores,
provisions and deep sea water analysis, from 1903
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