Ben Carlin book: THE LAST GREAT AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURER

[Lang]

Mike

Ben probably went on the Ledo Road. Built during WW2 as a part of the Stillwell Road network to Burma and China from India. I will have to reread my copy of "The Second Half of Half Safe" - available from Guildford Grammar School in Perth.

It followed the route Birtles took in a 6 week near-death battle through the hills in the 1920's as the first vehicle from India to Burma. Now that IS a great adventure!

I drove it a couple of years ago in an old Suzuki but it is now quite good, if very windy. A team of two Landrovers from Oxford and Cambridge were the first over it after the war as late as 1953 - that is a great read "First Overland". They claim to be the first to drive from UK to Singapore.

Lang

[horsa]

Always speculated he married the first time since she was bordering on becoming an old maid by the mindset of the era. She wanted to travel with him and it wasn't appropriate back then being unmarried.

The first book is really amazing if you think about the tasks he overcame on the open ocean. Also really shows how much more passed as general knowledge with his wartime experiences which allowed him to have the confidence. One point he mentioned was no fear of running out of water since he could distill seawater if needed having so much gasoline available. Another was his concept of allowing seawater into his lower fuel tank so it wouldn't have a vacuum issue or make his GPA unstable as it would have otherwise filled with air. I'd never have risked mixing sea water with my fuel, even if the jeep engine only requires 68 octane to run.

[Lang]

Here is a Tv program on Half Safe and particularly Ben Carlin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-Gqi-RlbO0

Lang

[Mike K]

Ben made an error and took on low octane petrol in Japan for the island hopping section to the Aleutian islands. The Jeep was running poorly and he tried two head gaskets to lower the compression.

The co-drivers didn't last that long, after experiencing the horrific claustrophobic on-board conditions at sea with oil fumes , the co-drivers would quit. Ben finished the last leg alone, driving down through Canada and the USA , even stopping off at Hollywood , the Ford headquarters and the Holabird proving ground where he tried to persuade everybody to take notice of his huge achievement.

It's been pointed out that the Pacific crossing was not really a true crossing, he sneaked up from Japan and skirted along the Aleutian islands . By this stage Half Safe was really in bad condition with many leaks and crossing to Hawaii would have been suicidal.

The author points out , Ben always got free use of garages and workshops everywhere he landed and without many other people contributing their time and facilities , the whole journey would have been impossible. Ben could be a charmer and he knew when to turn on the charm.

Ben shined in the workshop, this was his haven. A natural mechanic he was able to repair just about anything.

[Lang]

Mike

The more you write about it, the less I think I am going to enjoy the book.

"pointed out it was not a true crossing". What crap is that. Thousands of kilometres of open ocean! "sneaked up around the Aleutians" - do you think the Aleutians, plus the thousands of kilometres from Japan to get to them in the first place, is like a sail through the Greek Islands or a trip down the Caribbean chain? The bloke who wrote this and people who think it is a reasonable comment should have a look at the map, the weather conditions that prevail all year round in the Aleutians and have a think, when they double their nautical experience in a rented row boat in the city lake, about being out there.

There were very few "true ocean crossings" of the Pacific until non stop Inertial Nav/GPS great circle route flights and voyages between USA and Australia or Asia and South America began. Certainly direct from Japan to Hawaii then San Francisco is not a true crossing with more than half the untouched Pacific south of the equator.

If he had left from Australia and called into Fiji and Hawaii they would still say he "sneaked through the Pacific Islands"

I have seen on this forum several times people saying they are not driving their fully restored CMP or even Jeep from Ballarat/Goulbourn etc to Corowa, a 4 hour drive, because it is too far. People prepare for years for an MVPA convoy with modern support facilities and fully restored vehicles. Yet we have a few dismissive lines describing Ben Carlin's journey on 1950's roads in a worn out vehicle with no support, 10,000km from Alaska to New York via Los Angeles.

Francis Drake, James Cook,Lewis and Clark and Neil Armstrong all did it on the government payroll. Livingstone did it from the money the poor subscribed to the collection box while all the others did it from sponsorships or rich supporters. Somehow Ben Carlin is some sort of con-man with snide remarks about how he could not have done it without people giving him financial or use of facilities assistance - none, by the way, while he was risking his life - I can only fall back on Benjamin Franklin:

"A man brands himself a coward who disparages ( sometimes written, belittles) the efforts of those who choose to test their mettle on ventures he himself has neither the courage nor skill to contemplate"

[Mike K]

"As for snide remarks about how he could not have done it without people giving him assistance - none, by the way, while he was risking his life - "

Can't agree with that.

Half Safe was rescued more than once on the high seas by outside assistance. During one of the initial Atlantic crossing attempts, a freighter picked them up and hoisted Half Safe aboard, Carlin was about to scuttle Half Safe when the freighter saved them. Then they were stuck in the ocean very low on petrol and radioed for help, the Portuguese navy sent out a rescue ship ..with desperately needed fuel . I call that help in anybodies language, the whole trip would have been over without outside assistance . He was helped over and over by many people.

Nobody forced Carlin to do what he did, risking his life has nothing to do with it , that was his decision and he knew the risks. These days people still die on Mt Everest regularly but they took their chances and that's the end of it.

If anybody cast any doubt on his mechanical ability Carlin would raise his fists. He regularly beat up people including a guy who helped him repair Half Safe. Short tempered he was. Calling Elinore a moron all of the time. As a youth Carlin survived a knife fight but had a deep scar on his face for the rest of his life.

The author interviewed first hand witnesses , including the surviving co-drivers and many relatives , Ben's daughter and the documents. Carlin left a trail of empty gin bottles

[Lang]

Mike

I am not saying Ben was a nice guy but what has this got to do with the Half Safe journey? It's just grist for the scandal rag mill. Millions of people ranging from aggressive criminals, wife beaters, union organisers, vicious bosses, sporting thugs, egomaniac celebrities and every day obnoxious drunks, many fabulously successful in their fields, have all or more of Carlin's personal failings

Despite the sudden interest in Carlin's personal life Half Safe remains for the foreseeable future to be the only non-airborne machine to accomplish a full surface circumnavigation of the earth under its own power.

Yes he was rescued because of circumstances when he had a problem but he managed to come up with a solution by using available assistance and did not throw in the towel. Why he would consider scuttling a still floating vessel to tread water in the Atlantic is a mystery to me- I think that was after the freighter was alongside. The last thing the freighter captain would have wanted is to be stuffing around lifting a box out of the ocean, I am sure Carlin convinced him to make the effort. I concede that is help.

What I don't concede is the "snide remarks" about being helped over and over with finances and facilities (which all adventurers/explorers/pioneers/mountain climbers get as pre-planned support) and there was nobody who set out with him in a support vessel or provided ready-action safety teams or set up a rescue plan etc to reduce his risk. Today's sponsored heroes - and there are still lots of these great people out there - being helped over and over again have vastly more support and what to Carlin would be unbelievable risk reduction.

No man is an island and even fabulously rich adventurers like Richard Branson would never be able to carry out their projects without help "over and over again" from people with skills, facilities and knowledge beyond their capacity.

He did not promote risk of death as any part of his operation, in fact when you see him interviewed he took the extreme British stiff-upper lip attitude and dismissed danger, often with dry humour, as irrelevant. The journey was the thing and the risk was part of the operation.

I just mention the risk of death because that is at the core of reaction and what people want to place at the centre of an adventure story. What separates peoples attitudes to envelope pushers is their personal risk threshold. Those with a high bar can understand, the bulk can admire and the low bar people refer to Benjamin Franklin.

[lynx42]

For those who are not too sure what 'Half Safe' looks like, here are a few photos of it when it was brought over to Corowa for the Swim-In by Bob Dimer WA. who managed to arrange a loan from Guildford Grammar School in Perth WA. in 1999 for the 20th Corowa Swim-In which started in 1980.
Bob Dimer and I had both been on ‘Back to the Track” to Darwin in 1995 and both owned an FWD HAR-1 truck so we had a bit in common.

Guildford Grammar had certain rules as to who could drive "Half Safe" and fortunately for me, Bob recommended me as an additional driver.

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Half Safe

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Me driving.

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Looking from the rear with me at the controls. I didn't realize just how far back from the windscreen he sat.

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My, then 15 year old, son Michael up on top of "Half Safe". Michael had represented Australia at the Dawn Service at Gallipoli in 1998, handing the wreaths to the dignitaries at the Dawn Service.

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Part of the line up of the 15 GPA amphibious Jeeps at the Corowa Swim-In in 1999.

It was an honour I will never forget. 'Budget' supplied the transport of "Half Safe" from WA to Corowa and return.

Regards Rick.

(OOPS!!, I missed your post at No. 3, Richard, with the photo of "Half Safe" and you.)