People have always become attached to their dogs, but David Blaby, wintering and working in Antarctica, had a fresh take on attachment. Negus, a canine resident of the Australian base at the bottom of the world, was tethered at night, but that wasn’t safe enough. He slipped his chain and snuggled up nextto David.

It was so cold that in the morning Negus was frozen hard on to David’s beard. Even by local standards of low temperature, this was a tale worth telling.

David had plenty of time in Antarctica to elaborate on the story. He did two long stints at two different stations. In 2024 David, nicknamed “Brutus” by Antarctic workmates, was interviewed for a four-part YouTube series, discussing the selection, training and duties of his team members in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Diesel mechanic” was his official designation, but the Blaby role grew to cover much more than machinery and equipment. The interview includes memories of being seasick, and his dislike of the smell of cooked cheese as he walked near the ships’ galleys.

A more serious grumble for David was the 1994 ban, for environmental reasons, on having dogs in Antarctica. He and others disagreed with the restriction, which many scientists and government officials claimed would prevent the spread of distemper to wildlife. Dogs are prone to this disease. The anti-ban campaign was to no avail, however. This official measure was long after David, lover of dogs, had stopped residing in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

He went on to work for Alcoa for 30 years. His capacity for getting on with all kinds of people would not have surprised those who appreciated his mechanical skills because, as a novice motor mechanic, he had won an award for the State of Victoria’s best apprentice. His family say he was proud of his appointment as workshop manager overseeing 11 tradesmen during his final year of apprenticeship.

David Andrew Blaby was born in Adelaide on April 28, 1943, the second of four children of Dulcie (nee Babidge) and Eric Blaby. David spent most of his boyhood in Victoria.

In 1965 he married Elaine Bliss in Ballarat. They were to have two daughters, Jane, born in 1967, and Fiona, in 1969.

David’s first Antarctic post was in 1970, at the Casey base that had opened the previous year. His job description was senior diesel mechanic. There was no email, nor texting, nor mobile phones.

David’s first Antarctic post was in 1970, at the Casey base that had opened the previous year. His job description was senior diesel mechanic. There was no email, nor texting, nor mobile phones.

At the Mawson base from November 1979 to April 1981 he was a plant (ie. machinery) inspector. As a role model, he impressed work colleagues in ANARE, the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition. In 1987 he was awarded the Australian Antarctic Medal. If there were separate medals for teamwork and leadership on far horizons, he would surely have won them.

In 1971 the family had relocated to Tom Price, a key centre in the fast-growing industrial expansion in the Pilbara region. David became a highly regarded employee of Hamersley Iron. A colleague described him as a tradesman without equal. “David was a doer who succeeded through sheer hard work,” he said. “A great problem-solver.”

David’s expertise extended to sporting and coaching activity. Many in the Pilbara fraternities of basketball, football and community events are likely to remember him.

Alcoa thought so much of David that in 1999 it sent him to Jamaica, where the company felt its mechanical operations needed a boost. The posting was initially a year but he stayed for five.

On permanent return to WA he did two further years for Alcoa and a short stint for the Walton’s John Deere firm in Carnamah, south-east of Geraldton.

Elaine’s death from leukaemia in 2014 led her grieving husband to throw himself into a range of interests including wine appreciation, travel and the City of Stirling’s men’s shed.

During a dinner at the Chez Pierre restaurant in Nedlands in 2019, David met Lynda Sarich. A happy relationship developed and they married in 2023. The wedding was also a celebration of David’s 80th birthday. The honeymoon was at Mt Lofty in the Adelaide Hills. Lynda’s son Jeremy, from a previous relationship, always got on very well with David, she adds.

David and Lynda’s home in Gnangara contains many handsomely crafted wooden pieces he made at the men’s shed. Within that space the combination of creativity and conversation delighted him and confirmed his views that men’s health mattered enormously.

A leukaemia diagnosis was a devastating blow, but David fought. Eventually accepting he had lost the battle, he assured everyone he was grateful for a life well lived, as he put it.

He died on April 19, survived by Lynda, his daughters, Jane Davies and Fiona Millias, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. David’s two brothers, Kip and Max, also survive him.

In his mature years David spoke fondly of how his Antarctic experiences had shaped his life. On his coffin at the memorial service sat an icepick. An appropriate symbol: when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

David Blaby

Mechanic and Antarctic staff member

Born: Adelaide, 1943

Died: Perth, aged 82