Cecil Madigan

Cecil Thomas Madigan (15 October 1889 – 14 January 1947) was an Australian geologist, explorer, academic, aerial surveyor, meteorologist, author, and army officer.

Early life and education Cecil Thomas Madigan was born in Renmark, South Australia, to contractor and fruitgrower Thomas Madigan and Mary Dixie (née Finey) a teacher. Cecil was the oldest of two sons and two daughters. He was raised by his mother, as his father had died in the Kalgoorlie, Western Australian Goldfields.

He attended Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, and then the University of Adelaide. He graduated with a BSc in mining engineering.

Career Australasian Antarctic Expedition In December 1911 the party left Hobart on board the . In January 1912 they reached Commonwealth Bay in Adélie Land, Antarctica, where they set up a collection of buildings subsequently known as Mawson's Huts. From there he led several expeditions into uncharted regions of Adélie Land and George V Land. These expeditions gathered vital information about the presence of coal in Antarctica.

WWI Madigan later served with the Royal Engineers in France during the First World War. He saw action at the Battle of Loos where he was wounded, and the Battle of the Somme.

Geological work in Australia After his return to Australia, Madigan was appointed lecturer in geology at the University of Adelaide in 1922, a post he held until his death, and continued his friendship with Mawson,

Throughout the 1930s, Madigan participated in numerous aerial surveys of the "trackless areas" of Central Australia, during which time he named the Simpson Desert after Alfred Allen Simpson, president of the South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia.

In 1937 he confirmed that the Boxhole crater is a meteoric impact crater. In 1939 he led the first major expedition across the Simpson Desert. Although he was not the first to cross the desert, he has become known as the last of the "classic" explorers of central Australia.

Army instructor After the beginning of World War II, 1940 Madigan was asked to set up the School of Military Field Engineering at Liverpool, New South Wales, where he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel.

In 1943 he returned to the University of Adelaide.

His family had associations with William Benjamin Chaffey.