In 1880, William Lofley served as ice master in Eira on the British Exploring Expedition (leader Benjamin Leigh Smith), a private venture to Svalbard and Russian Arctic waters, exploring 176 km of new coast in Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa. He returned as ice master in Eira on the British Exploring Expedition, 1881-1882 (leader Benjamin Leigh Smith), a private expedition to extend the exploration of Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa. After Eira was nipped in the ice and sank off Mys Flora in August 1881, the crew lived in a makeshift hut for ten months, setting out in the ship's four boats in June 1882 and reaching Novaya Zemlya, where they met Hope commanded by Allen Young. The expedition sailed back to Aberdeen in August 1882.
From the guide to the William Lofley collection, 1880-1881, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
