AAE position: Wireless operator, mechanic

Born in 1886 in Surrey, England, Sandell studied electrical engineering before arriving in Australia in 1909, where he entered the newly-established Commonwealth Branch of Telephony.

His practical knowledge of wireless telegraphy was instrumental in his appointment to the AAE as a wireless operator and mechanic. In his role maintaining the generating engine for the wireless equipment, he had relatively little contact with others except the wireless operator Arthur Sawyer. Both men had to work at night in maintaining wireless contact with the outside world.

Sandell took charge of the wireless station after the departure of Arthur Sawyer in August 1913, and visited the Antarctic during Aurora’s final cruise in the summer of 1913–1914. He appears to have fought in, and survived, World War I.