This special issue from Tristan depicts 3 of the Tugs that were among the "Ships Taken Up from Trade" to assist the Task Force. They each visited Tristan immediately before heading south to the Falklands and South Georgia. The 3 Tugs were all part of the TRALA group. North east of the Total Exclusion Zone (TEZ) that the British government had declared around the Falkland Islands, the Royal Navy designated a Tug, Repair and Logistics Area (TRALA) where ships could receive and transfer supplies, and conduct repairs of battle damage under the protection of the carrier battle group.
Arrangements to organise a Royal Society Expedition (RSE) were made very swiftly after the eruption started, as on 14th October 1961, before the islanders arrived in Cape Town, Martin Holdgate wrote to the Colonial Office to suggest a RSE be planned as soon as possible. The RS responded positively and by November a team was organised, led by Dr Ian Gass of Leeds University, and including fellow geologist Dr Roger Le Maitre, who, like Martin, was a member of the 1955-56 Gough Island Scientific Survey and so knew Tristan well.
