The Gillies Islands are three small, rocky islands protruding above Shackleton Ice Shelf

Shackleton Ice Shelf

Shackleton Ice Shelf is an extensive ice shelf fronting the coast of East Antarctica for about 384 km , projecting seaward about 145 km in the western portion and 64 km in the east. It occupies an area of 33,820 km². It is part of Mawson Sea and separates the Queen Mary Coast to the west from...

 3 nautical miles (6 km) north of Cape Moyes

Cape Moyes

Cape Moyes is an ice-covered headland fronting on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, west of Cape Dovers. It was discovered by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition under Mawson, 1911–14, and named by him for Morton H. Moyes, meteorologist with the AAE Western Base party....

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Discovered by the Western Base Party

Western Base Party

The Western Base Party was a successful exploration party of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. The eight-man Western Party was deposited by the Aurora on the Shackleton Ice Shelf at Queen Mary Land. The leader of the team was Frank Wild and the party included the geologist Charles Hoadley.The...

 of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition

Australasian Antarctic Expedition

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was an Australasian scientific team that explored part of Antarctica between 1911 and 1914. It was led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson, who was knighted for his achievements in leading the expedition. In 1910 he began to plan an expedition to chart...

 under Douglas Mawson

Douglas Mawson

Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...

, 1911–14, and named for F.J. Gillies, chief engineer of the ship Aurora

Aurora (ship)

SY Aurora was a steam yacht built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd. shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1876, for the Dundee Seal and Whale Fishing Company. Her primary use was whaling in the northern seas, and she was built sturdily enough to withstand the heavy weather and ice that would be...

. Astronomical control was established on the central island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 by U.S. Navy Operation Windmill personnel in January 1948.