Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer
A brief overview of the life of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorer.
Category: Terra Nova
The Southern Journey Remembered.
Scott’s Southern Journey.
A Quotation by Thomas Griffith Taylor.
NOVEMBER 1st 1911
“Cherry had Michael, a steady goer, and Wilson led Nobby — the pony rescued from the killer whales in March…. Christopher, as usual, behaved like a demon. First they had to trice his front leg up tight under his shoulder, then it took five minutes to throw him. The sledge was brought up and he was harnessed in while his head was held down on the floe. Finally he rose up, still on three legs, and started off galloping as well as he was able. After several violent kicks his foreleg was released, and after more watch-spring flicks with his hind legs he set off fairly steadily. Titus can’t stop him when once he has started, and will have to do the fifteen miles in one lap probably!
Dear old Titus — that was my last memory of him. Imperturbable as ever; never hasty, never angry, but soothing that vicious animal, and determined to get the best out of most unpromising material in his endeavour to do his simple duty. Continue Reading →
Scott’s Southern Journey, Day 1 – Photo Gallery
Scott’s Southern Journey.
On This Day – November 1st 1911.
A collection of photographs taken on November 1st 1911, as Captain Robert Falcon Scott embarked upon his quest to be first to reach the South Pole. Prior to his departure, Scott had been tutored in the techniques of photography by the expedition’s photographer Herbert Ponting, as Ponting himself would not be part of the group that would venture southwards.
This enabled Scott to keep a visual record of the journey, and all of the images below, were captured on the very first day of the outward journey, and show the establishment of the first pony camp, along the route.
All images courtesy of Getty Images. Continue Reading →
Scott Leaves Cape Evans – Destination The South Pole.
On This Day – November 1st 1911 – The Push For The Pole
The Terra Nova Expedition
On November 1st 1911, Captain Robert Falcon Scott departed the base camp hut at Cape Evans, for the last time. The Pony Party consisted of Scott and nine other men, each tasked with leading a pony along the route. It was the second phase of the disjointed exodus south, the men and ponies following in the wake of the Motor Party, which had forged ahead on October 24th. Cecil Meares and Demitri Gerov would complete the number of the sixteen man team, by following Scott’s group with a dog team.
Those remaining behind at Cape Evans, gave the departing group a cheering send off, and watched on, as they gradually disappeared south into the vast Antarctic whiteness, some never to return. Even by the time they had vanished from the view of those at the hut, the problems facing Scott’s group were patently evident, as each man battled with the particular temperament of the ponies they were handling.
Some of the beasts galloped uncontrollably while others had to be coaxed and almost dragged forward. Tom Crean led one of the calmer ponies named Bones, as did Cherry Garrard, who guided Michael, a pony Taylor had noted as “a steady goer”.
“Bones ambled off gently with Crean and I led Snippers in his wake.”
Robert Scott Diary – 1st November 1911
Tom Crean with the pony Bones.
The Motor Party departs for the South Pole & the Southern Journey Begins.
On This Day – October 24th 1911.
The Terra Nova Expedition.
William Lashly standing by a Wolseley motor sleigh during the British Antarctic Expedition of 1911-1913, November 1911.
Scott’s order, issued to Lt. Edward Evans was that the motors should proceed to Corner Camp, then onward beyond One Ton Depot, hauling the cargo to latitude 80° 30′ S, where they would wait for the rest of the party to catch up with them at that point.
The entire Southern Party consisted of a total of 16 men. Lieutenant Evans, William (Bill) Lashly, Bernard Day and F.J. Hooper comprised the Motor Party, which took the first tentative trundles towards the South Pole, on that October 24th.
Scott and nine of the other men selected, followed in the wake of the motor tracks on November 1st 1911, with each man tasked with navigating a pony and sledge through the icy, inhospitable landscape. The complement of 16 would be completed by Meares and Demetri, who would follow them, with 23 dogs pulling two sledge loads of supplies.
For a brief while the Southern Party gained a 17th member, when Demetri took the expedition’s photographer Herbert Ponting, to the Barrier’s edge, to enable him to capture cinematograph film of the group as they ventured south with the ponies.
Unbeknownst to Scott, Roald Amundsen’s team had been to, and passed their own supply cache at 81º S on the very same day, having begun their outward quest on October 19th. Amundsen had every confidence in his planning, his dog teams and his ability to beat Scott to the accolade of being first to stand at the South Pole. He was perplexed by Scott’s insistence on using ponies to haul supplies, instead of more efficient dog teams. Amundsen had set off with over 50 dogs, the weakest of which would be fed to the other beasts, to sustain them along the route. Continue Reading →
The Last Place On Earth
The Last Place On Earth
A Central Television Production, 1985
The story itself is long over a century old, and this television production has notched three decades since its first airing. This is the story of Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition, which was well under way, and southward bound, before Roald Amundsen announced his intention to beat them to the prize, and Scott suddenly found himself a contender, as well as an expedition leader. But most of all it is the tale of two groups of brave men who had ventured into the realm of the unknown, to claim the last place unknown to man – the South Pole.
The Last Place on Earth is a 1985 Central Television seven part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F. Scott (played by Martin Shaw) and his Norwegian rival in polar exploration, Roald Amundsen (played by Sverre Anker Ousdal) in their attempts to reach the South Pole.
The series ran for seven episodes and starred a wide range of UK and Norwegian character actors as well as featuring some famous names, such as Max von Sydow, Richard Wilson, Sylvester McCoy, Brian Dennehy, and Pat Roach. It also featured performances early in their careers by Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant.
Subsequently Huntford’s book was republished under the same name.[1] The book put forth the point of view that Amundsen’s success in reaching the South Pole was abetted by much superior planning, whereas errors by Scott (notably including the reliance on man-hauling instead of sled dogs) ultimately resulted in the death of him and his companions.
Wikipedia
Herbert Ponting – Terra Nova Photographer
Expedition Photographer
The Terra Nova Expedition
Herbert Ponting (21 March 1870 – 7 February 1935) was the photographer and cinematographer for Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913) to Antarctica.
By the time the Terra Nova set sail, photographic film had been in use for almost 20 years, but Ponting preferred the method of using glass plates to produce his high quality images. He was one of the first men to capture video sequences in Antarctica, using a device called a cinematograph, and he also took some of the first known colour stills, using autochrome plates.
Because of his age, Ponting was not included among the number to embark upon the Southern Journey, in an attempt to reach the South Pole. Prior to the departure of the team, Ponting had tutored Scott in photography techniques, to enable him to capture images and a visual record of the journey south.
Herbert Ponting spent 14 months at Cape Evans, and departed the expedition, along with 8 others aboard the Terra Nova in February 1912. He had acquired a huge inventory of images and film which he hoped to have compiled into a visual narrative, which would be then used by Scott, in a series of lectures upon his return.
The news of the deaths of Scott and his polar party, would affected him deeply.
Continue Reading →
Herbert Ponting – Antarctic Landscapes
The Photographs of Herbert Ponting
From The Terra Nova Expedition
A collection of some of Herbert Ponting’s photographs of Antarctica, taken during Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition, 1910-1913.
Tom Crean – Kerry Through and Through
Tom Crean – Kerry Through and Through
By Shane O’Connor – Peanut Productions
I just received a Tweet from Shane O’Connor of Peanut Productions, with a link to this wonderful piece on Tom Crean. Shane works as a Freelancer for BBC Radio 5 Live.
In his own words – “A short promo about the Kerry explorer and legend Tom Crean.
He was a member of three major expeditions to Antarctica during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, including Captain Scott’s 1911–13 Terra Nova Expedition, during this expedition, Crean’s 56 km solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans led to him receiving the Albert Medal for Lifesaving.”
It is a wonderfully poignant and almost haunting reminder of the most heroic and courageous act ever played out on the ice of Antarctica – Tom Crean’s epic 36 mile solo march, to save the life of Lt. Edward Evans, and that of Bill Lashly who had remained behind to care for him.
Enjoy!
Wilson, Bowers and Cherry-Garrard set off on the Winter Journey
The Winter Journey Begins
The Terra Nova Expedition
Edward A. Wilson
The Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913) to Antarctica had more objectives than that of reaching the geographical South Pole. Also on the itinerary was the continuation of scientific work that Robert Falcon Scott had pioneered on his Discovery Expedition (1901-1904), and the Terra Nova could boast a scientific staff of 12 men, who were led by the zoologist Edward Wilson.
And it was Wilson who had conceived the idea of the Winter Journey, to obtain Emperor Penguin eggs in an early embryo stage, in furtherance of his previous studies on the matter. The only location to find such eggs was at the rookery at Cape Crozier, which lay about 60 miles from Hut Point, but the optimal time to acquire them at the desired embryonic stage coincided with the fearsome Antarctic Winter.
Antarctica really only has two season – Summer and Winter, and for most of the winter months the continent is shrouded in a perpetual darkness, and temperatures touching -90º C have been recorded. Whilst Scott had reservations about the undertaking of such a perilous effort, it seems he did not want to disappoint Wilson and eventually dispensed permission for the journey to be undertaken. Wilson would take just one other member of the scientific team with him, the 25 year old Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and Scott assigned the indomitable Henry “Birdie” Bowers to lead them.
Terra Nova Expedition Crew Photographs
The Terra Nova Expedition
Terra Nova Crew Photo Gallery
Captain Scott (1868-1912) on the ‘Terra Nova’, c1900s-c1910s (1936). It was during the Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913) that Scott and four companions reached the South Pole, only to find that the Norwegian expedition under Amundsen had beaten them to their objective by a month. Delayed on their return by blizzards and running out of supplies, Scott and his team died at the end of March. Their bodies and diaries were found eight months later. From His Majesty the King, 1910-1935, introduction by HW Wilson (Associated Newspapers Ltd, London, 1936). (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)
Able seaman Mortimer McCarthy at the wheel of the ‘Terra Nova’, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1910. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Captain Lawrence Oates (1880 – 1912) in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images.
Lawrence Oates died on the day of his 32nd birthday, March 17th 1912 – He was the second member of the Polar Party to die.
Petty Officer Edgar Evans (1876 – 1912) in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Edgar Evans was the first of the returning Polar Patry to die. His demise occurred on February 17th 1912 near the foot of the Beardmore Glacier.
Geologist Frank Debenham (1883 – 1965) grinds stone samples at camp in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 12th July 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Lieutenant Henry Robertson Bowers (1883 ? 1912) in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, April 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
‘Birdie’ Bowers died alongside Scott and Wilson, in their tent on the Ross Ice Shelf circa 29th March 1912.
Canadian explorer Sir Charles Seymour Wright (1887 – 1975) in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, January 1912. He has just returned from the Great Ice Barrier as part of the first support party, while Scott and the others continued on toward the South Pole. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Terra Nova Crew Photo Gallery
Dr. Edward Adrian Wilson (1872 – 1912) works on a sketch at camp in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Wilson would die alongside Scott and Bowers, in their tent on the Ross Ice Shelf around March 29th 1912 – The day of Scott’s final journal entry and the day it is presumed the last of the five man Polar party died.
Thomas Clissold leads an Emperor penguin by a rope in the Ross Dependency, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1st April 1911. Clissold was the expedition cook. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Captain Robert Falcon Scott (1868 – 1912) writes his journal in the Winterquarters Hut, in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during his Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 7th October 1911. Behind him are pictures of his wife and son. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886 – 1959) with the pony ‘Michael’ in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, October 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Dog handler Cecil Meares with his animals on the deck of the ‘Terra Nova’, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 3rd January 1911.
Expedition cook Thomas Clissold makes pies at camp in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, January 1912. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Anton Omelchenko cuts Patrick Keohane’s hair at their camp in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, January 1912. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, 17th December, 1910, Crew members letting down the water bottle over the side of the ‘Terra Nova’ ship into the pack ice (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, Photographer Herbert Ponting taking a picture of whales with his camera over the side of the Terra Nova ship (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, Full length portrait of Lieutenant Rennick on board the Terra Nova off the coast of New Zealand (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, Expedition team member Williams at the sounding engine on board the Terra Nova ship (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
1st December 1911: British explorer Captain Scott (1868 – 1912) on his doomed expedition to the Antarctic. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Dog handler Cecil Meares makes a dog harness at camp in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 13th July 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)Dog handler Cecil Meares makes a dog harness at camp in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 13th July 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Bosun Alfred B. Cheetham with the ship’s ice anchor, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, December 1910. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
Photographer Herbert Ponting (1870 – 1935) is attacked by an angry penguin at Cape Royds, Ross Island, in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica, during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1911. (Photo by Herbert Ponting/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, 11th December, 1910, The -Terra Nova+ anchored to the ice (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, December, 1910, Captain Oates with some of the ponies in their stables on board the ‘Terra Nova’ ship (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, Full length portrait of crew members looking relaxed on the fo’castle on board the Terra Nova off the coast of New Zealand (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, Sailors making clothing on board the Terra Nova (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, December, 1910, Expedition team members working the pumps on board the Terra Nova ship (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, A group of officers pose for a photograph on the deck of the Terra Nova (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
H,G Ponting, Captain Scott+s Antarctic Expedition 1910 – 1912, 17th December, 1910, Dr, Wilson aims his rifle while practicing shooting on the deck of the ‘Terra Nova’ ship (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)