16 Jan: Our primus refused duty and we had to borrow from the others to make supper. Richards has fixed ours up now. I hope it will be alright tomorrow.59
17 Jan: Primus not very grand.60
18 January 1916
The six men reached 82°S, just over 80 miles from Mount Hope, at lunchtime on 18 January. There they left provisions, for themselves and Shackleton’s party, sufficient to make the journey back north to the 81°S depot.
Mackintosh’s original plan was for him, Spencer-Smith and Wild to go on to Mount Hope and for Joyce, Richards and Hayward to return from the 82°S depot. However, there were two factors that arose to change this planned course of action: the faulty primus cooker and the slowly worsening condition of Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith. Richards, Joyce and Hayward by now had decided that they were not going to turn back. They had come to the conclusion that both Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith were sick men as they were both limping, especially Mackintosh. The end result was that Mackintosh agreed to them all going on.
Before continuing on south from the 82°S depot, Mackintosh made Richards sign an agreement – which Mackintosh dictated and Spencer-Smith wrote out on a page of foolscap. Richards thought that it may have occurred to Mackintosh, at 82°S: ‘Well this bugger Richards, I suppose he may blow the gaff when he gets back, we had better seal him up.’ Richards says that it was then signed by Macintosh and witnessed by Spencer-Smith. He thought that no other legal agreement had been made closer to the South Pole, or the North Pole.61
Richards’s Agreement:
IMPERIAL TRANS-ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION
The Great Ice Barrier 18 January 1916
Lat 82°S
I R. W. Richards at present serving as a member of the above expedition under the command of Sir Ernest Shackleton CVO do in consideration of the salary by me of £§ per annum, undertake to obey the lawful commands of the above named Sir Ernest Shackleton CVO or those appointed by him. I also undertake to hold secret all work in connection with the above Expedition – as regards publishing on return to civilisation – of news, diaries, photographs, or other material such as I now have, or shall have, as a member of the Expedition in my possession such property as above mentioned, to be considered as belonging to the above expedition. This is to hold good for a period of two years after the return of the Expedition to civilisation.
Aeneas A. L. Mackintosh (signed) R. W. Richards
Commanding Ross Sea base62
Richards had already signed such an agreement in Sydney, when he was interviewed by Mackintosh, so why he had him sign another is not clear. He and Mackintosh may have forgotten the original one. Certainly in his later years Richards made no mention of the original agreement, not in his book, in his letters or at any of his interviews. The Sydney original agreement resides at the SPRI in Cambridge, England, and the Antarctic agreement is at the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Spencer-Smith starts to falter
The six men and four dogs pushed on southward from the 82°S depot and for the first three days, they averaged 13 miles a day. Joyce was preoccupied in determining which mountain in the range was Mount Hope.
Over these days Spencer-Smith’s condition worsened, showing symptoms of scurvy, but he continued on. He made occasional diary notes on what went through his mind as he dragged himself along but there are no notes of wanting to stop, or give in. However, his thoughts may well have echoed those of Scott from December 1902. At that time Scott, Shackleton and Wilson were on the Great Ice Barrier, heading south towards the 82°S latitude line, where they would reach the farthest south at that time (82° 11´S). Then Scott wrote that while they could walk there was only one way they could go, that is south. He remarked that they could not stop, or go back, no matter how sickening the work was. There was no alternative.63
The lack of fitness of Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith was giving Joyce, Richards and Hayward increasing cause for concern. The two men both complained of lameness and showed unmistakable signs of exhaustion. Richards recalled that he and the others discussed this often in their tent, but there was little that could be done but to go on because, in their minds, the depot at Mount Hope just had to be placed. Richards tells us that Mackintosh was in charge of the party at this time and he was determined to see the final depot laid.64
Richards in later years wrote on how much he admired the effort Spencer-Smith made in helping to pull the sledge. Spencer-Smith was on the rope in front of him and Richards could see him limping and obviously in pain.65 Over the three days of 18–20 January they covered close to 40 miles and the trend of the mountains brought them closer. As they slowly drew near all the men were deeply impressed with their magnificent grandeur. Travelling slowly, as they were covering only 10 or 12 miles a day, Richards recalled they had abundant time to take in every spectacular feature. They had the mountain range to their west and the Barrier to their east, which Richards described as a ‘featureless level expanse of the ice shelf [that] stretched away apparently endlessly’.
Richards’s recollection was that the six men rarely talked as they trudged along. There was no conversation on the trail. One step forward was a little in advance of the last, and all their energies were needed for the job in hand. He remembered that the silence was acute, the soft crunch of their feet in the snow and the faint swish of the sledge runners merely serving to emphasise it. Profound silence, that is, unless a blizzard was raging, and then their tiny party was lost in what Richards called a ‘howling shrieking wilderness of whirling snow’.
Richards also recalled that the hours of a day’s march seemed endless. He did not know what went on in his companions’ minds over those months while trudging along but in his case he used to perform long useless computations of one sort or another in his head. He did not think this was a deliberate act on his part but rather an automatic reaction to the monotony that was forced on him; ‘an anodyne to the weariness of the body’ he called it.66
He tells us he even spoke with Joyce and Wild, presumably when they were stopped for lunch or the evening, about coming back to the area the following year. Richards had become more and more intrigued with the region, especially that known as Shackleton Inlet, a re-entrant (a small valley) in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains, about 10 miles wide, which at this stage of their journey was quite close. He tells us that the three of them agreed to make a trip back to that area of the mountains in the 1917 summer season as they thought it might have some mining potential.67
Spencer-Smith:
17 Jan: Spent a nice afternoon at Cambridge & Edinburgh sledge ride.
19 Jan: Legs very stiff as before: quite painful walking.
20 Jan: Feeling rather seedy. Head hot; eyes ache.
21 Jan: Nearly fainted at 11 a.m. and had to tell at lunch how weak I am: much sympathy and an extra Bovril cube all to myself. Heart rather ricked, I fear, and knees bad – swollen and like a great bruise above and below knee, especially the right.68
Dreamt last night that the war was over – that all German rivers are now English rivers and Birmingham is ----------.¶69
Joyce:
19 Jan: …Smith complained of his knees being bad. He has not been doing much pulling. I think the Skipper + him ought to have gone back with the other party. Now they are with us they will have to leg it out or camp until we come back. Time is too precious to waste.70
20 Jan: S complains of his legs. Mk + him walking along like old men. Shall now be glad when we have completed our work.71
21 Jan: S + S seems legs are worse I expect it will mean carting them on the sledge. I was steering for the clouds first of all when it cleared to the S. Very thick & black to the N. In spite of wind + surface we have done our usual 6–500 before lunch. After lunch clear all around & wind dropped.
I think Mt Hope is right ahead it looks as if it answers the description – about 30 odd miles off.72
Wild: ‘19 Jan: Primus working rotten. 20 Jan: Primus bit better. 21 Jan: Primus working all bands now.’7
3
The six men were now only 30 miles from Mount Hope. Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith were having trouble walking but there had been no indication so far that they would not be able to continue. The weather had been excellent for most of the past two weeks.
Notes
1. Wilson, Antarctic Notebooks
2. Jack diary, 5 January 1916
3. Mackintosh, letter to Joyce, 1 January 1916
4. Hayward diary, 1916
5. Wild diary, 1 January 1916
6. Joyce field diary, 1 January 1916
7. Spencer-Smith diary, 2 January 1916
8. Joyce field diary, 3 January 1916
9. Hayward diary, 1916
10. Wild diary, 3 January 1916
11. Spencer-Smith diary, 3 January 1916
12. Joyce field diary, 4 January 1916
13. Ibid., 5 January 1916
14. Gaze diary, January 1916. ‘gave A. P. a pretty good a/c of what Joyce’s intentions were – that he was out to play DIRT on the Skipper. Feel no compunction about speaking out to AP about Joyce (so that he can put the Skipper on his guard) because Joyce is not playing the game by any manner of means – nothing is done openly – all on the quiet – all the more dirty for it too. (Joyce … intends to push on and try and meet Shackleton first – intending the Skipper to do the Hack work. sincerely hope … the Skipper goes on (as originally intended) to the fartherest South and meets Shackleton himself – sending Joyce back (as intended) from 82’
15. Joyce field diary, 6 January 1916
16. Hayward diary, summary notes written January 1916
17. Spencer-Smith diary, 6 January 1916
18. Wild diary, 6 January 1916
19. Richards, interview with P. Lathlean, 1976
20. Joyce field diary, 7 January 1916
21. Hayward diary, 1916
22. Joyce field diary, 8 January 1916
23. Wild diary, 7 January 1916
24. Spencer-Smith diary, 7 January 1916
25. Joyce field diary, 8 January 1916
26. Hayward diary, 1916
27. Joyce field diary, 8 January 1916
28. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party
29. Ibid.
30. Hayward diary, 1916
31. Wild diary, 8 January 1916
32. Spencer-Smith diary, 8 January 1916
33. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
34. Ibid.
35. Mackintosh diary, 14 September 1915
36. Joyce field diary, 20 October 1915
37. Spencer-Smith diary, 9 January 1916
38. Joyce field diary, 9 January 1916
39. Ibid.
40. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
41. Spencer-Smith diary, 10 January 1916
42. Joyce field diary, 13 January 1916
43. Ibid., 10 January 1916
44. Wild diary, 11 January 1916
45. Spencer-Smith diary, 11 January 1916
46. Joyce field diary, 11 January 1916
47. Wild diary, 12 January 1916
48. Joyce field diary, 12 January 1916
49. Ibid., 13 January 1916
50. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party
51. Joyce field diary, 14 January 1916
52. Hayward diary, 18 January 1916
53. Joyce field diary, 14 January 1916
54. Ibid., 15 January 1916
55. Spencer-Smith diary, 14 January 1916
56. Ibid., 15 January 1916
57. Ibid., 18 January 1916
58. Wild diary, 15 January 1916
59. Ibid., 16 January 1916
60. Ibid., 17 January 1916
61. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
62. Mackintosh agreement with Richards.
63. R. F. Scott, Scott’s Last Expedition: The Journals
64. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party
65. Richards letter to L. B. Quartermain, 8 August 1969
66. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party
67. Richards letter to L. B. Quartermain, 11 December 1960
68. Spencer-Smith diary, January 1916
69. Ibid.
70. Joyce field diary, 19 January 1916
71. Ibid., 20 January 1916
72. Ibid., 21 January 1916
73. Wild diary, January 1916
* Stobo is near Peebles, south of Edinburgh.
† ‘S + S’ meant Spencer-Smith and Skipper, i.e. Mackintosh.
‡ ‘Zero’ was -32°F.
§ Blank on the original document.
¶ There is no indication what Spencer-Smith meant by ‘and Birmingham is ---------’.
Chapter 10
‘WITH THE HELP OF 2 GOOD PALS WE CARRIED IT OUT’
22 January 1916
AT 11.30 ON the morning of 22 January, a few miles short of 83°S, Spencer-Smith suddenly sat himself down and told the others he could go no further. He said he had been just finding it too difficult to walk.1
Richards remembered in later years that the overriding thought on everyone’s mind was that they must place the food depot for Shackleton at Mount Hope. They believed he would make the crossing and he and his men were dependent on that depot. So they made the decision to leave Spencer-Smith while they would go on the 30–40 miles to Mount Hope. There was no other choice – they couldn’t go on with Spencer-Smith and there was no point in turning back at that stage.2
They pitched two tents, had a meal and put Spencer-Smith in his sleeping bag, fully expecting that when they came back that he would be able to get on his feet again. He was perfectly cheerful and he too was confident that after the rest he would be able to make the return journey. In Richards’s memory Spencer-Smith happily agreed to stay; he said he would be quite alright. They left him with a supply of calico bags containing cocoa, oatmeal, cheese, sugar and pemmican, and a primus next to his bag.3
The others suggested to Mackintosh that he should remain with Spencer-Smith and rest; however, Mackintosh resisted that idea and decided to go on. Richards thought that Mackintosh, as the leader of the party, felt it was his duty to see that the depot was made. They could do nothing about it, short of restraining him.4
Spencer-Smith:
After about 2½ hours struggle this morning, with the knees above and below getting heavier, hotter and more painful every step, I had to ask the Skipper to depot me here and carry on to Mt. Hope without me.
Eheu! But it’s no use howling.5
Joyce:
11-30 the Skipper asked me to camp as Smith could not proceed any further. We held a little consultation + decided to leave provisions and tent + sledge + Smith to stay until we returned as I expect we shall be back again under the week.
I honestly think the S* ought to have stayed with him, as a good rest would do them both good + make them more fit for our long journey back.6
Hayward:
Smith who had been visibly done up since they found us declared his inability to proceed & we were obliged to leave him camped.
Rest of us went on, Skipper limping & hobbling & not pulling an ounce.7
Wild: ‘We had to leave poor old Smithy behind; he has got a bad leg, so we are rather jammed up with five in a tent.’8
Day One for Spencer-Smith alone
After the others departed, Spencer-Smith made his first diary entry. He was alone on the Barrier, 325 miles from Hut Point.
Spencer-Smith:
22 Jan: It is about 3 p.m. now and I reckon on getting 2½ – 3½ days complete rest before they return. They have gone off with one sledge and 5 weeks’ food: and they rattled off at a tremendous pace with the dogs scrapping en route.
Skipper and Wild most sympathetic: the others kindly leave me a bottle of lime juice in case my complaint is some form of scurvy – which I doubt altogether. They have made the tent very comfortable for me so I should be all right. So I should be all right except for loneliness & disappointment (probably merited!)
A lazy afternoon and a good supper with a little
vegetable in it; lime juice to drink – so ends the day – for me the trek was 4m 250 yds.
Not much inclined to sleep so finished the ‘Sea Puritans’ – Childish stuff!9
23 January 1916
Spurred on by their anxiety to get back to Spencer-Smith, the five men made good progress. They had a light load on because they only needed to carry provisions for the final depot for Shackleton and their own use. However, a blizzard caused them to lay up for a day and a half.
Joyce:
We found 5 of us in one tent pretty fair. Camping at 11.30. So camped + had lunch. Found it was still thicker in the afternoon so could not proceed. A rest will do us all good, dogs + us.
We can’t afford the time still we will have half a day. We are now under 20 miles away from our destination. Hoping Prov. will look on us + give us a June day tomorrow.10
Hayward tells us: ‘Skipper, Wild, Joyce and self played Bridge (auction) till turning in.’11
Wild: ‘Had a game at “auction bridge”† this afternoon. We lost. The Skipper was my partner.’12
Spencer-Smith’s second day alone
Spencer-Smith read, dreamt and planned a comedy in his mind:
23 Jan: Heavily overcast all day, tho’ the sun was shining through for a short time in the early morning. The knees feel no better so I had spent a day of almost total inaction. It is difficult to cook for one with these gadgets. Am well into the H.U.L. volume on Evolution‡ and seem to make sense of most of it.
Dreamt that we met Sir Ernest and Frank Wild with motor and one dog sledge – both clean and neat – FW wearing a very much Gold Laced Hat & Sir E clean shaven.13
Shackleton's Heroes Page 21
