Shackleton’s Forgotten Expedition

by Beau Riffenburgh

  Most closely associated with Mawson throughout his career was Davis. After showing his ability as captain on the return voyage of Nimrod, he served as master of Aurora and second-in-command of Mawson's expedition. Several years later he turned down Shackleton's offer to command Endurance, but he ultimately became involved with the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition as master of that same Aurora on the relief of the Ross Sea Party. In 1920 Davis was appointed the Commonwealth Director of Navigation, a position he held for twenty-nine years, during which time he also served as second-in-command of Mawson's BANZARE and captain of its expedition ship, Discovery. He died in 1967 having long since established himself as perhaps the greatest of the ship captains in the history of Antarctic exploration.

  Neither of Davis' immediate predecessors as master of Nimrod remained at sea as long as their first mate. Not long after his return from the Antarctic, Rupert England married and founded his own business on land. He returned to maritime duty during the First World War, but then retired again. He died in 1942. Frederick Evans commanded troop ships during the First World War, then left the sea after qualifying as a lawyer. He lived in Sydney for many years, specialising in maritime law until his retirement in 1950. He died in 1959.

  The ship that these three men captained had an even shorter career following the expedition. After serving as a travelling exhibition, Nimrod was sold and began a dreary existence shipping coal. Early on the morning of 30 January 1919, under the command of a Captain Doran and with a crew of twelve, she was en route from Blyth to Calais when a gale blew her on to the Barber Sands off the Norfolk coast. Her distress signals were seen, but tugs from Yarmouth and lifeboats from Caister could not reach her in the winter darkness and an ever-increasing snowstorm. All efforts to get her refloated were prevented by the easterly squalls, and soon, with heavy seas breaking over the top of her, the engine-room was flooded to the tops of the cylinders and the fires in the boilers were doused. One lifeboat was destroyed, but the crew gathered at the other, waiting for a safe opportunity to launch it. But it did not come.

  Unable to move to quieter waters, Nimrod continued to be battered and pounded by the heavy seas and violent winds until her back broke and she began to disintegrate. With waves bursting over the decks, the men were unable to launch the boat, and suddenly it was swept off the ship with most of the crew. For the next six hours the mate and boatswain hung on to the keel of the capsized lifeboat before being washed ashore as dawn was breaking, the only two to survive. The rising sun revealed that the noble little hunter of the seas had finally gone to her watery grave.

  Other ships carrying men who had served on Nimrod also went to the deep. After the British Antarctic Expedition, Alf Cheetham served as boatswain on Terra Nova and then third mate on the doomed Endurance. He returned to England in time to serve in the First World War, and he drowned after his mine-sweeper was torpedoed several weeks before the Armistice. Seaman James Paton also served in Terra Nova, as did Thomas McGillion. Paton then sailed in Aurora during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition and Davis' relief of the Ross Sea Party. He was again serving in Aurora when she was lost at sea in 1917 on a voyage to Iquique, Chile. Arthur Harbord was more fortunate. He was later employed by both the White Star Line and the Booth Line and participated in an expedition to find the source of the Amazon. Despite sailing on three ships that were torpedoed during the Great War, he lived until 1962, dying at the age of eighty-eight.

  That same year, Sir Jameson Adams died after a long career in the Ministry of Labour, broken by service with distinction in both world wars. Adams had been invited, he said, to go south again with Scott, but declined because 'I'd done my best; you can't do your best twice.' During the Second World War, while Adams was in Aden, a German bomber hit the Army and Navy Stores where he had placed all of his belongings. A massive fire destroyed everything within, including his diaries from Nimrod and the southern journey.

  On 26 February 1963, just a day short of fifty-four years after he had collapsed on the final stage of the southern journey, Marshall died. One of Shackleton's severest critics, Marshall had early on distanced himself from the celebrations following the expedition's return. Before 1909 was out, he had joined the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition into the unknown interior of Dutch New Guinea. There, in the midst of a jungle cut off from the outside world by a series of 'razor-backed ridges', his companions started dying. By the time he reached civilisation in 1911 he was the sole survivor, twenty-three convict labourers and the other members having died of malaria and beri-beri. Combined with his previous efforts against scurvy, this caused Marshall to maintain a life-long interest in nutrition and deficiency diseases. As a medical officer in northern Russia at the close of the First World War he successfully battled scurvy in a Russian penal settlement near the White Sea. He thereafter lived a quiet life, his last years spent on the Isle of Wight. He remained, however, a prickly character to the end, and after donating his diaries of the British Antarctic Expedition to his old school, Monkton Combe, he later demanded them back and presented them elsewhere.

  The last link to the British Antarctic Expedition was Sir Philip Brocklehurst, who served in the First World War with the Life Guards, following which he spent two years in the Egyptian Army. During the Second World War he commanded a brigade of the Arab Legion. Brocklehurst continued to live at his vast Staffordshire estate of Swythamley Park, and when he died in January 1975 his funeral at Macclesfield was almost a state affair. Around that time a story developed about his amputated toe, which he had finally retrieved from a London hospital and preserved in a jar. When Swythamley Park was later cleared, the toe had disappeared. However, the tale arose that it had been left in a place of honour on a mantelpiece, and, at Brocklehurst's wake, thinking it a cocktail nibble, one of the guests swallowed it. The story was apocryphal, but one cannot doubt that it would have been roundly applauded by those rough men who sailed on Nimrod.

  Campbell Mackellar, Brocklehurst's friend who became one of Shackleton's most avid supporters, once commented to The Boss that there were tremendous hurdles to be surmounted in one of his plans. 'There would be nothing in it,' was the reply, 'if there were not great obstacles to be overcome.' This was the essence of Shackleton: the struggle, the fight, the attainment of goals others might think unachievable. It was also the spirit of the men of the British Antarctic Expedition. Under-equipped, inexperienced, ill-fed, they attained success by sheer will, drive and determination. Few expeditions in the history of exploration accomplished more: the farthest south, the ascent of Mount Erebus, the attainment of the Magnetic Pole and the fulfilment of a diverse scientific programme.

  Yet, despite those achievements, a myth has flourished that the British Antarctic Expedition was single-mindedly devoted to reaching the South Pole at the expense of all else, particularly serious scientific investigation. Like Amundsen's attainment of the Pole, so the argument goes, Shackleton's expedition made great geographical strides, but did not balance them with the nobility of science, as did Scott's efforts. This myth has perhaps been perpetuated by Shackleton's personal lack of interest in science, and his swashbuckling image. It is a regrettable assessment; it is also inaccurate.

  The science of the 'Heroic Age' of Antarctic exploration was decidedly different from that today. Significant advances tended not to be made in theory or practice, but rather a general body of knowledge about the continent and its surrounding seas was built. This became the foundation for the remarkable scientific research that has since been conducted. Perhaps the most important contribution to Antarctic science of Shackleton's expedition was the introduction of three key figures. What Mawson learned in his 'new kind of laboratory' led him to plan and carry out the most in-depth and thorough scientific expedition that had ever been launched in the far south - the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. This, his later BANZARE, and his influence over subsequent Antarctic research made him unquestionably one of the greatest scientists of the region. Similarly, Priestley
returned to carry out valuable geological investigations, and thereafter, as an academic and an administrator, became a major figure promoting and guiding Antarctic research. Although David died before Antarctic science attained a prominent role, he helped guide it to its modern form. He was at one time not only the most powerful proponent of Antarctic research in Australia, but possibly in the English-speaking world. He also gave invaluable moral encouragement to Shirase's Japanese expedition, praised Amundsen's achievements when they were not popular in the Empire, and emphasised the closeness of all scientists - including Germans - at the outbreak of the First World War. He can truly be seen as the harbinger of international scientific cooperation in the Antarctic.

  As were the scientists who sailed on Nimrod, the science itself was hugely significant. Large quantities of data were obtained by David and Mawson on the ascent of Mount Erebus, the journey to the Magnetic Pole, and the time at Cape Royds. Concurrently, Priestley considerably extended and corrected the work done by H.T. Ferrar in the western mountains on the Discovery Expedition. Although there was not a geologist on the southern journey, Shackleton brought back valuable specimens, some from Mount Buckley, where Scott's party would follow his example and gather samples that they would haul back with them to their deaths. As noted by Professor G.E. Fogg in A History of Antarctic Science:

  The Beacon Sandstone formation was found to extend to the Beardmore Glacier and fossils of Archaeocytha found in erratics from that area suggested that somewhere there were sedimentary rocks of Cambrian age between the basement and the Beacon Sandstone. Outcrops of coal-bearing strata were found near the head of the glacier. The monograph by David & Priestley (1914) on the geology of southern Victoria Land remained for many years the authoritative account.

  David, Priestley and Mawson also contributed to glaciology, and Mawson engaged in the first serious study of the physical structure of Antarctic ice. As on Scott's last expedition, their work was 'naturally more descriptive than quantitative or theoretical although it covered details of crystal structure as well as grosser features'. Mawson and Murray were also at the forefront of work in physical limnology. And Murray's biological investigations included not only the first significant scientific examination of freshwater lakes in the Antarctic, but oceanic studies on the way to New Zealand. Despite Murray's interests being more experimental than taxonomic, he described numerous new species of rotifers and tardigrades, and extended his reputation as a pioneer of freshwater biology.

  That such an impressive amount of scientific research could be carried out on an expedition so poorly funded - and in which most of the resources were dedicated to reaching the Pole - speaks highly of the scientists whom Shackleton recruited. Their results were published in a wide variety of scholarly fora, and that the science did not receive more external credit is perhaps down to Shackleton, who made little effort to advertise those successes. As Shackleton later told Sir Hubert Wilkins:

  Don't saddle yourself with too much scientific work. I . . . was intensely interested in the scientific aspect but I soon found out that to be a leader of an expedition and a popular hero was more than enough for a man to do. You must decide whether you want to be a scientist, or a successful leader of expeditions, it is not possible to do both.

  However, the scientific studies - indeed, all of the accomplishments of the expedition - were overshadowed three years later by the attainment of the Pole by Amundsen and Scott and then the deaths of Scott's polar party, which refocused attention on that expedition. Later still came the story of endurance, survival and seamanship on Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Then the overwhelming horror and grief of the First World War forced the formidable deeds of the expedition to disappear into the haze forming the public consciousness.

  Almost a century later, in retrospect and without prejudice or cant, the achievements of the British Antarctic Expedition - geographical and scientific - are obvious and impressive. It could be noted that Shackleton and his companions did not attain their goal of reaching the South Pole. They did, however, record the greatest advance towards either Pole ever made. Moreover, by pioneering the way to the central Polar Plateau, they proved beyond doubt the continental nature of Antarctica. Opening up that perilous path was a remarkable achievement, and having the courage to follow the Great Glacier to they knew not where showed inspiration and bravery of unimaginable proportion.

  Three years later, when he first saw the approaches to the Beardmore, Captain Oates gave abundant praise to his predecessors: 'saw several enormous glaciers coming down between the mountains, and some of the chasms which stopped Shackleton. And now one is here one can realise what a wonderful journey his was and the daring which prompted him to strike up the glacier instead of following the coastline.' But it was the very act of not reaching the South Pole, of turning about only ninety-seven geographical miles short of their goal, for which Shackleton, Wild, Marshall and Adams deserve the greatest praise. Any or all of them could have continued and perhaps reached the Pole, although they certainly would have died on the return. With luck, they would have attained a kind of immortality. But although a Victorian by upbringing and basic mentality, here Shackleton diverged from the popular worship of the hero who died for his cause, such as Havelock or Gordon. Shackleton wanted fame and fortune, but he wanted to be alive to appreciate them. More importantly, as he would show again on Endurance, he was driven by the duty to protect his men. 'Shackleton paid more attention to the well-being, mental and physical, of his men than Scott did,' Debenham stated. 'With Scott the object was to get there, with Shackleton to get there with all alive.'

  Thus, by Debenham's way of thinking, the British Antarctic Expedition can be considered a wonder of success. Not only did Shackleton and his companions attain a phenomenal farthest south, members of the expedition also made the first ascent of Mount Erebus, reached the South Magnetic Pole, carried out an extensive scientific programme, and brought back glory to the Empire, all with no loss of life. Such a combination of success and safety was never surpassed in the exploration of the polar regions.

  If it is by these achievements that Shackleton and his companions are assessed, it is safe to say that their positions in the pantheon of polar explorers are secure. Indeed, they were thus positively judged by the man who was himself the first to reach the South Pole. In writing of passing that farthest south, attained three years earlier with such toil, determination, faith and resolve, Roald Amundsen remembered:

  We did not pass that spot without according our highest tribute of admiration to the man, who - together with his gallant companions had planted his country's flag so infinitely nearer to the goal than any of his precursors. Sir Ernest Shackleton's name will always be written in the annals of Antarctic exploration in letters of fire.

  GLOSSARY

  AB: able-bodied seaman

  arete: a sharp ascending mountain ridge or spur

  barranca: a shallow, icy, heavily crevassed ravine

  bathymetrical: relating to the measurement of the depth of large bodies of water

  bergschrund: crevasse at the head or end of glacier, usually between a containing rock wall and the main body of ice

  bergy bit: a large fragment of ice (usually glacier ice) up to the size of a small house; although usually free-floating, they can also be frozen into sea ice or grounded

  blue ice: hard glacier ice of a variety of bluish tones; when snow-free it can be glassy-smooth and exceptionally difficult to walk on

  brash ice: small, floating fragments of ice, the debris from the wreck of larger pieces, typically bordering tracts of pack-ice

  calved, calving: the breaking off of an iceberg from a glacier or of smaller pieces of ice from a parent iceberg

  feldspar: any of a group of abundant rock-forming minerals occurring in igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and consisting of silicates of aluminium with potassium, sodium and calcium

  finnesko: fur boots worn by Laplanders. They were made from reindeer
skin, worn with the fur outside, and, as they were designed for walking through soft snow, had no hard sole. The interiors were lined with sennegrass.

  growler: a piece of iceberg or other ice smaller than a bergy bit, almost submerged beneath the water's surface and therefore dangerous to ships

  heliograph: an instrument for sending Morse code messages by reflecting light

  hoosh: a thick, soup-like concoction made by mixing pemmican with water, and adding hard biscuit. For flavouring, hoosh could contain bacon, cheese, pea flour, sugar, or oatmeal

  hummocky ice: broken, irregular ice forced by pressure into rough mounds

  hypsometer: An instrument using atmospheric pressure to determine land elevations, by measuring the temperature at which distilled water boils

  Maujee ration: a compressed feed for Shackleton's ponies consisting of dried beef, carrots, milk, currants and sugar

  man-haul(ing): a human pulling by walking while wearing a harness roped or attached to the object being towed (usually a sledge).

  moraine: an accumulation of boulders, stones, or other debris carried and deposited by a glacier

  neve: the compacted snow that is in a stage of transition between soft, loose snow and glacier ice

  nunatak: an island-like outcrop of rock projecting through a sheet of enveloping land ice

  pannikin: a small bowl or mug

  parasitic cone: a subsidiary cone of a volcano

  pemmican: a concentrated mixture of dried meat and fat or lard made into cakes or canned for use at base or on sledging trips. Although originally prepared by the Cree Indians, it was then adopted by French voyageurs and British traders in North America and later became the main sledging ration for the Royal Navy's polar expeditions.