Read Online An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor by Michael Smith - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Michael Smith
Tags: General, History, Biography & Autobiography, Read, Adventurers & Explorers, Polar Regions, Antarctica
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the team of men who were called upon to support the first major journey onto the Barrier. The three-man team for the main southern journey was made up of Scott, Wilson and Shackleton, and the supporting parties intended to place supply depots on the featureless landscape, which the trio would pick up on the return trip.
The twelve-man supporting party, led by Barne, set out on 30 October amid great enthusiasm and ringing cheers from their colleagues. The sledges each flew colourful pennants and a Union Jack, while one rejoiced in the British penchant for deliberately making hard work of things by carrying a banner which read: ‘No dogs need apply.’
Crean’s sledge carried his own distinctive trademark, an Irish flag. Barne recorded a ‘fine show of bunting’ at the sendoff and made particular note of ‘… an Irish ensign belonging to Crean AB, consisting of a green flag with a jack in the corner and a gold harp in the centre’. 1 In what was overwhelmingly an English occasion, Crean felt it necessary to demonstrate that he had not lost touch with his roots.
The depot-laying support party would be gone for 35 days and return in time to set off again on 20 December for a unique Christmas on ice. Before that the men would face a desperately hard struggle to overcome their own inexperience of polar travel, poor equipment and the first sustained journey over the ice. However, they completed their journey and were back in time to set off again shortly before Christmas.
Scott, Wilson and Shackleton began their march on 2 November 1902, to another rousing send-off from their colleagues, with five heavily-laden sledges pulled by nineteen energetic dogs and with their pennants flying stiffly in the wind. In total the sledges weighed 1,852 lb (839 kg), with the heaviest 450 lb and the lightest 177 lb. But while Scott was initially preparing to rely on the dogs to cross the Barrier, it was clear that none of the men had so far mastered the art of leading and controlling the animals. Nor were the three men anywhere near to getting to grips with their skis, despite the practice sessions.
In reality, all the men setting out for a hazardous journey into the unknown were complete novices and had mostly failed to come to terms with the two best methods of transport for the job – dogs and ski. Before long they would fall back on the outdated ordeal of man-hauling.
It soon turned into a dreadfully hard slog, with the men sinking up to their knees in soft snow and the heavy sledges frequently getting caught up in the broken ice. Six of the supporting party turned for home on 13 November and two days later the remainder stopped at 79° 15′, the furthest south ever travelled. It was a hard-won, but notable achievement.
But as Barne, Crean and the others turned northwards, Scott warned that the southern party faced ‘extreme toil’ to make fresh progress. It was a prophetic remark because the three men would take 30 days to cover the first 109 miles onto the Barrier, or a weary plod of under 4 miles a day. This was partly because of the heavy weights and poor handling of the dogs, but largely because Scott resorted to relaying the sledges. This meant that for each mile they travelled south, the tired men had to cover three – taking a share of the load one mile ahead, walking a mile back to pick up the remaining load and then retracing their steps for another mile back to the original spot.
It was soul-destroying and doubly exhausting labour which lasted for up to ten hours a day. On 14 December, barely five weeks into the journey and still supposedly fit, they covered only 2 miles ‘by the most strenuous exertions’.
The men were also getting hungry as the work became heavier. Even more worrying, they were developing early signs of scurvy. The first of the rapidly weakening dogs died on 10 December and Scott had to reconsider how far they would get if, as expected, others died. The dogs, who were also poorly fed,
The twelve-man supporting party, led by Barne, set out on 30 October amid great enthusiasm and ringing cheers from their colleagues. The sledges each flew colourful pennants and a Union Jack, while one rejoiced in the British penchant for deliberately making hard work of things by carrying a banner which read: ‘No dogs need apply.’
Crean’s sledge carried his own distinctive trademark, an Irish flag. Barne recorded a ‘fine show of bunting’ at the sendoff and made particular note of ‘… an Irish ensign belonging to Crean AB, consisting of a green flag with a jack in the corner and a gold harp in the centre’. 1 In what was overwhelmingly an English occasion, Crean felt it necessary to demonstrate that he had not lost touch with his roots.
The depot-laying support party would be gone for 35 days and return in time to set off again on 20 December for a unique Christmas on ice. Before that the men would face a desperately hard struggle to overcome their own inexperience of polar travel, poor equipment and the first sustained journey over the ice. However, they completed their journey and were back in time to set off again shortly before Christmas.
Scott, Wilson and Shackleton began their march on 2 November 1902, to another rousing send-off from their colleagues, with five heavily-laden sledges pulled by nineteen energetic dogs and with their pennants flying stiffly in the wind. In total the sledges weighed 1,852 lb (839 kg), with the heaviest 450 lb and the lightest 177 lb. But while Scott was initially preparing to rely on the dogs to cross the Barrier, it was clear that none of the men had so far mastered the art of leading and controlling the animals. Nor were the three men anywhere near to getting to grips with their skis, despite the practice sessions.
In reality, all the men setting out for a hazardous journey into the unknown were complete novices and had mostly failed to come to terms with the two best methods of transport for the job – dogs and ski. Before long they would fall back on the outdated ordeal of man-hauling.
It soon turned into a dreadfully hard slog, with the men sinking up to their knees in soft snow and the heavy sledges frequently getting caught up in the broken ice. Six of the supporting party turned for home on 13 November and two days later the remainder stopped at 79° 15′, the furthest south ever travelled. It was a hard-won, but notable achievement.
But as Barne, Crean and the others turned northwards, Scott warned that the southern party faced ‘extreme toil’ to make fresh progress. It was a prophetic remark because the three men would take 30 days to cover the first 109 miles onto the Barrier, or a weary plod of under 4 miles a day. This was partly because of the heavy weights and poor handling of the dogs, but largely because Scott resorted to relaying the sledges. This meant that for each mile they travelled south, the tired men had to cover three – taking a share of the load one mile ahead, walking a mile back to pick up the remaining load and then retracing their steps for another mile back to the original spot.
It was soul-destroying and doubly exhausting labour which lasted for up to ten hours a day. On 14 December, barely five weeks into the journey and still supposedly fit, they covered only 2 miles ‘by the most strenuous exertions’.
The men were also getting hungry as the work became heavier. Even more worrying, they were developing early signs of scurvy. The first of the rapidly weakening dogs died on 10 December and Scott had to reconsider how far they would get if, as expected, others died. The dogs, who were also poorly fed,
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