Jump to content

90° South


Blackbriar
 Share

Recommended Posts

Saturday 11-15 am on Talking Pictures (Freeview 81).

A documentary film on Captain Scott's ill-fated attemp on the South Pole, using original footage by Herbert Ponting - the expedition's official photographer and cinematographer.

Compiled in 1933, but filmed  by someone who was there.........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've read a couple of accounts of Scott's expedition, but I thoroughly enjoyed "90° South". I found it genuinely moving, particularly the account of Scott's demise. But, it was wonderful to see moving film of men I've only ever read about.

One of the party, Tom Crean, has long been something of a hero of mine - an extraordinarily brave man..........here is a brief account of one of the most amazing acts of selfless courage to come out of the expedition.

 

The gamble at the icefall succeeded, and the men reached their depot two days later.[28] However, they had great difficulty navigating down the glacier. Lashly wrote: "I cannot describe the maze we got into and the hairbreadth escapes we have had to pass through."[29] In his attempts to find the way down, Evans removed his goggles and subsequently suffered agonies of snow blindness that made him into a passenger.[30]

When the party was finally free of the glacier and on the level surface of the Barrier, Evans began to display the first symptoms of scurvy.[31]By early February he was in great pain, his joints were swollen and discoloured, and he was passing blood. Through the efforts of Crean and Lashly the group struggled towards One Ton Depot, which they reached on 11 February. At this point Evans collapsed; Crean thought he had died and, according to Evans's account, "his hot tears fell on my face"

With over 100 statute miles (160 km) still to travel before the relative safety of Hut Point, Crean and Lashly began hauling Evans on the sledge, "eking out his life with the last few drops of brandy that they still had with them".[31] On 18 February they arrived at Corner Camp, still 35 statute miles (56 km) from Hut Point, with only one or two days' food rations left and still four or five days' man-hauling to do. They then decided that Crean should go on alone, to fetch help. With only a little chocolate and three biscuits to sustain him, without a tent or survival equipment,[32] Crean walked the distance to Hut Point in 18 hours, arriving in a state of collapse to find Atkinson there, with the dog driver Dmtri Gerov.[31][33] Crean reached safety just ahead of a fierce blizzard, which probably would have killed him, and which delayed the rescue party by a day and a half.[30] Atkinson led a successful rescue, and Lashly and Evans were both brought to base camp alive. Crean modestly played down the significance of his feat of endurance. In a rare written account, he wrote in a letter: "So it fell to my lot to do the 30 miles for help, and only a couple of biscuits and a stick of chocolate to do it. Well, sir, I was very weak when I reached the hut."[3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are interested in that expedition - these two books relate the incredible survival story of Scott's "Northern Party" (another part of the same expedition) who despite being marooned for the whole of the winter in which Scott and his companions perished, all survived.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+longest+winter&crid=1MFEWJOYTLF1N&sprefix=the+longest+winter%2Caps%2C157&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_18

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hell-Capital-New-Polar-Hero-ebook/dp/B006X0M14E/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hell+with+a+capital+h&qid=1562414883&s=gateway&sr=8-1

There has never been much reported on this epic survival, because interest understandably focussed primarily on the sad tale of Scott's pole seeking party.  The whole Scott expedition was not just pole seeking, but a major scientific research operation.

I have a connection as my grandfather was involved in the Northern Party.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JohnfromUK said:

If you are interested in that expedition - these two books relate the incredible survival story of Scott's "Northern Party" (another part of the same expedition) who despite being marooned for the whole of the winter in which Scott and his companions perished, all survived.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+longest+winter&crid=1MFEWJOYTLF1N&sprefix=the+longest+winter%2Caps%2C157&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_18

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hell-Capital-New-Polar-Hero-ebook/dp/B006X0M14E/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hell+with+a+capital+h&qid=1562414883&s=gateway&sr=8-1

There has never been much reported on this epic survival, because interest understandably focussed primarily on the sad tale of Scott's pole seeking party.  The whole Scott expedition was not just pole seeking, but a major scientific research operation.

I have a connection as my grandfather was involved in the Northern Party.

Thank you, I will look into those.

Your family has something to be very proud of !

 

(Edited - I've just bought the second title. Good tip - thanks)

Edited by Blackbriar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...