The Terra Nova expedition
Between the early 1900s and 1922, seventeen major expeditions from ten countries turned Antarctica into a hub of international exploration. With limited resources and no modern transport or communication, each mission became a gruelling test of endurance, often pushing explorers past their limits.
The Terra Nova, Scott’s second expedition in Antarctica, had two aims: to further the scientific work begun by the Discovery expedition, and to reach the geographic South Pole. Both were achieved, but at a terrible cost.1
In early 1911, Scott and his crew laid a series of supply depots along the planned route, using ponies, motor sledges and dogs to transport loads. Harsh weather and the ponies’ poor performance slowed progress. Fearing the ponies wouldn’t survive Scott decided to place the main depot – One Ton Depot – 35 miles short of its intended position. This decision would later prove fatal, and still, only two ponies out of the eight survived.
In October, 16 men set off in staggered parties towards the Pole. The motor sledges broke down within a week, leaving four men to man-haul the 740 lbs of supplies. At Beardmore Glacier the last two ponies were shot as planned before the ascent, their meat left for their return journey. In January 1912 Scott selected five men – himself, Wilson, Oates, Bowers and Evans – to continue south across the polar plateau. All planning had been based on a four-man team, so rations and equipment had to be hastily adjusted. On 17th January, they reached the South Pole – only to find Amundsen’s flag already there. From a note, they learned the Norwegians had beaten them by 33 days.
The return, in Scott’s own words, was a ‘desperate struggle’.2
Evans, frostbitten and injured, died on 17th February. The remaining four pressed on, but were overwhelmed by three critical setbacks: the support dog team didn’t show up at their meeting point (due to a combination of wrong decisions and severe weather); an expected large drop in temperatures caused snow surfaces so poor Scott compared it to ‘pulling over desert sand’; the sun had partly vaporised their cached fuel, which forced the men to eat frozen food and left them unable to melt snow for water, causing dehydration.
On 16th March, Oates, severely frostbitten, sacrificed himself to avoid slowing the team further. He left the tent saying: ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’
Scott, Wilson and Bowers continued on, but were trapped by a fierce blizzard just 11 miles from One Ton Depot. Scott’s final diary entry, dated 29 March 1912, marks the presumed date of their deaths.
Their story became legend. One of the most powerful accounts, The Worst Journey in the World, was written in 1922 by Apsley Cherry-Garrard.3 The 24-year-old man was initially rejected from the expedition for lacking scientific qualifications. He reapplied – this time offering £1,000 towards its costs. Though turned down again, he donated the money regardless. Moved by his generosity and encouraged by Edward Wilson, Scott agreed to take him on as assistant zoologist. Advised later by George Bernard Shaw, Cherry-Garrard recorded the ordeal in a book that remains a classic of travel literature to this day.
Edward Wilson (1872–1912) << The Terra Nova expedition >> Safe return doubtful
- E. Wilson, Diary of the Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic, 1910–1912 (London: Blandford Press, 1972).
- R. F. Scott, Scott's Last Expedition (London: John Murray, 1923).
- A. Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910–1913 (London: Picador, 1994).
