1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,159 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. This is 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: part two of our episode on Ernest Shackleton's expeditions to Antarctica. 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: I would only recommend starting with this one if you 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: really like your story, is to just start in Media's race, 7 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: because where we left off, Shackleton had traveled to Antarctica 8 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: aboard the Endurance and he was trapped there on the ice. 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: The team had abandoned ship. Another team that we have 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: not talked about much at all had also traveled to Antarctica. 11 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: They were aboard the Aurora and their job was to 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: lay the supply depot that Shackleton's party was going to 13 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: need on the second half of their trip across the continent. 14 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: We will be catching up with the Aurora again later First, 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: we will talk about the extraordinary survival of Shackleton's team 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,319 Speaker 1: if you missed last time. Also, there are some deaths 17 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: in this episode, including some animal deaths. Losing the Endurance 18 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: meant that there was no way Ernest Shackleton's team could 19 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: attempt to trek across Antarctica. A six person team was 20 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: supposed to be making that crossing, not all of the 21 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: twenty people who were with him. Aside from that, the 22 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: ice pack had been drifting the whole time. The endurance 23 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: was stuck, so they were about five hundred seventy miles 24 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: from where they had first become trapped. They had been 25 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: moving in a roughly northwesterly direction toward the Antarctic Peninsula, 26 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: so their new plan was to cross the ice until 27 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: they got to water and then make for one of 28 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,119 Speaker 1: the islands at the end of that peninsula by boat. 29 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: Shackleton thought Paulit Island was a good bet. It had 30 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: shelter and supplies that were left by an earlier expedition, 31 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: and that was roughly three hundred fifty miles away. The 32 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: team camped on an ice flow about a hundred yards 33 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: from the wrecked ship, and they salvaged as as much 34 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: as they could from the wreckage. They called this spot 35 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,920 Speaker 1: where they were basically dropping stuff off their dump camp, 36 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: and their preparations to leave that camp involved some difficult decisions. 37 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: Shackleton wrote in his journal, quote this afternoon, Sally's three 38 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: youngest pups, Sues Serious and Mrs Chippy, the carpenter's cat, 39 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: have to be shot. We could not undertake the maintenance 40 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: of weaklings under the new conditions. Macklin, Crane and the 41 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: carpenter seemed to feel the loss of their friends rather badly. 42 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: This wasn't the first time that dogs had to be 43 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: shot during this In other cases, though the dogs had 44 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: been really sick or hurt. The expedition was supposed to 45 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: have a dog handler. The dog handler was supposed to 46 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: have de worming medicine, but he didn't wind up joining 47 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: the expedition, and they lost a lot of dogs because 48 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: of intestinal worms. They also needed to cut down what 49 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: they were carrying as much as possible. Everyone was allowed 50 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,679 Speaker 1: only two pounds of personal possessions, with a few exceptions. 51 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,800 Speaker 1: Leonard Hussey was allowed to bring his banjo for the 52 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: sake of everyone's morale. Shackleton set the example himself, discarding 53 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: his watch, his silver brushes, and other personal items in 54 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: front of the rest of the crew. This included a 55 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: Bible that Queen Alexandra had given him before departing. He 56 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: pulled some passages from it first, though one was the 57 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: twenty third Psalm, which begins the Lord is My Shepherd 58 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 1: I shall not want. He also kept part of chapter 59 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: thirty eight from the Book of Job, out of whose 60 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: womb came the ice and the hoary frost of heaven, 61 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: who hath gendered it? The waters are hid as with 62 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. 63 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: Shackleton and photographer Frank Hurley also had to make decisions 64 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: about the expedition's pictures and film. Hurley had already braved 65 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: the ship's wreckage while it was taking on water, and 66 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: he had gotten everything he could get out of the 67 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: dark room. But now they had to decide what to 68 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: keep and what they were going to have to leave behind. 69 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: Keeping in mind that the advanced sale of his work 70 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: had helped pay for the expedition, Hurley wound up leaving 71 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: most of his glass negatives, along with a lot of 72 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: his equipment, but keeping film and a book of printed photographs. 73 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,239 Speaker 1: We have mentioned Shackleton's efforts to minimize divisions and foster 74 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: a sense that things were being handled equitably. That was 75 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: the case in these preparations as well. For example, they 76 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: had two types of sleeping bags. Some were made of 77 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: reindeer for and they were much warmer, and the others 78 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: were made of wool. Although lots were drawn to decide 79 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: who got which one, many of the higher ranking men 80 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: stayed out of it. They took a wool bag for themselves, 81 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: and they left the better bags for everyone else. Shackleton 82 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: knew that crossing the ice is going to be difficult, 83 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: so he sent an advanced party to try to clear 84 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: a path. This path would need to accommodate dogs and 85 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: sledges and men who were hauling the Endurances three lifeboats, 86 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: but soon it became obvious that this was just not 87 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: going to work. The ice was far too uneven and irregular. 88 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: The boats probably would not even be seaworthy by the 89 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: end of it if they got dragged over all that, 90 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: so Shackleton revised his plan again, this time to continue 91 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: drifting along with the ice and so wait for it 92 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: to break up, hopefully with them being close enough to 93 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: paull At Island to make it there. In the boats, 94 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: they established a new camp, which they called Ocean Camp, 95 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: about a mile and a half away from the wreck 96 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: of the Endurance. Shackleton kept working on morale, including assigning 97 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: the men who were hard to get along with to 98 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: the same tent, which was also where he slept. He 99 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: had really tried to select people for this expedition based 100 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: on their skills and their temperament, but even so, this 101 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,200 Speaker 1: kind of stress and isolation and months of unending darkness 102 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: were really hard. He also eventually had Quartermaster Thomas ord 103 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: Lee's sleep with stores instead of an a tent with others. 104 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: He was generally anxious and very focused on how short 105 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: they were on everything and how much more likely that 106 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: made it that they would all die. His journal has 107 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: stuff in it where it's like he almost grasps that 108 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: his demeanor was upsetting people, because he would say things like, 109 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: Shackleton seems to understand that we might not live, but 110 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: he doesn't want us to talk about it because it 111 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: might upset the sailors, and I'm like, dude, he'd rain 112 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: it in a little bit. The weather continued to warm 113 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: as summer progressed into November, but in some ways that 114 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: made things worse. On ice flow, everything became slushy and gross. 115 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,239 Speaker 1: People could just never get dry, and yet the ice 116 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: blow was not breaking up in the way that they 117 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: hoped it would. On November twenty one, the endurance sank. 118 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: Shackleton noted in his journal quote at five pm, she 119 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: went down by the head. The stern, the cause of 120 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: all the trouble, was the last to go underwater. I 121 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: cannot write about it. After this tension started to flare, 122 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: teams kept going back to the dump camp to bring 123 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: back more stuff that they could salvage from it, but 124 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: that became increasingly dangerous. Shackleton started having trouble with sciatica, 125 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 1: and for a while he was in so much pain 126 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: that he could not get out of his sleeping bag 127 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,559 Speaker 1: without help. That made it hard for him to stay 128 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: connected with what was happening with the rest of the 129 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: camp and head off any morale issues that were brewing. 130 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: With the ice flow staying stubbornly intact, but the ice 131 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: itself seeming a little more passable, Shackleton decided to try 132 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: hauling the boats to open water again. The ship had 133 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: three small boats named after their biggest financial backers, the 134 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: Standcomb Wills, the Dudley Docker, and the James Cared. They 135 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: planned to have a Christmas celebration on Midsummer Day, December 136 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: twenty two, and then set out the day after that, 137 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: hauling the Dudley Docker and the James Cared and leaving 138 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: the Stankham wheels behind. When they tried to do this, 139 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: the going was very, very slow. Shackleton had hoped to 140 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: pull the boats about sixty miles, but it was immediately 141 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: clear that they were never ever going to make it 142 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: that far. People's nerves started to fray as there were 143 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: second guessing of whether leaving Ocean Camp had been the 144 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: right decision. Eventually they hid an impassable stretch of ice 145 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: and they had to backtrack, only for a crack to 146 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: open up where they had been trying to make camp. 147 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: People were understandably deeply frustrated that they left behind a 148 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: lot of gear and supplies, and now they were in 149 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: a worse position than they had been before, having made 150 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: really almost no progress. They established yet another new camp, 151 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: this one called Patients Camp. By mid January, the food 152 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,559 Speaker 1: supply was low enough that it could not sustain both 153 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: the men and the dogs, and all but two of 154 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: the sled teams were shot. Both Shackleton and second in 155 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: command Frank Wilde wrote that this was the worst job 156 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:09,720 Speaker 1: of their lives. Shortly after this, the two remaining sledge 157 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: teams made a run back to Ocean Camp, and they 158 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: came back with about nine hundred pounds of stores. Then 159 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: they sent another team to retrieve the standcom Wills. They 160 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: were still low on food, and they were low on 161 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: blubber to be used as fuel, but Shackleton resisted sending 162 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: people out on hunting expeditions. It's not totally clear why 163 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: he had really shown plenty of willingness to change his 164 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: decisions in the face of changing circumstances or new information, 165 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: but in this case he just kept maintaining that they 166 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: had plenty. A lot of people felt like they did 167 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: not have plenty. Some of the men who were keeping 168 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: journals through this period became increasingly frustrated and cynical in them. 169 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: By March, they were about seventy miles from Paul Island, 170 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: and they could feel the movement of the ocean under 171 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:00,200 Speaker 1: the ice. They kept themselves ready to move quickly if 172 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: the ice flow finally broken away that let them get 173 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: to open water instead. When they finally passed Paulette Island, 174 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: they were still separated by far too much ice to cross. 175 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: The island was about sixty miles away, but in Shackleton's 176 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: words quote, it might have been six hundred for all 177 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: the chance that we had of reaching it by sledging 178 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: across the broken sea ice in its present condition. On March, 179 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,479 Speaker 1: the team had to shoot the last of the dogs, 180 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: and they ate meat from some of the younger ones. 181 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: By this point their diet was almost entirely meet, although 182 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 1: most of it was from seals and seabirds. In April, 183 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: their ice flow started moving very quickly, caught in strong currents, 184 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: and it was heaving enough that some of the men 185 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:48,120 Speaker 1: got sea sick. One night, a crack opened directly under 186 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: a tent where two men were sleeping, and Shackleton rescued 187 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,440 Speaker 1: fireman Earnest Wholeness by pulling him out of the water 188 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: by his sleeping bag. At this point, they could see 189 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:00,920 Speaker 1: Elephant Island in the distance, and they were finally close 190 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: enough to water that they could get the boats there, 191 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: so they abandoned the ice flow on April nine. We'll 192 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: talk more about what happened after a sponsor break. Once 193 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: Shackleton and his men were in the life boats, things 194 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: became even more difficult and dangerous than they had been 195 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: back on the ice. The largest of the boats was 196 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: only about twenty two ft or six point seven meters long. 197 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 1: They were facing gale force winds and rough seas that 198 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: sometimes pushed them in the totally wrong direction, or they 199 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: blew the boats away from each other. They were also 200 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,280 Speaker 1: surrounded by huge, treacherous chunks of ice and a whole 201 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: lot of orca. The men had also been on an 202 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: almost all meat diet for so long that their bodies 203 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: just had almost no energy to do anything. They were 204 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: at sea for four days, sheltering in the lee of 205 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: large ice chunks overnight. By the third day, morale was 206 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: pretty much broken. They were all completely exhausted. All of 207 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,000 Speaker 1: the boats had been swamped to the men's feet were 208 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: soaking in freezing water. Some tried to row or get 209 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: out of the way of ice, while others tried to 210 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: bail out the boats, but everyone was dehydrated. Many of 211 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 1: them had seasickness or dysentery or both. Shackleton reportedly stayed 212 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:32,520 Speaker 1: awake the whole time. They finally reached Elephant Island on 213 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: April fifteenth, nineteen sixteen, and they had hot food and 214 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: drink for the first time in days. But the spot 215 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,440 Speaker 1: where they made landfall was far from ideal. They had 216 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 1: almost no shelter from the elements or the tides. A 217 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,439 Speaker 1: lot of the men had frost bite. Percy Blackborough, who 218 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: had originally been a stowaway, was seriously ill, and First 219 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,960 Speaker 1: Engineer Louis Rickinson also appeared to have had a heart attack. 220 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: A scouting team went to look for a better being 221 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: spot by boat, and they found an area with a 222 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,959 Speaker 1: little more space and shelter. They relocated the camp by boat, 223 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: but they had to leave some of their supplies behind 224 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 1: because they were simply too exhausted to move them. This 225 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: new location, though, was still fairly exposed. A blizzard ripped 226 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,040 Speaker 1: up one of their tents and flattened others almost immediately, 227 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,600 Speaker 1: and it was also a penguin rookery just covered in guano. 228 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 1: Shackleton's description of the state of things at this point 229 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: comes off as a little judgmental, especially given current understanding 230 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: of things like trauma and mental health. Quote. Some of 231 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,240 Speaker 1: the men were showing signs of demoralization. They were disinclined 232 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:44,079 Speaker 1: to leave the tents when the hour came for turning out, 233 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: and it was apparent they were thinking more of the 234 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: discomforts of the moment than of the good fortune that 235 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: had brought us to sound ground and comparative safety. The 236 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: condition of the gloves and headgear shown me by some 237 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: discouraged men illustrated the proverbial carelessness of the sailor. The 238 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: articles had frozen stiff during the night, and the owners 239 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: considered it appeared that the state of affairs provided them 240 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: with a grievance, or at any rate gave them the 241 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: right to grumble. They said they wanted dry clothes, and 242 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: that their health would not admit of their doing any 243 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: work only by rather drastic methods, where they induced to 244 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: turn to frozen gloves and helmets undoubtedly are very uncomfortable, 245 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: and the proper thing is to keep these articles thawed 246 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,280 Speaker 1: by placing them inside one's shirt during the night. In 247 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: addition to its shortcomings in terms of protection from the 248 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: elements and so much bird poop, the camp on Elephant 249 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: Island wasn't near any kind of shipping lanes, so there 250 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: was just about no chance that the men would be 251 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: spotted and rescued. So Shackleton announced that he and a 252 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: crew would take the James Cared, which was the biggest 253 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: of the lifeboats, to South Georgia Island to get help. 254 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: South Georgia Island was roughly eight hundred miles a They 255 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: spent the next few days making repairs and adjustments to 256 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: the James cared, both to repair some damage and to 257 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: make it at least slightly more suitable for the journey. 258 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: They salvaged lumber to make it more seaworthy, and they 259 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: made a makeshift decking out of canvas that they had 260 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: to thaw out in sections before they could sew it together. 261 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: They made ballast for the boat by filling blankets with 262 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: shingle from the island, and they supplemented that with boulders. 263 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: Shackleton chose five other men to accompany him, Frank Worsley, 264 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: captain of the Endurance, second officer Thomas Crane, carpenter Henry McNish, 265 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: and seaman Timothy McCarthy and John Vincent. He selected these 266 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: men both for their skills and for their attitudes, although 267 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,680 Speaker 1: not necessarily because he thought that they would be pleasant 268 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: to have a long McNish, for example, was a highly 269 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: skilled carpenter, but he also butted heads with Shackleton and 270 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: other authority figures, and he may have been selected just 271 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: out of year that he would cause unrest among the 272 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: men if he were left at Elephant Island. They left 273 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: on April, both to take advantage of a break in 274 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: the weather and to try to get ahead of a 275 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,840 Speaker 1: band of ice that was freezing along the coast. They 276 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,320 Speaker 1: rode the James carried out past the reef, while other 277 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: men ferried their food and equipment to them aboard the 278 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: Stand gum Wills. Purley was taking photos of all of this. 279 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: He had done that the whole time they were on 280 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: the ice. He would continue to take photos on Elephant Island. 281 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: One of his most dramatic ones shows the James Cared 282 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: as it was leaving. This photograph originally also showed the 283 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: Stand gum Wills coming back from its last ferry run, 284 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: but the standcomb Wills was scratched out of the negative 285 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: to show only the James Cared. Shackleton left his second 286 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: in command, Frank Wilde, in charge of the camp, giving 287 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: him a letter that started, quote, in the event of 288 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: my not surviving the boat journey to South Georgia, you'll 289 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: do your best for the rescue of the party. Wild 290 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: tried to carry on Shackleton's efforts of focusing on the 291 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 1: men's morale. In his own account, one of the more 292 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: pessimistic men said, quote that's the last of them. As 293 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: the James Cared sailed away, and quote I almost knocked 294 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: him down with a rock but satisfied myself by addressing 295 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: a few remarks to him in real lower deck language. 296 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: The men left behind on Elephant Island made more durable 297 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 1: shelters out of the boats and whatever else they could salvage. 298 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: But the first night they were buried in a blizzard 299 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 1: that revealed a lot of cracks in their shelters. They 300 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: stuffed those up with a torn up sleeping bag. Every 301 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: day they would stow their equipment so that they would 302 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: be ready to leave if rescue arrived. They also tried 303 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: to divide up the little pleasures they had access to, 304 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 1: like rotating through the closest seat to the stove at 305 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: meal time so everyone had a turn. They were still 306 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 1: eating almost nothing but meat, but every once in a 307 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: while Wild would break out some kind of treat from 308 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: their stores, like barley or jam. They also still had 309 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: Hussy's banjo, and they made up various songs about the 310 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: predicament they were in. But as the days got shorter 311 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: and shorter, the men spent more and more time in 312 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 1: their sleeping bags. A lot of them became increasingly ill, 313 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: and some had injuries that were truly dire. Blackborrow, for example, 314 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: developed gangering in his feet, and that forced the surgeon 315 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: to amputate his toes in a makeshift operating room that 316 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: was as clean as they could make it, But considering 317 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 1: that they were on an island covered in bird poop, 318 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: working with gear that had been repeatedly swamped by the ocean, 319 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 1: not that clean. Meanwhile, conditions aboard the James Cared were terrible. 320 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: In Shackleton's words, quote, the tale of the next sixteen 321 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: days is one of supreme strife amid heaving waters. The 322 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: stretch of ocean they needed to cross was notoriously stormy. 323 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: At one point, they were nearly capsized by a wave 324 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: so big that Shackleton mistook its foamy crest for a 325 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: break in the clouds. With light shining through their reindeer skin, 326 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 1: sleeping bags started to shed, so they were prickly hairs 327 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 1: all over the inside of the boat. The men had 328 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: to sit or lie on the rocky, water logged ballast. 329 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: They were increasingly wet, frost bitten, and burned from their stove. 330 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: Worthily wrote of their situation in Shackleton's behavior, quote, two 331 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: of the party at least were very close to death. Indeed, 332 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: it might be said that he kept a finger on 333 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: each man's pulse. Whenever he noticed that a man seemed 334 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: extra cold and shivered, he would immediately order another drink 335 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: of hot milk to be prepared and served to all. 336 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: He never let the man know it was on his account, 337 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,719 Speaker 1: lest he become nervous about himself. On May fourth, they 338 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: had a break in the weather, so they were able 339 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: to get a little bit of a break and dry 340 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: some of their clothes and sleeping bags, But there was 341 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: so much cloud cover that they couldn't accurately determine their position. 342 00:19:57,320 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: Their first real indicator that they were getting closer to 343 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: land was on May seven, when they spotted some kilp. 344 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: They ran out of fresh water before they got to 345 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: the reef that ran alongside South Georgia Island, and then 346 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,399 Speaker 1: it took them multiple tries to get over the reef. 347 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,560 Speaker 1: By the time they finally made landfall, they were too 348 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: tired to drag the boat out of the surf. They 349 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 1: had to take turns hanging onto it so they wouldn't 350 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,600 Speaker 1: lose it, and they nearly did lose it at one 351 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: point during the night. In the morning they ate some 352 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: fledgling albatross is something that might seem weird if you 353 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 1: have read the rhyme of the ancient mariner, but really 354 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,480 Speaker 1: it was not all that unusual. In fact, someone on 355 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: the endurance had a copy of that poem, and they 356 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 1: had used it to entertain themselves while trapped on the ice. 357 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: In Shackleton's words quote on reading the Ladder, we sympathized 358 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,160 Speaker 1: with him and wondered what he had done with the albatross. 359 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: It would have made a very welcome addition to our larder. 360 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: Although they had gotten to South Georgia Island, they were 361 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: basically on the wrong side of it. To get to 362 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 1: the whaling station at grit Vickin, they were going to 363 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: have to cross over the island, which was mountainous, uncharted, 364 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: and considered to be uninhabitable. They also had no mountaineering equipment, 365 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: just a rope and a carpenter's ads. If they were 366 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: going in a straight line, they would need to travel 367 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,639 Speaker 1: twenty two miles or thirty five kilometers, but this obviously 368 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: was not going to be a remotely straight line. It 369 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,920 Speaker 1: took a few days for them to recover, work out 370 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: their gear, and prepare to leave. Mcneiche and Vincent were 371 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: too sick to make the journey, so McCarthy stayed behind 372 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: with them in a hut that they made from the boat. 373 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,640 Speaker 1: While Shackleton, Worseley, and Crane crossed the island. They got 374 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,679 Speaker 1: very little rest along the way. They did not have 375 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: a tent or sleeping bags with them, and if they 376 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: had fallen asleep for any length of time, they probably 377 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: would have died. Then, at one point they got to 378 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: a mountain face that they didn't have a way to 379 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 1: get down, and so they had to slide down it 380 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 1: on their coiled up rope. Having done all that, after 381 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,719 Speaker 1: about thirty six hours, they made it to the whaling station, 382 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 1: just ahead of a gale that probably would have killed 383 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:09,679 Speaker 1: them if they had taken any longer. Shackleton gave this 384 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: description of his meeting with Mr. Sorrel, manager of the 385 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 1: whaling station, after they had crossed the mountains. Don't you 386 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: know me? I said, I know your voice, He replied, doubtfully. 387 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: You're the mate of the daisy. My name is Shackleton, 388 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: I said. Immediately, he put out his hand and said, 389 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 1: come in, Come in. Tell me when was the war over? 390 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: I asked. The war is not over, he answered, millions 391 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: are being killed. Europe is mad, the world is mad. 392 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: That so what happened next after another quick sponsor break. 393 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,880 Speaker 1: After Shackleton, Worsley, and Crane ate and recovered a little bit, 394 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 1: Worsley went with a relief boat to get the three 395 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: men that they had left on the other side of 396 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: the island. Those three were sent back to England while Shackulty, Warsley, 397 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 1: and Crane started trying to find a ship that could 398 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: rescue the twenty two people who were still left on 399 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: Elephant Island. This turned out to be difficult. It was winter, 400 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: and as Shackleton had just learned, the world was still 401 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: at war. First, they tried aboard the Southern Sky, which 402 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: could not make it through the pack ice. The Southern 403 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: Sky took Shackleton to the Falkland Islands, where he was 404 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 1: able to send a cable to Britain to let everyone 405 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,760 Speaker 1: know he had survived. While people were pleased to hear that, 406 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:39,439 Speaker 1: they were also really preoccupied with the ongoing war. Shackleton 407 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 1: was advised to seek help from nations in South America 408 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: to relieve his stranded crew. That still took a while. 409 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: He faced a whole series of breakdowns and ice jams 410 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:55,359 Speaker 1: and other disappointments before finally getting to Elephant Island. Aboard 411 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: the Chilean steamer Yelcho. This was a small boat. It 412 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: was not at all built for this kind of purpose. 413 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: They arrived at Elephant Island on August nineteen sixteen. Shackleton 414 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: was on deck looking through binoculars, alarmed to see what 415 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,159 Speaker 1: looked like a flag at half staff, but then he 416 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: saw that there were twenty two men present on shore. 417 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: In Worsley's words, quote, he put his glasses back in 418 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: their case and turned to me, his face showing more 419 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,640 Speaker 1: emotion than I had ever known it to show before. 420 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,199 Speaker 1: Crane had joined us and we were all unable to speak. 421 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: It sounds trite, but years literally seemed to drop from 422 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: him as he stood before us. From Wild's point of view, 423 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,400 Speaker 1: I'm seeing the ship from the island quote. I felt 424 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,439 Speaker 1: jolly near blubbing for a bit and could not speak 425 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,120 Speaker 1: for several minutes. The survival of all twenty eight men 426 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: from Shackleton's expedition aboard the Endurance was truly astonishing, and 427 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: it made headlines. But World War One had stretched on 428 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,360 Speaker 1: the whole time they had been gone. It had been 429 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: so painful and demoralizing that people didn't really see this 430 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 1: dramatic rescue as much of a relief. There was even 431 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 1: some criticism that everyone involved should have been part of 432 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 1: the war effort that whole time they were gone. Also, 433 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: this relief of the men at Elephant Island was not 434 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: the end of the saga for the Imperial trans Antarctic 435 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: Expedition or Shackleton's efforts to get all of his men 436 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: to safety. As the Endurance was trapped in the Sea 437 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: Ice and the Wettle Sea. The Ross Sea Party had 438 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,119 Speaker 1: been facing its own ordeal if you recall, that was 439 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,880 Speaker 1: the party that had arrived on the Aurora to lay 440 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: the supply depots that Shackleton's team would need. The Ross 441 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: Sea Party was under the command of a Eneas McIntosh, 442 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: who had been part of Shackleton's expedition aboard the Nimrod 443 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,159 Speaker 1: and had lost an eye in an accident during that expedition. 444 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,679 Speaker 1: Others also had experience in Antarctica, but many of the 445 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: crew aboard did not have any polar experience. Their money 446 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: and supplies were even more hectically cobbled together than the 447 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 1: Endurance teams was, and they were also operating under a 448 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:10,679 Speaker 1: totally unnecessary deadline. Shackleton had originally hoped to cross Antarctica 449 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,879 Speaker 1: in the summer of nineteen fourteen and nineteen fifteen, and 450 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:16,919 Speaker 1: he had realized that was not going to work before 451 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: setting sail from South Georgia Island, but before he left 452 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:24,119 Speaker 1: he did not send any kind of word to McIntosh 453 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: about the schedule change. On top of that, once Shackleton 454 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,400 Speaker 1: realized their crossing wasn't going to happen at all, there 455 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:36,000 Speaker 1: was no way to let McIntosh know. So the Rossy 456 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 1: Party Number one was trying to plan for an expedition 457 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: that was running a year late, and then number two 458 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: had no idea that Shackleton's team wasn't coming, but they 459 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: thought if they didn't get their job done, Shackleton was 460 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,919 Speaker 1: going to die. The ross Sea Party had arrived at 461 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: McMurdo Sound in January of nineteen fifteen and started laying 462 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: supply depots on January, but that was extremely slow going. 463 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: They faced deep snow and impassable ice ridges. Their sledges 464 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: were overloaded, and eventually they had to divide the supplies 465 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: and carry them in a relay. This took four times 466 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 1: as long and they had to travel four times as far, 467 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,959 Speaker 1: so soon they were exhausted and they were low on rations. 468 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 1: The sledge dogs became so hungry that they started trying 469 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: to eat their own harnesses, and as the dogs died, 470 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: the men had to haul more and more of the 471 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:34,200 Speaker 1: load themselves. To add to all of that, there were blizzards, 472 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: extremely low temperatures, frost bite, snow blindness, and sleeping bags 473 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: that froze solid during the day and then melted when 474 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 1: they were exposed to people's body heat at night, so 475 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: the team was just constantly cold and wet. Eventually McIntosh 476 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 1: and the sledge teams had to return to the base 477 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,400 Speaker 1: for the winter. They got there on March to find 478 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 1: the Aurora and almost all of the rest of the 479 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: short team gone. They took shelter in a it that 480 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: Robert Falcon Scott had left behind in nineteen o two, 481 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 1: and then waited for the McMurdo Sound to freeze over 482 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: so they could walk to their planned winter quarters on 483 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: Cape Evans. There they found the rest of the shore party, 484 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: but the Aurora was gone. It had been blown off 485 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 1: its moorings in a gale, and everyone assumed it had sunk. 486 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: Most of what was supposed to sustain the shore team 487 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,679 Speaker 1: over the winter had not yet been unloaded when the 488 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: aurora disappeared, including their winter clothes. They had only what 489 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: they were wearing. Robert Falcon Scott could not object to 490 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: their use of that hut's because at this point he 491 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 1: had died trying to return from the South Pole. The 492 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: Aurora team made it through the winter, though, and as 493 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,200 Speaker 1: the weather got warmer in October of nineteen fifteen, they 494 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: got back to work, now with makeshift gear and sledges, 495 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: and with only nine men and four surviving dogs to 496 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: do the work. And this phase was even worse than 497 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: the first one. They started out with three teams and 498 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: each team had its own stove, but when one of 499 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: the stoves failed, that team had to go back to base. 500 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 1: Then the second stove failed, so the two remaining teams 501 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: had to consolidate and move together. That slowed their progress 502 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: way way down. They again faced scurvy and snow, blindness 503 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: and hunger, reaching a point where each man's daily ration 504 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: was eight lumps of sugar and a biscuit. Arnold Spencer 505 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 1: Smith became so ill he had to be left behind, 506 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: and when the team returned for him, both he and 507 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: McIntosh had to be loaded onto sledges and pulled on 508 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,440 Speaker 1: their journey home. Their situation was so dire that they 509 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: were living on tea and dog food and having to 510 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: take supplies from the depots that were supposed to be 511 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,880 Speaker 1: for Shackleton, again not knowing that Shackleton was not coming, 512 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: and thinking that if they took too much, his party 513 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,120 Speaker 1: would be doomed. Arnold Spencer Smith died of scurvy on 514 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: March eight, and as the team was trying to make 515 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: their j ning back to the base, McIntosh became so 516 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: weak that he could not even stay on the sledge 517 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: he was being pulled on. More than once he fell off, 518 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,480 Speaker 1: and the team had to backtrack for him after they 519 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: realized he was gone. The surviving team made it back 520 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 1: to Hut Point, and in May McIntosh announced that he 521 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: and VG Hayward were going to walk across the ice 522 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: to the base camp at Cape Evans. The rest of 523 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: the team tried to dissuade them, thinking that the ice 524 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:30,840 Speaker 1: was not deep enough to be safe yet. McIntosh and 525 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: Hayward left anyway, and a blizzard started not long after. 526 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:36,960 Speaker 1: A search party went to look for them once the 527 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: storm had cleared and found their trail of footprints, which 528 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:45,080 Speaker 1: stopped suddenly at some freshly frozen ice. Eventually, the last 529 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 1: of the sledging party crossed back to Cape Evans and 530 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: met up with the rest of the team that had 531 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:55,280 Speaker 1: stayed there. Once authorities knew about Shackleton's survival, funds were 532 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: finally approved for a relief expedition for the Ross Sea Party. 533 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 1: Shackleton left for New Zealand in October of nineteen sixteen 534 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: to join that party, and the ships sent to retrieve 535 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: them was the Aurora. Now it was under the command 536 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: of Captain John King Davis. Unbeknownst to anybody who had 537 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: been on the shore, the Aurora, after getting blown off 538 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: its moorings, had spent ten months drifting in the pack ice, 539 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: and then had gone to New Zealand for repairs once 540 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 1: it was freed. The Aurora arrived in Antarctica on January tenth, 541 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen, and Shackleton learned about the deaths of McIntosh, 542 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 1: Hayward and Spencer Smith, and the fact that the party 543 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,200 Speaker 1: had traveled fifteen hundred miles in a hundred and sixty days, 544 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: laying their supply depots as planned. They looked for the 545 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 1: bodies of McIntosh and Hayward and took the seven men 546 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 1: who had been stranded ashore back to New Zealand. Yeah, 547 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: there was no sign of their bodies. They almost certainly 548 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 1: fell through the ice or we're on an ice flow 549 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 1: that broke away and they couldn't get off of it. 550 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: Shackleton again and worked with Edward Saunders to write a 551 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 1: book about all of this. It was titled South The 552 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 1: Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition nineteen fourteen to nineteen seventeen. 553 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: This is in the public domain now, along with a 554 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: lot of his other work. You can read it online 555 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: for free. Just one note if you do this, one 556 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: of the Rossy Party sledge dogs is named a racist slur. 557 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: Most of the men who had survived this expedition went 558 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,880 Speaker 1: into active service during the remainder of World War One, 559 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: but Shackleton had trouble finding a post. He seems to 560 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: have struggled during this time, drinking excessively and spending most 561 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: of his time with the woman that he was having 562 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: an affair with. The Foreign Office sent him to South 563 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:43,959 Speaker 1: America in late nineteen seventeen and nineteen eighteen on what 564 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: was described as a propaganda mission to raise morale. He 565 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: went to Russia with the British Expeditionary Force in nineteen nineteen. 566 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: That same year, Frank Hurley released a silent film called 567 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:01,960 Speaker 1: South Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition. After the war 568 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,840 Speaker 1: was over, Shackleton tried to plan another expedition to Antarctica, 569 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: this one aboard a ship called the Quest. It had 570 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 1: a crew of eighteen, seven of whom had been aboard 571 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 1: the Endurance. They arrived at grit Vickin Harbor on South 572 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:21,440 Speaker 1: Georgia Island on January fourth Nino. The next day, Shackleton 573 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: died of a heart attack at the age of forty seven. 574 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: Many sources attribute this to damage from the extreme stress 575 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: and difficulty of the Endurance expedition. Although plans were made 576 00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 1: to return Shackleton's body to his wife at her request, 577 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: he was buried in a cemetery on a hill above 578 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: the whaling station at South Georgia Island. His obituary in 579 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: the Geographical Record began quote with the death of Sir 580 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:51,160 Speaker 1: Ernest Shackleton, Britain loses one of the most brilliant explorers 581 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,720 Speaker 1: of modern days, and in his ninety three book The 582 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,720 Speaker 1: Worst Journey in the World, about Robert Falcon Scott's ill 583 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 1: fated nineteen ten expedition to the South Pole, absolute Cherry 584 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:06,720 Speaker 1: Gerard wrote, quote for a joint scientific and geographical piece 585 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 1: of organization, give me Scott for a winter journey, Wilson 586 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,480 Speaker 1: for a dash to the Pole, and nothing else Hammondson. 587 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,840 Speaker 1: And if I am in the devil of a hole 588 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 1: and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton 589 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: every time. And of course the Falkland Maritime Heritage Trusts 590 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:29,359 Speaker 1: Endurance twenty two expedition found the Endurance on March nine 591 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: using remotely operated submarines. It was in water one thousand 592 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: sixty five fathoms or three thousand eight meters deep, about 593 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,680 Speaker 1: six kilometers from where Frank Worsley had recorded the ship's 594 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: last position. It's reportedly in surprisingly good condition considering the 595 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:52,240 Speaker 1: circumstances of its sinking and the conditions of the Wettle Sea, 596 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,240 Speaker 1: and really full of all kinds of fascinating sea life. 597 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:04,439 Speaker 1: Yeah there's a crab in particular that a big time Yeah. 598 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: So yeah, that's that's Shackleton's Endurance. Now that the shipwreck 599 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: has been found, we'll talk. We have various feelings about 600 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: of all this, about all of this, and we will 601 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,960 Speaker 1: talk about them in the behind the scenes. And I 602 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:20,200 Speaker 1: have listener mail from Celeste, who writes, Dear Holly and Tracy, 603 00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 1: I love your podcast. I am constantly entertaining friends and 604 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:26,800 Speaker 1: family with the things I learned there. I've been meaning 605 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 1: to share this for quite some time, and your recent 606 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 1: podcast on William APIs reminded me to do so. I'm 607 00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: the director of the Cumberland Public Library in Rhode Island. 608 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: My library is a former monastery situated on five fifty acres. 609 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,799 Speaker 1: There are a number of trails here, but one of 610 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 1: them leads to a monument called Nine Men's Misery. It 611 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:49,920 Speaker 1: is said to be the oldest veterans memorial in the country. 612 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 1: I've attached a document created by a long ago eagle 613 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:56,440 Speaker 1: scout that details the history of King Philip's War and 614 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 1: how the monument came to be there. Ten men were 615 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,359 Speaker 1: dispatched from a regiment during a skirmish called Pierce's Fight, 616 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:07,720 Speaker 1: where fifty two soldiers and eleven Native Americans died. These 617 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:12,640 Speaker 1: ten were supposedly ambushed by Native Americans and only one survived. 618 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,920 Speaker 1: Their bodies were buried in a mass grave here on 619 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,719 Speaker 1: the future monastery grounds, and a cairn built over them. 620 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 1: When the monks came here in the early nineteen hundreds. 621 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,240 Speaker 1: They built a better cairn cemented together, which you can 622 00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:28,760 Speaker 1: see today. Later in nineteen seventy six, the Veterans Group 623 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:32,360 Speaker 1: placed a marker there. Needless to say, local residents believe 624 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:35,040 Speaker 1: it's haunted and that one can hear groans coming from 625 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,800 Speaker 1: the earth. I've walked there many times and haven't heard anything, 626 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:40,799 Speaker 1: but you never knew. Keep up the wonderful podcast. I'm 627 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,759 Speaker 1: attaching a photo of my rescue Sadie, who is an 628 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:47,399 Speaker 1: Australian cattle dog, Celeste. Thanks so much for sending this 629 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:52,760 Speaker 1: Celeste number one. Kind of cool to have a public 630 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: library that is in a former monastery site. I find 631 00:36:55,960 --> 00:37:01,120 Speaker 1: that very interesting. I also, having done uh you know, 632 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:05,240 Speaker 1: episodes about Kings Phillips war um a couple of different times, 633 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:10,319 Speaker 1: I had never heard about this particular fight um at, 634 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,200 Speaker 1: which of course is its own very complicated story beyond 635 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:17,719 Speaker 1: the context of just this email. UM. Also, what a 636 00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:22,719 Speaker 1: good dog. Uh So, thank you again to the list 637 00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 1: for sending this email. If you would like to send 638 00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:27,399 Speaker 1: us a note, We're at History Podcast at I heeart 639 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:30,480 Speaker 1: radio dot com and we're all over social media. Missed 640 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,840 Speaker 1: in History. That's where real fund our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 641 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:37,759 Speaker 1: and Instagram, and you can subscribe to our show on 642 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,040 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app and wherever else you like 643 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:48,760 Speaker 1: to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 644 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:51,879 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 645 00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:54,279 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 646 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:57,560 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.