Free An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor by Michael Smith

smuggled onto one of the sledges. Barne revealed:

    ‘Our efforts were stimulated by a bottle of port which had been brought for the purpose.’ 4

    Barne was fulsome in his praise of his fellow travellers, helped by the fact that no one had suffered any ill health which would have severely hampered the trip. He wrote to Scott:

    ‘I cannot speak too highly of the sledge crew, all of whom, during the entire trip, were in good spirits and from whom did I not hear a word of complaint, or notice a sign of dissatisfaction.’ 5

    Barne’s team returned to the mother ship on 30 January to learn that
Discovery
remained stuck fast, still trapped by about one mile of ice in McMurdo Sound. Unless the ship suddenly broke free, it would mean another year in the South.

    A relief ship,
Morning
, under Captain William Colbeck had arrived while the southern party had been away. But Colbeck was concerned that the ice might seize his ship, trapping them for another twelve months. Colbeck had been with Borchgrevink and Bernacchi on the
Southern Cross
expedition and was well aware of the hazards of the ice and was not prepared to take the risk.

    Also on board the
Morning
was a young naval Lieutenant, Edward ‘Teddy’ Evans. It was the first time that Evans – later to be Lord Mountevans – met Scott and the seamen Crean and Lashly, all of whom were to become significant figures in his life.

    Scott realised the vulnerability of their position and immediately began preparing for a second winter, stocking up the larder with fresh supplies of seal, skua gulls and lamb brought down from New Zealand. He also decided to send back eight men with Colbeck, mostly those from the merchant service. Significantly, the list of men returning home on the
Morning
included Shackleton.

    Shackleton, who felt slighted at not being invited to share in the prestige of the ‘furthest south’, was now further insulted at being invalided home. He felt the rebuke deeply and as the
Morning
slipped out of McMurdo Sound on 2 March 1903, and headed north, Shackleton broke down and wept.

    At Hut Point, the feelings were equally despondent as the
Morning
disappeared over the northern horizon and the party began to contemplate another year of isolation. On 13 March 1903 Scott wrote:

    ‘I have abandoned all hope of the ice going out.’ 6

    The winter months were spent much as the previous year, with various scientific duties and improvised games to keepthe men as busy as possible. On one day a football match – ‘Married & Engaged versus Single’ – was played in a temperature of –40 °F (–40 °C). The result is not recorded, but the intense cold restricted the play to 30 minutes each way.

    The weather throughout the winter was colder than the previous year but the men had learned some valuable lessons. Bernacchi admitted that the second winter was ‘wearisome’ but explained:

    ‘In fact, knowledge gained by experience, particularly in relation to food, made us more fit when summer dawned in 1903 than had been the previous year.’ 7

    Lashly, too, longed to get back to civilisation ‘just for a change’ and wrote in his diary on 1 April 1903:

    ‘The worst time of the year is just coming on. In three weeks time we shall lose the sun, then for the darkness. But we shall be all right as long as we continue in good health.’ 8

    Scott said the winter passed away in the ‘quietest and pleasantest fashion’ despite the weather. But inside the living quarters, plans for another season of sledging were also under way. Scott intended to lead a party across the Ferrar Glacier and Royds and Wilson were setting out for Cape Crozier to collect eggs from the colony of Emperor penguins. Barne, assisted by Crean, was due for a run towards the mountains first sighted on Scott’s southern journey.

    But this time there was a renewed urgency about the preparations because Scott was clearly concerned about freeing
Discovery
from the ice to avoid the grim