Shackleton's Heroes

by Wilson McOrist

  The Aurora’s only stop en route to Antarctica was at Macquarie Island, 950 miles from Hobart, which was reached on 30 December. A meteorological station had been established there during the Australian Mawson’s expedition a year or two earlier, and they were to land stores for the staff.39 This was the last chance for the men to send messages home. Hayward sent a radio telegram to his fiancée and letter to his father, telling the latter he expected to be back home in March 1916.40 Mackintosh sent a letter to his wife telling her that his men were a ‘real good lot of fellows’ and it was a ‘treat’ to be with them.41

  At Macquarie Island Spencer-Smith and Richards (and possibly Wild and Hayward) were introduced to seal meat. This would become the only fresh meat that the men of the Mount Hope Party would eat for many months at a time in the following two years. Joyce and Wild killed a number of seals for dog food and also for the men, as some parts of the seal – its liver, kidney and heart in particular – were considered delicacies. Joyce in his book tells us that some men who were unaccustomed to seal and penguin meat found them unappetising at first. But, in Joyce’s words, seal was similar to beef and ‘penguin breasts compare favourably with wild duck’.42

  After leaving Macquarie Island the weather turned colder and the seas became wilder, although Mackintosh made a note in his personal diary that the Aurora was ‘behaving admirably and proving her worth as a ship’.43 He noted that the air was becoming ‘decidedly cooler’ and warmer clothing was issued – outer woollen clothing made by the London firm Jaeger. He also recorded the ship was lurching about a good deal and that his cabin had been wet twice by seas breaking over the stern of the ship.44 This was Mackintosh’s first note on unpleasant living conditions and such references are common throughout his diary.

  As the Aurora travelled further south, Mackintosh often thought of his family and wished for news from home, to know how his loved ones were faring. To Mackintosh, that was the only drawback to the position he held and the task he was undertaking.45 He wanted his wife Gladys with him so she could see the sights – one day there were beautiful clouds that ‘show like some gigantic drop scene, only so delicately outlined that it would make an artist’s mouth water to view’. He wrote in his diary that if she was with him, then he ‘would consider everything complete’.46

  The voyage to Antarctica through the Southern Ocean was rough and wild but relatively uneventful. Richards, in his book, tells us that the sleeping and living conditions for the men were severe. Their bunks were a narrow slot-like region, about two feet high extending across the width of the stern. Three men slept side by side and the man whose bunk was farthest astern had to get in first. The Aurora would roll like a cork at times, sometimes 30 degrees to each side, and moving around the ship was difficult, especially at night outside as there were no lights on the decks. Richards also tells us of other difficulties, such as the steward attempting to bring food to the dining room when the ship was rolling. Also the open lavatories, which became very unpleasant when the ship was rolling – waves would wash over him as the ship was no more than three or four feet above the water line.47

  In addition to helping with deck-hand duties, the men were involved in an essential task: making new footwear for their use in Antarctica. Boots had been ordered but did not arrive before they left England so Mackintosh had the men work at making some, using sennit (a braided cord) for the soles. The navy men Joyce and Wild did the sewing and cutting out while the others made the sennit.48 They had purchased boots in Australia to replace the ones that were missing but everyone was suffering with them. Mackintosh described them as ‘wretched sea boots’ which kept their feet constantly wet. He wrote that it was ‘a pity the maker was not here wearing them himself’.49

  Mackintosh was uncomfortable with the conditions under which the dogs travelled to Antarctica, writing that they ‘look objects of abject pity and look appealing at us for consolation in their discomfort, but we are not able to do anything’.50 Joyce in his book wrote that the ‘dogs looked miserable, drenched through’.51 Richards remembered the dogs’ plight, including a sentence in his book: ‘The dogs were wet and miserable.’52

  Shackleton’s instructions to Mackintosh

  On the Aurora, Mackintosh worked out the sledging programme and he found it very difficult to decide on the quantity of sledging foods that were required to be carried, and where the depots should be laid.53 54 He was naturally focused on the task of laying the depots as he felt Shackleton was 100 per cent dependent on them. In his final letter of instructions (of September 1914) Shackleton had reminded him that the main object of his support party was to set up depots to assist his Trans-Continental Party coming across from the Weddell Sea.55

  However, Mackintosh must have been confused by the written instructions he had received from Shackleton. On one hand he was told that it was of ‘supreme importance’ to have the depots laid; that is, Shackleton was completely dependent on these depots. On the other, Shackleton told Mackintosh he would be carrying ‘sufficient provisions and equipment’ to cross Antarctica to McMurdo Sound. Shackleton told Mackintosh that he made this second statement about carrying sufficient provisions ‘in case some very serious accident’ incapacitated the depot-laying. He wanted Mackintosh not to ‘have the anxiety of feeling’ that his party was absolutely dependent on the depots that Mackintosh was meant to lay.56

  In spite of this, Mackintosh always gives the strong impression that his party had to lay the depots. He makes no reference to the notion of Shackleton carrying sufficient provisions, hence making their depot-laying superfluous. To the contrary, he writes in his diary later that he is worried they may not be able to relieve Shackleton,57 and what a weight it will be off his mind when they do meet him.58

  There is another interesting instruction from Shackleton to Mackintosh; one that is not common knowledge. Mackintosh was told to leave a fully equipped emergency lifeboat at McMurdo Sound, if Shackleton did not come across from the Weddell Sea. He was told not to discuss this with anybody. He was to leave the lifeboat with the ‘foreport decked over with canvas, or even decked halfway along with a canvas cover and framework’, with a good mast and sail. If Shackleton were to arrive at McMurdo Sound after the Aurora had gone, he would be able to go north in the lifeboat and make for Macquarie Island.59

  From this we learn that this type of boat journey, to escape from Antarctica in a small lifeboat, was clearly on Shackleton’s mind in 1914, well before he actually made such a journey in the James Caird in his escape from Elephant Island in 1916. The decision to deck out the James Caird was not an impromptu one. The 1914 specifications for an emergency lifeboat match those he implemented in 1916, from the covering for the boat using lids of cases, sledge runners and canvas, through to taking sextant, charts and even ‘some blubber-oil in an oil-bag’.60

  McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

  After battling huge seas and exceptionally strong winds past latitudes 50°S and 60°S of the Southern Ocean, the Aurora reached the calm waters of the Ross Sea on 1 January 1915. Ahead they could see the pack ice at McMurdo Sound. Mackintosh noted in his log that the pack was as ‘thick as a hedge’ and ‘as far as he could see’. He had no option but to order the ship to push its way through.61

  The Ross Sea by the Antarctic continent is known as the ‘silent sea’ because of the solitude of the vast expanse of open water that is met after coming down through the wild seas of the Southern Ocean. The men on the Aurora experienced an eerie stillness and silence as their ship passed icebergs and ice floes moving up from the south. They found the silence was particularly striking, and weird, after days of being battered by bitter winds. The only noise was that of floes grinding against the ship’s side and the soft, deep sound of the ship’s engines. On days where the wind died away a dull light in the sky seemed to reflect from the white surface of the thickening pack ice.

  The Aurora worked her way steadily through the pack ice. The men noticed that the streams of ice thickened as they advanced so
uth, and they passed many icebergs, some tubular and others worn down by the wind. On 4 January land was reported ‘off the port beam’, which caused considerable excitement as no land was marked on their sea charts, but as they neared the ‘land’ turned out to be a huge iceberg close to 300 feet high and 5 miles long. The shadows falling off three high peaks had given the appearance of land. They saw clouds of many forms with varying light and shade and the sun would appear through the cloud breaks illuminating some part of the ice pack, an iceberg or a patch of the bluest sea. There was now little or no swell and the ship was on an even keel, steady except for the occasional shocks when it struck the ice.

  Joyce wrote in his book that the men were entranced by the wildlife. They saw the Antarctic petrel and snowy petrel. They stared in wonder at Weddell seals, crab-eater seals, Adelie penguins and emperor penguins on the pack ice next to the ship. They could see whales, hundreds of them, some estimated at 25 to 30 feet long, and they occasionally rose close to the ship.62

  In the early afternoon of 7 January the fog was less dense than in the morning but no sign of land could be seen. Then they saw two or three dark patches, which at first were mistaken for a detached cloud until the patches gradually assumed a more definite shape. Then they clearly saw gently rising snow slopes followed by even steeper broken slopes of snow, and as the clouds cleared they could see land, without any doubt. It was the first sighting of Antarctica for four men of the Mount Hope Party: Wild, Spencer-Smith, Hayward and Richards.

  As the Aurora edged its way towards the bottom of McMurdo Sound they noticed an extensive expanse of land at Cape Bird on Ross Island, which was off to the east. There were black rocks exposed, showing up in sharp contrast to the white snow and the white ice. The whole environment was seemingly devoid of any colour except black, white and shades of grey. In early January there was 24-hour daylight with the sun circling low on the horizon at midnight. At that time the low light turned the surrounding sea-ice into a softer, almost milky blue colour while giving the mountain tops and the glaciers a soft orange tinge.

  The landscape was mesmerising. Gigantic snow slopes gradually descended into the sea and all around were ice-covered mountains with black and brown foothills. They could see the blue outline of the majestic peaks of the Trans-Antarctic Mountains, an imposing range running roughly south and north for about 1,000 miles and rising in places to upwards of 15,000 ft. The range flanks the western shores of the Ross Sea for about 500 miles and then continues southward and in 1914 Richards tells us it was usually referred to as the ‘Western Mountains’.63

  On 9 January 1915 the men on the Aurora could see Mount Erebus, visible at about 80 miles distance, but a cloud hung over the peak. Mackintosh wrote that a stream of smoke was coming from its crater and he could see ‘peaceful snow-covered slopes and rock protrusions from the steep perpendicular cliffs at the sea edge’.64 Richards described Mount Erebus as ‘a magnificent sight rising steeply some 13,000 ft. from sea level’.65 It dominates the area and, in Richards’s opinion, is probably one of the most spectacular mountains in the world as it rises up straight from the sea, completely covered in snow and ice. At times, the emission would climb to 20,000 feet, which was useful for the men of the Mount Hope Party when weather forecasting as the smoke flumes would show different currents above the summit. In winter, when it was dark, occasionally a pink glow would reflect from the smoke.66

  Mackintosh recorded that, on a day of beautiful, clear weather, ‘the whole scene was majestic’. He added: ‘All the new comers stood amazed at the splendour of the scene.’67 Thousands of penguins could be seen and when the men climbed to the crow’s nest they could look over the 60-foot cliffs of the Barrier. They even played gramophone records on the stern and for Richards the sound of Caruso’s voice ringing out in the stillness was ‘unforgettable’.68 Spencer-Smith held a service, and Mackintosh informs us that most of the men attended. ‘They felt at least a thanksgiving was due, for the safe journey that had been granted them.’69

  They had reached Antarctica. Their adventure was about to start.

  Notes

  1. Shackleton, South

  2. Mackintosh letter to G. Marston, 27 February 1913

  3. A. L. A. Mackintosh, Shackleton’s Lieutenant: The Nimrod Diary of A. L. A. Mackintosh, British Antarctic Expedition, 1907–09 (Christchurch: Stanley Newman, Polar Publications, 1990)

  4. Richards letter to L. B. Quartermain, 9 November 1960

  5. Shackleton letter to Mackintosh, 18 September 1914

  6. E. Joyce, The South Polar Trail: The Log of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (London: Duckworth, 1929)

  7. Sydney Morning Herald, 29 June 1914

  8. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  9. Spencer-Smith diary, July 1915

  10. Hayward diary, July 1915

  11. Sydney Morning Herald, 29 June 1914

  12. George Smith, headmaster at Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, written reference for A. P. Spencer-Smith, 4 June 1912, supplied by Debby Horsman, great-niece of A. P. Spencer-Smith

  13. Naval Service Record of Harry Ernest Wild, No: 181904

  14. P. J. Hayward, grand-nephew of Victor Hayward. Private papers

  15. Willesden Chronicle, 11 September 1914

  16. Ibid., 16 February 1917

  17. Shackleton letter to his wife Emily, 18 August 1914

  18. A. Stevens, report of the 1914–17 ATAE expedition, SPRI

  19. J. K. Davis, With the Aurora in the Antarctic 1911–1914 (London: Andrew Melrose, 1919)

  20. Richards, interview with P. Lathlean, 1976

  21. The Argus newspaper, Melbourne, 11 November 1914

  22. P. J. Hayward, grand-nephew of Victor Hayward. Private papers

  23. Hayward postcard, 16 November 1914. NMM

  24. Spencer-Smith postcard to his parents, November 1914. Debby Horsman, great-niece of A. P. Spencer-Smith. Private papers

  25. Spencer-Smith, letter to his parents, 8 November 1914. Debby Horsman, great-niece of A. P. Spencer-Smith. Private papers

  26. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976

  27. Richards telegram, 30 November 1914

  28. Richards letter to Mackintosh, 21 November 1914

  29. Richards letter to Mackintosh, 26 November 1914

  30. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  31. Richards, interview with P. Lathlean, 1976

  32. Richards Agreement, 1 December 1914, SPRI

  33. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  34. Spencer-Smith cablegram, 1914. Debby Horsman, great-niece of A. P. Spencer-Smith. Private papers

  35. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  36. Joyce, The South Polar Trail

  37. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  38. Richards, interview with P. Lathlean, 1976

  39. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  40. Hayward radio telegram to Ethel Bridson, 31 December 1914

  41. The Times, 1 April 1914

  42. Joyce, The South Polar Trail

  43. Mackintosh diary, 1 January 1915

  44. Ibid., 2 January 1915

  45. Ibid., 12 January 1915

  46. Ibid., 8 January 1915

  47. Richards interview with P. Lathlean, 1976

  48. Mackintosh diary, 1 January 1915

  49. Ibid., 3 January 1915

  50. Ibid., 1 January 1915

  51. Joyce, The South Polar Trail

  52. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  53. Mackintosh diary, 1 January 1915

  54. Ibid., 7 January 1915

  55. Shackleton letter to Mackintosh, 18 September 1914. In part this letter stated: ‘I would here inform you that the T-C party will carry sufficient provisions & equipment to cross right across to McM Sound but it is all important as we cannot tell what delays may ensure and what accidents may occur that the Southern depot from the Ross Sea should be laid.

  ‘I make the above remark as regards the TC party equipment in case some very serio
us accident incapacitates your party from making a depot so that you may not have the anxiety of feeling that the T-C is absolutely dependent on the depot that you are to lay, but it is of supreme importance, as ensuring the absolute safe return of the TC party to have this depot laid.’

  (TC and T-C means Shackleton’s Trans-Continental Party.)

  56. Shackleton letter to Mackintosh, 18 September 1914

  57. Mackintosh diary, 13 February 1915

  58. Mackintosh diary, 16 June 1915

  59. Shackleton letter to Mackintosh, 18 September 1914. This letter also stated:

  ‘Para 18: This paragraph is for your information only and you are to discuss it with nobody but follow implicitly these directions. If the TC party has not come out, and you go north, you must leave at Cape Evans or Cape Royds in a position easy for six men to handle, the best lifeboat belonging to Aurora. You must deck her over the foreport with canvas, or even deck her halfway along with a canvas cover and framework, she must have a good mast and sail, 12 oars, anchor and oil bag, a water breaker empty, sufficient sledging stores, oil and Primus cooker, to last two months, also sleeping bag and Burberrys; in fact the full equipment of a sledging party for six men for two months. You will also leave a sextant. The TC party will be equipped chronometers, nautical almanacs, etc. You should also leave a general chart of the ocean south of NZ. The reason for the equipment is as follows – should by any chance the TC party have arrived at winter quarters at the Ross Sea, after the ship has gone, I may decide to go north in the lifeboat. Under these circumstances I will make for Cape Adare then Macquarie Island, & thence to Auckland Island and so on to Stewart Island. I do not wish you to wait at either M Island or A Island on the way up. If we can cross the ocean south of these islands there is nothing to prevent us reaching civilization generally.’