Shackleton's Heroes

by Wilson McOrist

  Richards: ‘We marched perhaps 10 miles today and made very hard work of it.

  ‘We are weak and the dogs too have scurvy, I think. They have no heart.’29

  Hayward: ‘All realizing the necessity of getting into Hut Pt if we are to save our lives & of course that of the Skipper. Dogs do not seem to do anything much & progress is slow. Put up 9 M for day.’30

  Joyce:

  After that got under way with Hayward on sledge. Found going very hard, as we had a northerly wind in our faces, with a temperature below 20. What with frostbites, etc., we are all suffering.

  Even the dogs seem like giving in; they do not seem to take any interest in their work.

  We have been out much too long, and nothing ahead to cheer us up but a cold, cheerless hut. We did about 2½ miles in the forenoon; Hayward toddling ahead every time we had a spell. During lunch the wind veered to the south with drift, just right to set sail. We carried on with Hayward on sledge and camped in the dark about 8 o’clock.

  Turned in at 10, weary, worn, and sad.

  Hoping to reach Depot tomorrow.31

  10 March 1916

  On the morning of 10 March Joyce, Richards, Hayward and Wild were only 10 miles from Hut Point. They had 5 miles to travel across the last of the Great Ice Barrier and from there it would be a few more miles around the edge of the sea-ice to be within 2 miles of Hut Point. These 2 miles would be a last small step, if the sea was frozen over, otherwise it would be a two-day trek around the hills to get to Hut Point.

  The first part of their day went well, as did the trek to the edge of the sea-ice, but the sea-ice was not frozen, which meant they could not walk directly to Hut Point. They then had no alternative but to climb the steep slopes and camp for the night. They were so exhausted they could take no more than a couple of steps up the hills before having to rest. They even thought of sleeping in the snow.

  A serious problem now confronted them – how would they get the incapacitated Hayward around the slopes to Hut Point the next day?

  Joyce:

  Turned out as usual. Beam wind, going pretty fair, very cold. Came into very soft snow about 3; arrived at Safety Camp 5 o’clock.

  Got to edge of Ice Barrier; found passage over in a bay full of seals. Dogs got very excited; had a job to keep them away. By the glass it looked clear right to Cape Armitage, which is 4½ miles away.

  Arrived there 8 o’clock, very dark and bad light. Found open water.32

  Hayward: ‘We were disheartened to find that a big lane of open water & fissures barred further progress forcing us to turn.’33

  Joyce:

  Turned to climb slopes against a strong north-easterly breeze with drift. Found a place about a mile away, but we were so done up that it took until 11.30 to get gear up. This slope was about 150 yds up, + every 3 paces we had to stop and get breath.34

  Wild:

  Well we got there after the most strenuous day ever I’ve done in my life. We got up there. I’ve never been more done up.

  I took my sleeping bag up last and after every two steps I fell on top of it and had a spell. I rolled it up, was too weary to carry it. I was in a good mind to open it out & turn in & chance it. We finished at 11.30pm all done in.35

  Hayward, stricken with scurvy, was aware that he was of little help: ‘After getting tent up they returned for bags &c. whilst I fixed the camp & we all turned in exhausted & utterly played out.’36

  Joyce: ‘I think this is the worst day I ever spent. What with the disappointment of not getting round the Point, and the long day and the thought of getting Hayward over the slopes, it is not very entertaining for sleep.’37

  Mackintosh spent the night alone in his tent, out on the Barrier, 30 miles from Hut Point.

  11 March 1916

  The next day started well when Joyce, and then Richards with Wild, checked the state of the sea-ice from the hills and saw that it looked secure. This meant they might be able to descend the hills and cross to Hut Point over the ice. They found a way down to the sea-ice and even though the sea-ice was not firm they took the risk and kept going. Finally, they arrived at Discovery hut.

  The hut was only an empty wooden shed with no heating or bunks. However, they were now safe, and to these four men the hut represented security. As Richards wrote in his book: ‘There was no one there, and of course we had expected no one’. They found that snow had seeped into the hut and they had to pass Hayward through a window to enter.38

  Many years later he recalled having an overwhelming desire for fresh meat when they were getting close to seals. He tells us it was rather extraordinary how his system reacted when they crossed a crack in the ice to go into the hut and there were several seals there. He says he had a strong urge to kill one of them ‘and to drink the blood’. To him it was an amazing feeling, an almost overpowering one and he believed that if the hut had been further away than just a hundred yards he would have killed one of the seals there and then. He remembers that his system was crying out for the blood – and that feeling he had never forgotten – it remained very vividly in the forefront of his mind, sixty years later.39 But their first step on arrival was to have a meal of cooked dried vegetables, and then to kill seals for fresh meat.

  Richards also remembered feeling sombre for the first half-hour after he reached Hut Point. He says that this was unusual for him. It was the only time he could recollect being somewhat sorry for himself. Mackintosh was still out on the Barrier, they were weak and low in spirits having just buried Spencer-Smith and they could hardly eat anything because their gums just about covered their teeth. He remembers thinking then of other returning parties in former expeditions who would have come back to warm greetings and some reasonable amenities of civilisation; food, comfort and medical care. But he says this mood passed very quickly.40 Joyce had similar feelings.

  Joyce:

  Up at 7 o’clock; took binoculars and went over the slope to look around the Cape. To my surprise found the open water and pack at the Cape only extended for about a mile.

  Came down and gave the boys the good news. I think it would take another two hard days to get over the hills, and we are too weak to do much of that, as I am afraid of another collapsing.41

  Hayward:

  Richards & Wild reconnoitred & found that the fissures which prevented us getting round Cape Armitage last night did not extend for more than 400 yds & we decided to try again.

  Under way 11.30 hell of a job getting gear down on the sea-ice (afternoon) rounded the Cape & were pleased to find R & W report correct.42

  Joyce: ‘We went round the Cape and found ice; very slushy, but continued on. No turning now; got into hard ice shortly after, eventually arriving at Hut Point about 3 o’clock.’43

  Wild: ‘Hut Point at last.’44

  Joyce:

  It seems strange after our adventures to arrive back at the old hut.

  This place has been standing since we built it in 1901, and has been the starting-point of a few expeditions since. When we were coming down the bay I could fancy the ‘Discovery’ there when Scott arrived from his Farthest South in 1902, the ship decorated rainbow fashion, and Lieu Armitage giving out the news that Capt Scott had got to 82 17. S. We went wild that day getting slightly intoxicated. But now our homecoming is quite different.

  Hut half-full of snow through a window being left open + drift getting in; but we soon got it shipshape and Hayward in. I had the fire going + plenty of McDoddies dried veg there.

  After we had had a feed, Richards and Wild went down the bay and killed a couple of seals.

  I gave a good menu of seal meat at night + we turned in about 11 oclock, full in the tummy – too full in fact.45

  Hayward: ‘Richards was not long in killing a seal & we had our first meal of fresh food for months at 5 o/c & we are all grateful for our safety.’46

  Richards: ‘Arrived Hut Point – killed seals and had first decent feed.’47

  Wild: ‘I haven’t mentioned before but we all have a
touch of scurvy & are on fresh food now trying to get rid of it.’48

  Joyce: ‘As there is no news here of the ship, and we cannot see her, we surmise she has gone down with all hands. I cannot see there is any chance of her being afloat or she would be here. I don’t know how the Skipper will take it.’49

  Hayward: ‘There is no news of the ship & there can be no doubt that she has perished with all hands.’50

  Hayward’s scurvy

  Hayward had concerns for his health. He wrote at this time: ‘I am hoping that my legs will soon get better.’51

  Hayward had been working under the same conditions as Joyce and Richards since October 1915 but he had fallen ill before them. It seems that he had not eaten fresh meat as often as Joyce and Richards. In November 1915 the three men returned to Hut Point a number of times and Hayward would have had the opportunity to eat fresh meat then. However, at an interview in 1980 Richards said that Hayward, like Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith, was not as keen to eat seal meat as the others. His words were that these three men ‘were the ones never too endured with seal meat’ and he went on to say that he, Joyce and Wild all liked seal meat and ate it whenever they could.52

  From photographs Hayward was a far bigger man than the others, Richards called him burly and physically strong,53 and this may have been a cause of Hayward falling ill before Joyce and Richards. As a bigger man he may have needed a larger share of the food ration. In Cope’s medical report on the party’s health in January 1917, he wrote: ‘In the case of Hayward his constitution was not strong, and from 6 Jan (1916) when Mackintosh’s party joined them he was pulling very heavy loads. Thus Hayward succumbed despite the favourable auspices under which he had previously been working.’54

  Cope, however, could understand why Mackintosh’s and Spencer-Smith’s conditions weakened well before those of Joyce, Richards and Hayward:

  Up to 13 Dec, 1916 Joyce’s party enjoyed the rests made at Hut Point whereas Mackintosh’s party only enjoyed one such rest. With this it must be remembered that during each rest stop fresh food was eaten, and on the fourth journey southward made by Joyce’s party to the Bluff Depot freshly cooked meat (and part boiled meat for the dogs also) was taken which was all finished by 6 Jan, 1917 at 80° S.55

  Cope also gives a logical reason why Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith succumbed before Wild; their ‘dislike’ of seal meat.

  About 12 miles from the Bluff Depot on Joyce’s fourth journey southwards the party met that of Capt Mackintosh and some freshly cooked meat which had been brought out for them was given over to the party.

  Wild was the only man in this party who took full advantage of this opportunity of renewing his acquaintance with fresh food, both Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith exhibiting their dislike of seal meat they had both shown during the previous winter at Cape Evans, a point which must not be lost sight of seeing it would at least explain an early tendency to scurvy.

  Cope also adds: ‘The mildness of W’s attack was probably due to his strong constitution and to his mode of life, he having before been used to doing hard work on a diet consisting considerably of artificial foods.’56

  He concluded his report with: ‘The Southern party had lime juice with them both in liquid (fortified) and pastille form but the taking of it had no apparent effect on the scurvy. This was because it was not taken early enough when the scurvy had attacked them.’57

  Four men were now safe at Discovery hut at Hut Point. Mackintosh still had to be rescued but he was located only 30 miles south, on the Barrier, a few miles from where they had buried Spencer-Smith.

  Notes

  1. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976

  2. Richards letter to A. J. T. Fraser, 9 July 1961.

  3. Mackintosh diary, 15 March 1915

  4. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976

  5. Joyce field diary, 8 March 1916

  6. Hayward diary, 8 March 1916

  7. Richards diary, 8 March 1916

  8. Wild diary, 8 March 1916

  9. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976

  10. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  11. Richards letter to A. J. T. Fraser, 9 July 1961

  12. Cope Medical Report of the Ross Sea Base ITAE. January 1917

  13. Wild diary, 9 March 1916

  14. Joyce field diary, 9 March 1916

  15. Richards letter to A. J. T. Fraser, 9 July 1961

  16. Wild diary, 9 March 1916

  17. Richards diary, 9 March 1916

  18. Joyce field diary, 9 March 1916

  19. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  20. Hayward diary, 9 March 1916

  21. Joyce field diary, 9 March 1916

  22. Wild diary, 9 March 1916

  23. Richards diary, 9 March 1916

  24. Joyce field diary, 9 March 1916

  25. Richards diary, 9 March 1916

  26. Hayward diary, 9 March 1916

  27. Wild diary, 10 March 1916

  28. Cope Medical Report of the Ross Sea Base ITAE. January 1917.

  29. Richards diary, 9 March 1916

  30. Hayward diary, 9 March 1916

  31. Joyce field diary, 9 March 1916

  32. Ibid., 10 March 1916

  33. Hayward diary, 10 March 1916

  34. Joyce field diary, 10 March 1916

  35. Wild diary, 10 March 1916

  36. Hayward diary, 10 March 1916

  37. Joyce field diary, 10 March 1916

  38. Richards, The Ross Sea Shore Party

  39. Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976

  40. Richards letter to L. B. Quartermain, 19 November 1963

  41. Joyce field diary, 11 March 1916

  42. Hayward diary, 11 March 1916

  43. Joyce field diary, 11 March 1916

  44. Wild diary, 11 March 1916

  45. Joyce field diary, 11 March 1916

  46. Hayward diary, 11 March 1916

  47. Richards diary, 11 March 1916

  48. Wild diary, 11 March 1916

  49. Joyce field diary, 11 March 1916

  50. Hayward diary, 11 March 1916

  51. Ibid.

  52. Richards, interview with P. Law, December 1980

  53. Richards letter to L. B. Quartermain, 27 January 1962

  54. Cope Medical Report of the Ross Sea Base ITAE. January 1917

  55. Ibid.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Ibid.

  Chapter 17

  ‘AS HAPPY AS A PICCADILLY MASHER’

  12 March 1916

  AT HUT POINT, Joyce, Richards and Wild recuperated and made ready for their trek back to rescue Mackintosh. Hayward was to stay at the hut because he could not walk. In his interviews Richards explained that they did not immediately head south again to bring in Mackintosh because they had to recover, and mend their clothes and fur boots. In addition the sea-ice had come into the shore at Hut Point and was liable to go out at any moment. Once this happened there would be less seals about and it was essential to get a good store of meat and blubber while they could. Some of the meat they would cook to take with them when they went out to pick up Mackintosh.1

  Joyce was happy:

  Heard groans proceeding from the sleeping all night. All hands suffering from overeating.

  Turned out 8 oclock, good breakfast. Porridge Seal + Veg + Coffee more like a Banquet to us. After breakfast Richy + Wild killed a couple of seals.

  Hayward not very well all limbs swollen + black Gums very prominent. Hayward cannot hardly move. All of us in a very bad state but we must keep up exercise. my ankles + knees badly swollen, gums prominent. Wild very black around Joints + Gums very black. Richards is about the best off.

  After digging hut out which made the hut a bit comfy prepared food which will keep the scurvy down.

  The dogs have lost their lassitude + are quite frisky, except Oscar who is suffering from overfeeding.

  After a good strenuous days work turned in 10 o’clock.2

  Hayward: ‘We are all engaged dry
ing out togs &c & Joyce Richards & Wild preparing for their trip to bring in the Skipper. I need hardly say how disappointed I am at being unable see this thing through to the end.’3

  13 March 1916

  Joyce, Richards and Wild spent a second full day recovering, and making ready to go out for Mackintosh.

  Wild: ‘Spent the day drying bag & killing seals & getting ready to go for the Skipper. Today it has been blowing & drifting. We’ve been cooking seal meat to take with us & mending bags & finneskos, etc. We hope to make a start for the Skipper in the morning.’4

  Richards: ‘Hayward could only hobble.’5

  Hayward: ‘Having plenty of fresh meat & find it improving us all pretty rapidly. The others have decided to start to-morrow, so far sea-ice remains in.’6

  Joyce:

  Turned out 7 o’clock. Carried on much the same as yesterday bringing in seal blubber + meat. Preparing for departure tomorrow. Hope everyone will be alright. Made new dog harness + prepared sledge in afternoon cooked sufficient seal meat for our journey out and back + same for dogs, turned in 10 o’clock feeling much better.7

  14 March 1916

  On 14 March, Joyce, Richards, Wild and the four dogs set off south. In his book Richards tells us they left Hayward with a supply of cooked seal meat and everything he needed close by. At this time Hayward could only just move about but the others felt he would be able to manage well enough until they returned.8 The three men made excellent progress for the day to reach Safety Camp on the Barrier. They were a wild-looking party – note Joyce’s ‘racist’ description.

  Hayward: ‘Joyce R & W pulled out about 2 o/c & I start my arbitrary bachelordom for a week. How I wish I was fit & able go out again. I absolutely cannot bend my knees & to walk is agonizing.’9