The Race to the Pole
The race to be first to reach the South Pole was fought out between British and Norwegian groups. The British team was led by Captain Robert Scott, a Royal Navy Officer, who set out in the sailing ship Terra Nova in June 1910 with 65 men. The Norwegian party was led by Roald Amundsen, an experienced skier and explorer of the northern Polar Regions. His party left from Oslo the same month as Scott's party. Amundsen on a specially designed ice skipping ship, the Fram, with 33 men and 53 dogs. When Captain Scott’s ship docked in Melbourne on his way south, he heard about Amundsen’s plan to reach the pole.
On the 14th December 1911, Roald Amundsen and his team reached the pole. Scott lost the race, only reaching the pole on 17th January 1912. Imagine having struggled to within 43 kms of the pole only to see the flag and tracks left by Amundsen’s party a month before. After this Scott’s men lost heart for they would not come back victors. Scott’s diary records
It is a terrible disappointment, and I am very sorry for my loyal companions, Many thoughts come and much discussion have we had. To-morrow we must march on to the Pole and then hasten home with all the speed we can compass. All the day dreams must go; it will be a wearisome return. We are descending in altitude -- certainly also the Norwegians found an easy way up.
Worse was the journey of 1,290 kms ahead of them to return to their base where the ship waited, a long cold harsh journey with tired, weary and beaten men.
It is a terrible disappointment, and I am very sorry for my loyal companions, Many thoughts come and much discussion have we had. To-morrow we must march on to the Pole and then hasten home with all the speed we can compass. All the day dreams must go; it will be a wearisome return. We are descending in altitude -- certainly also the Norwegians found an easy way up.
Worse was the journey of 1,290 kms ahead of them to return to their base where the ship waited, a long cold harsh journey with tired, weary and beaten men.
Laurence Titus Oats "I am just going outside and may be some time"
|
On his return journey, Scott’s expedition faced terrible weather and temperatures as low as -44oC. With food and fuel low, Captain Scott and his team were trapped in their tents in a blizzard. On the 17th March 1912, Laurence ‘Titus’ Oates sacrificed himself to stretch the meagre food supplies. He walked off into the howling blizzard and into immortality with the exit line: “I am just going outside and may be some time” as he left. This was portrayed in the Douglas Stewart play, “The Fire on the Snow”. Scott and all his men starved to death. Their tent was just 18 kilometres from the stockpile of food and fuel which would have saved them.
The expedition finish was recorded in Scott’s diary, the last entry on 29th March reads We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity but I do not think that I can write more. For God’s sake look after our people. |
Everything wasn’t perfect for Amundsen either, out of all his 53 dogs he took to the South Pole only 11 returned alive. Some were shot to provide food for the other dogs.
Scott made a lot of mistakes in his expedition to the Antarctic: his supplies were insufficient for the long journey; he was inexperienced with the weather; he chose horses that weren’t prepared for the extreme cold; his woollen jackets and jumpers where not as well designed for the Antarctic environment as those worn by the Norwegian team; Amundsen chose sledge dogs while Scott chose to use horses (they aren’t the best in cold weather), also Amundsen was suited to the climate because Norway where he grew up is a cold, hard, land that snows pretty much all year long. Scott picked a well-known but longer path, whereas Amundsen chose a shorter route but an unexplored part of Antarctica. For Amundsen this paid off because it was quicker and easier to pass. Another reason why Scott failed was that Scott and his crew weren’t skilled skiers and Amundsen and his crew were: for example when Scott was tackling the Beardmore Glacier he realised that the slopes would be quicker if he had skies.
|
The two routes taken by Scott and Amundsen
|
Lastly, Captain Scott didn’t take into the account that the scientific work he was doing would slow him down. On his return trip Scott’s team was carrying not only the scientific equipment but 18 kilograms of rock samples the expedition had collected. Some of which were found when their bodies were recovered were plant fossils from 250 million years ago when Antarctica was covered in forests.
The television programme Horrible Histories imagines the expedition’s checklist as Scott's ship the Terra Nova sailed out of the River Thames:
The television programme Horrible Histories imagines the expedition’s checklist as Scott's ship the Terra Nova sailed out of the River Thames:
It would seem that Roald Amundsen should be the hero of the race: he came back alive with all his men having discovered large parts of the Antarctic. But what did he get? Even though Amundsen won the race to the South Pole, Amundsen was ignored outside of Norway even though he made all the right choices. Scott and Amundsen had both kept diaries, Scott’s got published but Amundsen’s never got published!! When Amundsen attended a dinner at the Royal Geographical Society in London in 1912, the president, Lord Curzon, offered a toast – not to Amundsen, but to his dog teams!!!!!
Looking at these choices, you can see why Roland Huntford in his 1979 book, ‘Scott and Amundsen’ (later a TV series ‘Last place on earth’) said "Scott was the knight in shining armour and Amundsen was written out of the script. But on every point I found Amundsen coming out on top”.
On the other hand, there is no doubt of Scott’s bravery, and he was applauded for how he died. You could say he was an Englishmen to the end, even though he died and took all his men with him.
Looking at these choices, you can see why Roland Huntford in his 1979 book, ‘Scott and Amundsen’ (later a TV series ‘Last place on earth’) said "Scott was the knight in shining armour and Amundsen was written out of the script. But on every point I found Amundsen coming out on top”.
On the other hand, there is no doubt of Scott’s bravery, and he was applauded for how he died. You could say he was an Englishmen to the end, even though he died and took all his men with him.
My thoughts
I think it was right for Amundsen to win because he chose all the right equipment, was prepared, and ready for the task, and succeeded. Amundsen was fast and agile he could cover 40kms in a day. Even though Scott died, he died mainly because of bad weather. If he had gone at another time, he could have lived. He also died holding scientific samples in his hand, for that he has my respect, but he doesn’t have my full support. Scott should have had more experience before diving head first into the Antarctic wasteland--and No I Am Not Norwegian.