Antarctic Centenary Celebration 29th March 2012
Given that I have been writing about the RRS 'Discovery' and the Antarctic for the past few months, I thought that readers wouldlike to know that I received an invitation to attend the above event along with members of Dundee Heritage Trust, which I did and fely very privilaged to be there among the wide range of people who gathered to Celebrate the Centenary of the British Antarctic (Terra Nova) Expedition 1910 - 1913 led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott CVO RN.
The atmosphere within the cathredral was sombre and those who spoke in the near hour long ceremony told of the heroics of the small band of men led by Scott who bravely took part in the Expedition. Scott and his colleagues did make it to the South Pole only to find that Roald Amundsen had got there before them. The return journey from the pole proved to be a step too far for Scott and his men, Dr Adrian Wilson, Captain Laurence Edward Oates, Lieutenant Henry Robertson Bowers and Petty Officer Edgar Evans who all perished on that fateful return journey during February and March 1912.
The service began in the presence of Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal and throughout at their allotted times, contributions were made by Sir David Attenborough; Falcon Scott, Grandson of Captain Robert Falcon Scott; Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, The First Sea Lord; Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, who read the second lesson; Professor Julian Dowdeswell, Director of the Polar Research Institute University of Cambridge; Dr David Wilson, a Great Nephew of Dr Edward Wilson; Alderman Jeffery Evans, a grandson of Lieutenant Evans and Philippa Foster Black, Chairman of UKAHT.
For me the most moving moment was when Sir David Attenborough read the Commemoration, which was the last letter Scott wrote before he died and I record his words here:
'We arrived within 11 miles of our One Ton Camp with fuel for one last meal and food for two days. For four days we have been unable to leave the tent - the gale howling about us. We are weak, writing is difficult, but for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great fortitude as ever in the past. We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of providence, determined still to do our best to the last. But if we had been willing to give our lives to this enterprise, which is for the honour of our country, I appeal to our countrymen to see that those who depend on us are properly cared for. Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale, but surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for'.
The RRS 'Discovery' and my involvement with that ship for many years was vividly brought back as I sat within the vastness that is St Pauls Cathredral among the Great and the Good. I have already written about the hardships endured by the men of the Discovery between 1901 and 1904 when Robert Falcon Scott led that Expedition and was Captain of the ship. Those hardships pale into nothing when one sits and vainly tries to imagine what Scott and his men suffered in those last days in the tent. Explorers were special people back then and it is right that they be remembered now more than 100 years later. Arctic and Antarctic explorers of today have the advantage of modern technology, modern logistics and comforts beyond the wildest dreams of those early men who first ventured forth to provide the world with further information about this, our own planet. Scott was not the last of that group of men who ventured into the Antarctic between 1901 and 1904 to die. Earnest Shackleton too died leading his Expedition in the Antarctic on the 5th of January 1922 of a heart attack in South Georgia. He had been Third Officer on board the Discovery over 20 years earlier.
It would appear that I am ending my story of the
RRS 'Discovery' on a down-beat note. Nothing could be further from the truth because the ship lives on and her successors continued the work she started.
The Scott Polar Research Institute is located in Cambridge, England and its web site is well worth a visit where one can linkin to those who continue the work in the Antarctic Continent.
www.spri.cam.ac.uk
