The path to glory is both narrow and dark yet only giants of men with a blind resolve will exit into the light. 100 years ago today, on 5th December 1914, at 8.45 in the morning, a ship, The Endurance, sailed out of Grytviken Harbour in South Georgia. On board were 28 men and as she sailed out, the crew had no inkling that this, one of the major expeditions in what was the Golden Age of Exploration, would not only test to the limit, their own skills of endurance on a ship more aptly named for the dangers that lay ahead, it would, ultimately, also put their very existence in the hands of six of their crew. Leading the expedition was the masterful Irishman, Ernest Shackleton, a polar veteran, who, after serving with Scott on his maiden Antarctic voyage aboard Discovery, had taken the prize of reaching the much prized furthest south when taking charge of his first expedition as a leader aboard Nimrod some seven years earlier. Alongside him, hed chosen the best of the best to accompany him on this, an expedition to become the first to traverse the Antarctic continent. The skipper of the ship was a supremely talented New Zealand navigator Frank Worsley. For his second in command, hed chosen another veteran of the South Pole and a man, hed trusted in charge of provisions on his previous expedition aboard Nimrod, Yorkshireman, Frank Wild. Among his other choices were his fellow countrymen, Tim McArthy from Kinsale in Cork and the tough Kerryman,Tom Crean Crean had served alongside Shackleton on board Scotts first expedition, Discovery some 13 years earlier, so the men were no strangers. Crean further cemented his reputation after his heroic solo march which had earned him the Albert Medal for Bravery during Scotts Terra Nova expedition in which his heroics had saved the life of his commander, Teddy Evans. His was an easy choice and his name was among the first on Shackletons list. The ambition of the expedition became unattainable after the unforgiving Antarctic ice broke up the ship but the story thereafter was to become far, far greater than had they reached the original goal. In an amazing tale of survival and rescue that still today, resonates and inspires across the world, it remains the finest example of humans overcoming the harshest perils of nature in order to save their fellow men regardless of the risk to theirselves. Most of us can only marvel at the resolve, determination and courage of those who were required and expected to put their necks on the line for others under the most extreme of conditions but this was a built in character trait of the type of person missions of this nature required. Today we remember the calibre of the great Endurance explorers Crean, Shackleton, Worsley and all of the brave crew of Endurance as they set off on an expedition made historic not by its aim but for its laying down of a permanent record of the great resolve and strength of the human spirit.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:45:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015