ERNEST HENRY SHACKLETON

After the Endurance expedition, almost all of the ship’s crew played a part in WW1. In 1917 Shackleton was sent to South America by the British Government on a propaganda exercise to try and drum up what support he could for the allies from neutral countries. He returned home and was posted as Major, with the North Russian Expeditionary force in charge of supplies. In February 1919 he resigned his post.

Shackleton had been dogged with ill health for a number of years, even before the Endurance expedition. This did not stop him from planning one final trip South. John Quiller Rowett, a friend from his Dulwich College days, was persuaded by Shackleton to finance an expedition. He had originally intended to explore the Beaufort Sea on behalf of the Canadian Government, but this fell through. Instead the Quest set sail from England in September 1921. Her main mission was to explore the regions around Enderby Land.

The Quest reached South Georgia on 4th January 1922 after much delay due to engine failure. At around 2:45 am on 5th January Shackleton began to suffer from acute chest pains, Dr. Macklin was summoned. Ten minutes later Shackleton lay dead. Cause of death was a massive heart attack.

His body was at first sent on its way back to England. But at the wishes of his wife Emily, the ship turned around and he was laid to rest two months later by the crew of the Quest on South Georgia.

The famous historian of the time R.N. Rudmose Brown, perhaps summed up the man Shackleton in the minimum of words, when he wrote:

“Shackleton found in polar exploration an outlet for his restless energy, love of adventure, and zest for life. In the more orderly walks of civilisation his lack of convention, his intolerance of shams, and his impetuous candour made him less easy to satisfy. His success as an explorer lay in the boldness of his conceptions, his resourcefulness, and his good leadership.”

Frank Worsley wrote that in the 22 years of his life that Shackleton devoted to Polar work :

“He had forced his way to within 97 miles of the South Pole and had returned with all his men. He discovered the Beardmore Glacier and added over 200 miles of Antarctic coastline to the map. He had been the means of enabling the Magnetic South Pole to be located."

Shackleton achieved other firsts. He and his men from Endurance,were the first ever to set foot on Elephant Island . He made the fist ever crossing of Drakes Passage in an open boat from Elephant Island to South Georgia. He was the first to trek across the interior of South Georgia.

Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton, the are the men most remembered from the golden age of polar exploration. Amundsen for reaching the South Pole first. Scott for being second , and paying the ultimate price with his life.

Shackleton was perhaps the odd one out. As an explorer he achieved hardly any of his intended goals. He was a bad businessman and something of a womaniser and was not a particularly good father to his children. He was a lover of poetry and quite a good writer of poems himself.

Those who served under Shackleton and knew him, came to admire him for his free spirit and love of adventure. He took many risks and sometimes made bad judgements, yet he always pulled through and put the well being of his men before anything else. During his years in Antarctica he never lost a single man under his protection. 

Shackleton received many awards and honours during his life, not just from Britain but also from all around the world. He is remembered in perpetuity in Canada where Mount Shackleton is named after him. In Antarctica , The Shackleton Ice Shelf, and Shackleton Inlet , in Greenland where there is also a Mount Shackleton, and London where his status by Charles Jagger stands outside the Royal Geographical Society building in Kensington. Shackleton even had an aircraft named after him, the Avro Shackleton. 

The Avro Shackleton aircraft

On 2nd March 1922 a memorial service was held for him at St. Paul’s Cathedral. London. Among the many dignitaries in attendance were King George V and Queen Mary.

Shackleton’s story has always been over shadowed by Captain Robert Scott’s epic trek to the South Pole. WW1 was still raging when Shackleton and his men returned home from the Endurance expedition. The British public and press had more pressing things on their minds .

It was only after WWII, long after Shackleton’s death that his story gained worldwide acknowledgment. He was without doubt one of the 20th Centuries true heroic figures.

Amundsen wrote of Shackleton: “Sir Ernest Shackleton's name will for evermore be engraved with letters of fire in the history of Antarctic Exploration. Courage and willpower can make miracles. I know of no better example that what that man has accomplished.”

In 2002 a national phone pole was held to establish who were the 100 Greatest Britain’s of all time. Robert Falcon Scott ranked No.54. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton No.11. !

Sir Winston Churchill, who had doubted the merits of Shackleton’s 1914/16 expedition, was voted No.1.