by the late R. W. Richards, GC
It gives me singular pleasure to contribute this foreword to PolarCastaways. It is a token of gratitude written by the last survivor from the party of marooned men who arrived back in Wellington in February 1917 and were overwhelmed with the kind reception given us by the New Zealanders. This was during the darkest days of the First World War and most critical stage of that great conflict , but despite the fact that there must have been great tragedy and sadness in many New Zealand homes at that time, their welcome was kindness itself. I have never forgotten this.
Sir Ernest Shackletons South tells the full story of an ambitious failure but also records a remarkable episode in polar adventure. Many, no doubt, at the time wondered how such an ambitious project as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition could be undertaken during the war. As explained in South, the expedition was organised well in advance and was just setting out from England in August 1914 when war was declared. Shackleton immediately offered the expeditions resources to the Admiralty but was given the laconic instruction Proceed, so, with also the blessing of the King, the expedition set out.
No fears were entertained at that time as to the outcome of the conflict. The press were agog with stories of the Russian Steamroller that was rolling west to overwhelm Germany and many thought the war would be over by Christmas. In fact, while we were away the war was very seldom a topic of conversation.
How mistaken we were! I well remember that day in January 1917 when Aurora had just arrived in McMurdo Sound to effect our rescue and had tied up to sea ice some miles off shore at Cape Evans. When we survivors had reached two or three miles from the ship, three small black figures detached themselves from Aurora and we slowly came together. To our surprise, the three men (Sir Ernest Shackleton, Commander Moyes and Dr Middleton) lay down on the ice. They later explained that this was the signal arranged with Captain Davis on the ship to indicate the number, if any, who had perished.
One of the first questions asked of the rescuers was when the war had ended. The reply staggered us, for the situation was described as worse than ever. We had left in 1914 with the somewhat naive outlook of that time. What we learned from the relief party and the newspapers they had on board was a devastating shock to us. Since December 1914 we had heard absolutely nothing of what was going on during those momentous years and were completely ignorant of that fact that the world had changed and could never be the same as when we left.
However, all that is in the very distant past. In an effort to make known the struggles of ten men marooned in McMurdo Sound from early 1915 to 1917, some time ago I gave the Canterbury Museum some medals presented to me. I am indeed grateful for this opportunity, even at this late stage, to have the chance to publicly express my lifelong feeling of gratitude for the way New Zealanders received us during those trying days of the First World War.
The work now being written by Richard McElrea and David Harrowfield will, for the first time, give a complete and definitive account of the Ross Sea side of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. I think the job they are doing is first class. As one of the marooned men, I am particularly satisfied that this story is being told at long last.
R. W. Richards
Point Lonsdale
Australia
This foreword was written for the authors in the early 1980s by Richard Walter Richards, GC. Known at the time of the expedition as Wally or Richie, but more latterly as Dick, Richards was the last of the Shackleton men and died at the age of 91, on 8 May 1985.
Richard McElrea, who had the honour of giving a eulogy at his funeral, corresponded with him from the early 1970s and interviewed him in 1980. David Harrowfield also enjoyed several years of correspondence with Richards and interviewed him. Dick Richards gave generously of his time and views, which were forthright and vigorous, witty but never unkind. The authors sent him early draft manuscripts of sections of this book, and he encouraged and supported their objectives of writing this definitive account of the Ross Sea party, including the drift of the ship and the relief expedition.
The genesis for this work was a challenge made by Shackletons 1957 biographers, Margery and James Fisher, who noted that the scope of their book did not allow of an adequate treatment of the Ross Sea party side of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition:
The whole of the Ross Sea adventure, its inception, the mixture of personalities, the endless battle to contrive something out of nothing, the politics and complexities of the relief arrangements all these are material for an interesting addition to the literature of Antarctic exploration.
Polar Castaways is a response to this challenge. It covers the entire account of the Ross Sea party, including the drift of the expedition ship Aurora and the relief expedition.
The drama of this episode in Antarctic history has long been recognised. H. R. Mill wrote in 1929 of life on the very verge of existence of men who have struggled on for weeks half mad and utterly exhausted with cold and hunger and exertion
It has taken many decades for some of the details of the extreme difficulties of life under these kind of conditions, where men survived as derelicts, to emerge, as some diaries and personal material have been under strict embargo. After the expedition was over, most participants simply wanted to get on with life, to make up for time lost and apparently wasted. Inevitably, in the telling of their story, some old wounds will be reopened, but the authors hope that readers will consider this a sympathetic account.
The politics of the relief of the sledging party resulted in the overlapping of two expeditions. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition terminated after the survivors of the Ross Sea party returned to New Zealand in February 1917. The requisitioning of the expedition ship in 1916, arguably without legal authority, by the three governments footing the bill for the relief of the party, was the precursor to what those governments termed the Aurora relief expedition, whose leader was Captain J. K. Davis.
Richard McElrea started gathering material for the book in the 1970s following work as a volunteer at the historic sites at Cape Evans, Hut Point and Cape Royds in 1971. At Cape Evans, he and fellow New Zealand Antarctic Society volunteer Harry Burson retrieved the unique man-and-dog harness used by the Ross Sea party from outside the hut, and had it identified by Dick Richards, a veteran of the expedition. Richard McElrea visited archival institutions in England, Australia and New Zealand, and established contact with survivors and families of many of the expedition members. Some years later, he wrote an extensive manuscript the precursor of this book in conjunction with David Harrowfield, who joined the project in 1981. Copies of early sections were sent to Richards, who was a great supporter of the authors work.
