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Early attempts on the Pole

By the late 19th century, Antarctica was the last unexplored continent on earth. Unknown whale and seal hunters were probably the first human beings to set foot on the continent, looking for commercial opportunities. Rich Western nations eventually began to take an interest in this inhospitable terrain, with Britain, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Norway, France and Belgium all planning expeditions to Antarctica in the early years of the 20th century. They would compete against each other in its discovery, to gain knowledge and claim new territory. The geographical prize was the South Pole - the most remote spot on earth.

Captain Robert Falcon Scott had already been to Antarctica prior to his ill-fated Terra Nova expedition (1910-13). He commanded the Government-funded Discovery expedition (1901-4), which undertook significant scientific work. It was also the first British expedition to make an attempt to reach the Pole. The three-man polar party comprising Scott, his friend Dr Edward Wilson and the young Ernest Shackleton, reached within 660km (410 miles) of the Pole, setting a new 'furthest south' record. Scott returned a hero.

The 'Terra Nova' lying off Barne Glacier in February 1911  © Differences with Scott spurred Shackleton to mount his own expedition in Nimrod (1907-9). Although he carried out a scientific programme, his avowed aim was to be the first man to reach the South Pole. His privately funded expedition nearly reached its goal when, on 9 January 1909, Shackleton planted the Union flag within 160km (100 miles) of the Pole. To push on to the Pole would have meant certain death and the four men were lucky to return alive.

Preparations

Midwinter Day dinner, 22 June 1911, with Captain Scott at the head of the table  © Scott had always planned to return to the icy continent, well before the Nimrod expedition set off. When he learnt that Shackleton's attempt on the Pole was unsuccessful, he was determined to reach it himself. However, as he prepared for his expedition with considerable media attention, a rival was secretly planning his own expedition to claim the Pole.

The Norwegian Captain Roald Amundsen was already a celebrated explorer. He had sailed through the North West Passage (1903-6) and was one of the first men to winter south of the Antarctic Circle, on board the Belgica in 1898. His dream as a boy was to be the first man to set foot at the North Pole, but in 1909 there were two American claims to have reached it. The rival explorers bitterly contested each other's claims, but for Amundsen, his dream was shattered. He turned the focus of his Fram expedition (1910-12) to the South Pole, refusing to share his ideas in case people stopped him from making his attempt.

Scott in his den at Cape Evans  © Meanwhile Scott continued with his public plans, organising equipment and provisions and recruiting men. In addition to seamen and scientists, Scott decided to take paying guests, among them one Captain Lawrence Oates, an army officer, who agreed to take responsibility for the ponies. The Terra Nova eventually left Cardiff in June 1910. Scott stopped off in Australia and it was here that he received a perplexing telegram from Amundsen, who had sailed the Fram to the island of Madeira in the Atlantic.

'Beg leave to inform you Fram proceeding Antarctic. Amundsen'

This was all he would learn of the Norwegian's mysterious ambitions. Even Amundsen's men were only told of their leader's plans in Madeira. Amundsen gave them all the option to quit the expedition if they objected, but not one left. Despite the trepidation natural before exploring an unfamiliar continent, the Norwegian team was experienced in Arctic travel, and Amundsen was confident that the skis and dogs used in the Arctic would be just as suitable for travelling across the Antarctic continent.

Setting up camp

Birdie Bowers and Teddy Evans take lunch in the tent  © The British party arrived in Antarctica in January 1911 and set up camp on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound. Scott planned to follow the route Shackleton had pioneered towards the Pole, up the Beardmore Glacier on to the Polar Plateau. Early in the year, prior to setting off on the journey to the Pole, teams laid food and equipment depots on the route. On these arduous trips, Scott's motor sledges broke down and the ponies suffered in the extreme cold. As a result, the polar party's main 'One Ton' depot was not as far south as Scott intended. This had grim consequences for their return journey from the Pole.

The Norwegian expedition arrived further along the Ross Ice Shelf at the Bay of Whales in January 1911, about 640km (400 miles) from the British camp. They took the risk of setting up their base camp, called 'Framheim' (Fram home), on the ice itself. Like the British, Amundsen and his men spent the first months of the expedition making extensive preparations and laying supply depots southwards. However, by using expertly trained dog teams, these vital supplies extended much further south than Scott's did. Amundsen rightly anticipated that there were alternative routes to the Polar Plateau and the Norwegian team pioneered a new route.

Roald Amundsen in the Antarctic  © Amundsen set off for the Pole early in the season but temperatures of -40°C soon drove the Norwegian team back to the safety of the hut. This chaotic episode prompted a mutiny from one of the men, Hjalmer Johansen, who was a famous explorer in his own right and felt justified in criticising his leader. Amundsen could not tolerate dissent at this stage and reduced the Polar party from eight to five.

Johansen never recovered from this ignominious end to his career and later, after the team had returned to Norway, he committed suicide . Amundsen's handpicked men included his loyal follower, Oscar Wisting, Olav Bjaaland - a skiing champion - and the two expert dog-drivers, Helmer Hanssen and Sverre Hassel. The party finally left for the Pole with over 50 dogs on 20 October.

The race is on

Scott's party set off on a sledging journey  © On 1 November 1911, Scott left base camp with support parties, motor sledges, dogs and ponies for his journey south. The race had begun at last. Amundsen knew of Scott's innovative motor sledges and feared the advantage they gave him, but unknown to him, they were soon abandoned due to mechanical failure in the cold. As Scott's men laid more depots, individual support teams and dogs successively turned back.

The horse expert, Captain Oates, clashed with Scott over the welfare of the ponies, which were clearly not suited to the icy terrain and extreme cold. As the ponies weakened, they were shot to provide meat - some were left as food for their return. The march across the ice was slow but the men were generally in good spirits. When Scott ordered the last of the dog teams back to base camp, the men pulled their heavy sledges themselves using man-harnesses. It was exhausting work but Scott believed it was less cruel than using animals and more noble.

Relying on the skill of his two expert dog-drivers, Amundsen's party made swift progress up the newly discovered Axel Heiberg Glacier and across the Polar Plateau. At 3pm on 15 December 1911 (the date is sometimes given as 14 December - the difference being due to differing interpretations of the international date line), the Norwegian train halted: they had reached the Pole. Amundsen's diary entry for this momentous occasion was typically succinct:

So we arrived and were able to plant our flag at the geographical South Pole. God be thanked!

Olav Bjaaland took snapshots of the historic moment with his personal camera as Amundsen's expedition camera failed to work. Later, he was drawn into the photographs when they were published around the world. All Amundsen had to do now was make sure the men got back to civilisation first with the news, as he was not sure how close Scott was behind him.

Amundsen's flag, flown at the South Pole  © Scott did not choose the team for the final push to the Pole until the last support party turned back, about 240km (150 miles) from the goal. It was at this moment he decided to include a fifth man. The extra man was the diminutive Scotsman Lieutenant Henry 'Birdie' Bowers, who had the kind of character that appealed to Scott - mentally strong, versatile and determined. In addition to Bowers, the man-hauling polar party comprised Scott, his friend Dr Edward Wilson, the strong Welshman Petty Officer Edgar Evans and Captain Oates, who represented the army. The five-man team created significant difficulties in managing use of rations and fuel.

The race is on

Captain Robert Falcon Scott in his sledging gear  © On 17 January 1912, Scott arrived at the Pole - 33 days after Amundsen. It was Bowers who first caught sight of a camp in the distance and concrete evidence of a Norwegian victory. As well as the Norwegians' black marker flag, they also left a tent containing surplus equipment. Amundsen had even left Scott a note to deliver to the King of Norway in case he did not return. The temperature had dropped to -30°C, eight degrees lower than for the Norwegians. The dispirited men took pictures and left quickly. Scott wrote gloomily in his diary:

The POLE. Yes, but under very different circumstances from those expected. Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority.

Scott flew his sledging flag at the South Pole  © All the men were suffering from slow starvation, hypothermia and almost certainly scurvy (a debilitating condition caused by a vitamin C deficiency).

Petty Officer Evans was the first man to die on 17 February - he had stumbled behind the group until he slipped into a coma. A month later on 17 March, Captain Oates, crippled with frostbite, walked out of the party's tent; it was his 32nd birthday. Scott immortalised the courageous army officer in his diary, writing that as he left he said:

I am just going outside and may be some time... We knew that Oates was walking to his death... it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman.

A few days later, the three remaining men were lying in their tent waiting for death. A swirling blizzard confined them to their sleeping bags, while One Ton depot lay only 11 miles away. Scott was the only one keeping his diary:

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 I can write more - R Scott.

The race to the Pole was over.

Find out more

Books

South: The race to the Pole by Pieter van der Merwe (Greenhill, 2000)

A first rate tragedy by Diana Preston (Mariner, 1999)

The South Pole by Roald Amundsen (C Hurst & Co, 2001)

Pinnacle of Antarctica by John E Rugg (1stBooks, 2001)

About the author

Sian Flynn curated the 'South: the race to the Pole' exhibition (September 2000 to January 2002) at the National Maritime Museum, London, bringing together nearly 200 objects relating to Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen, as well as contributing to the accompanying book.