1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:01:05,770 --> 00:01:09,910 From my first voyage with my brother in Akaroa, New Zealand, 4 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,310 I knew I would spend my life on the ocean. 5 00:01:20,650 --> 00:01:23,057 Growing up as a colonial boy 6 00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:30,310 the freedom I enjoyed instilled in me a love of adventure that was to shape my destiny. 7 00:01:42,450 --> 00:01:46,940 I am fortunate to have lived in a golden age of exploration 8 00:01:46,940 --> 00:01:52,870 and doubly blessed to have played a part in one of the greatest expeditions of that time. 9 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,870 It’s been said that early explorers were perhaps the astronauts of their day. 10 00:01:57,890 --> 00:02:00,940 And for people like captain Frank Worsley, 11 00:02:00,940 --> 00:02:02,820 his whole life was adventure 12 00:02:02,850 --> 00:02:05,680 and Antarctica was the last frontier. 13 00:02:08,910 --> 00:02:15,140 We set out to explore a continent but we became trapped by the ice. 14 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,250 In today’s standards it’s like being on a space station, cut loose. 15 00:02:21,260 --> 00:02:24,570 And they thought, you know, there’s just no way of salvation. 16 00:02:24,710 --> 00:02:26,570 They had stepped off the planet. 17 00:02:28,140 --> 00:02:35,140 For nearly two years, we struggled to find the courage to survive in one of the cruellest places on earth. 18 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,620 It’s a position that explorers often get into. 19 00:02:38,630 --> 00:02:42,680 Some how they have to find a reason for existence and a reason for carrying on. 20 00:02:44,220 --> 00:02:48,800 Through out our journey the hardships we suffered taught us, 21 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,600 it takes more strength to live than to die. 22 00:03:10,170 --> 00:03:12,420 Lord and Lady Heyward, 23 00:03:12,540 --> 00:03:16,280 Ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured to have been asked to speak with you 24 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:17,250 this evening. 25 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,050 My story begins in London. 26 00:03:20,450 --> 00:03:22,050 It was 1914. 27 00:03:22,050 --> 00:03:25,940 I had been a sailor all my life and had Captained many ships. 28 00:03:26,650 --> 00:03:31,820 One night I dreamt I was navigating between icebergs down a city street. 29 00:03:32,370 --> 00:03:34,710 The dream was extremely vivid 30 00:03:34,710 --> 00:03:37,480 I recognized I was in Burlington Street. 31 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,620 When I awoke I went there immediately and 32 00:03:40,620 --> 00:03:46,080 stumbled upon the headquarters of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. 33 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,170 where I met the great Explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton 34 00:03:50,170 --> 00:03:52,940 who was hiring men to join him. 35 00:03:53,710 --> 00:03:56,910 Shackleton had been twice to Antarctica before. 36 00:03:56,910 --> 00:03:59,800 He’d got within a whisker of the south pole in 1909. 37 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,370 When he came back, he was knighted. 38 00:04:02,370 --> 00:04:04,370 He was a big celebrity. 39 00:04:04,570 --> 00:04:06,370 Hugely ambitious. 40 00:04:06,370 --> 00:04:07,480 Huge ego. 41 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,250 A great buccaneering adventurer. 42 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:13,850 When Shackleton hired men, 43 00:04:13,850 --> 00:04:17,280 he did it completely with a gut instinct. 44 00:04:17,820 --> 00:04:24,000 Worsley was so full of exuberance and enthusiasm for things. 45 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,650 And I think Shackleton would recognise that 46 00:04:27,650 --> 00:04:32,370 as something that would give a phenomenal amount of lift to an expedition. 47 00:04:32,370 --> 00:04:35,450 And he had a very good background as a captain. 48 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:41,000 He had had by then 25 years experience at sea. 49 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:45,570 He had sailed most of the major oceans 50 00:04:45,910 --> 00:04:51,940 Shackleton hired Frank Worsley then and there as the captain of the ship. 51 00:04:52,650 --> 00:04:55,650 Sir Ernest’s plan was to set off from Argentina, 52 00:04:55,650 --> 00:04:58,770 collect supplies from a whaling station on South Georgia, 53 00:04:58,770 --> 00:05:01,650 and then sail on to the Antarctic coast. 54 00:05:02,050 --> 00:05:03,800 From there a team of six men 55 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:08,600 would attempt to be the first to traverse Antarctica by way of the pole. 56 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,480 Another ship would land on the Ross Sea side of the continent 57 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,200 leaving provisions for the second half of the trek. 58 00:05:16,170 --> 00:05:21,770 The early 20th century, Antarctica was the next great frontier. 59 00:05:21,770 --> 00:05:27,510 It was just a huge unknown land just waiting to be explored. 60 00:05:27,510 --> 00:05:30,650 Amundsen had got to the south pole in 1911. 61 00:05:30,650 --> 00:05:33,650 Scott had got there in 1912 and died. 62 00:05:33,650 --> 00:05:38,220 So crossing the Antarctic was the last great challenge in the last place on earth. 63 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,080 Every time I give this talk I’m struck by the irony 64 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:48,250 that while I’ve commanded many ships 65 00:05:48,250 --> 00:05:51,620 I seem destined to be remembered for the one I lost. 66 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,740 Her name was Endurance. 67 00:05:55,740 --> 00:05:59,850 And I don’t believe I shall ever sail a pluckier vessel. 68 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:11,220 On October 26th, 1914 we set off from Buenos Aires. 69 00:06:15,110 --> 00:06:20,050 On board was Australian photographer and filmmaker Frank Hurley. 70 00:06:20,050 --> 00:06:23,510 Whose wonderful images both still and moving 71 00:06:23,510 --> 00:06:26,220 make it possible for me to share my story with you. 72 00:06:26,230 --> 00:06:27,970 Worsley was a good lecturer. 73 00:06:27,970 --> 00:06:29,970 He went on tours. 74 00:06:29,970 --> 00:06:32,600 The popular press loved him. 75 00:06:33,740 --> 00:06:36,170 He was a natural on the circuit. 76 00:06:36,170 --> 00:06:38,170 He had an agent. 77 00:06:38,770 --> 00:06:41,140 Shackleton was there at the top. 78 00:06:41,140 --> 00:06:45,710 Untouchable. Um, the great man. 79 00:06:46,820 --> 00:06:51,940 But he didn’t have the common touch that Frank Worsley had. 80 00:06:52,650 --> 00:06:55,140 And this was a good story. 81 00:06:58,220 --> 00:07:02,110 Shackleton knew that films would be absolutely key 82 00:07:02,110 --> 00:07:05,310 to selling the adventure that he was planning. 83 00:07:05,620 --> 00:07:07,510 It was just as it is these days. 84 00:07:07,510 --> 00:07:11,310 Sponsorship was key to being able to put anything together. 85 00:07:14,050 --> 00:07:19,050 And having a film, especially in those days when film was fairly new – 86 00:07:19,050 --> 00:07:21,140 was extremely important. 87 00:07:24,342 --> 00:07:29,771 Shackleton was a very early version of today’s PR man. 88 00:07:33,171 --> 00:07:36,228 He made sure that when you signed up for the expedition, 89 00:07:36,342 --> 00:07:40,342 you signed over the rights to your diaries and journals. 90 00:07:40,628 --> 00:07:44,571 He made sure that it was always the Shackleton expedition. 91 00:07:46,228 --> 00:07:47,657 Like many great leaders, 92 00:07:47,657 --> 00:07:49,714 Shackleton seems to have had an ability 93 00:07:49,714 --> 00:07:53,942 to gather around him a group of people who provided 94 00:07:53,942 --> 00:07:57,171 all the talents that he might not necessarily have had himself. 95 00:07:57,171 --> 00:07:59,171 And always with himself, 96 00:07:59,171 --> 00:08:02,142 Shackleton is the reflection of all those talents. 97 00:08:02,142 --> 00:08:04,257 The focus of attention. 98 00:08:13,628 --> 00:08:16,970 Of the 5000 men who applied, 99 00:08:16,970 --> 00:08:16,971 Of the 5000 men who applied, Shackleton hired 26 to crew the expedition. 100 00:08:16,971 --> 00:08:20,771 Shackleton hired 26 to crew the expedition. 101 00:08:21,114 --> 00:08:23,571 There was also one stowaway, 102 00:08:23,714 --> 00:08:27,571 two pigs and 69 Canadian sled dogs. 103 00:08:31,771 --> 00:08:35,628 Even a hardened man like first officer Frank Wild 104 00:08:35,628 --> 00:08:39,200 enjoyed the company of our four legged shipmates. 105 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:51,428 It took eleven days to sail 106 00:08:51,428 --> 00:08:55,685 from Buenos Aires to a Norwegian whaling station on South Georgia. 107 00:09:03,628 --> 00:09:10,828 It was a harsh place where the smell of blood and blubber permeated the air. 108 00:09:26,657 --> 00:09:30,057 The two tons of whale meat we purchased 109 00:09:30,057 --> 00:09:34,057 would help sustain both man and dog in the months to come. 110 00:09:43,285 --> 00:09:47,600 It was early summer but much colder than usual. 111 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:49,142 When they got to South Georgia. 112 00:09:49,142 --> 00:09:52,514 The Norwegians warned Shackleton that the ice conditions 113 00:09:52,514 --> 00:09:55,142 to the south were worse than they’ve ever seen. 114 00:09:55,571 --> 00:09:58,971 And they advised him strongly not to go. 115 00:10:00,542 --> 00:10:02,542 Despite the whaler’s advice 116 00:10:02,657 --> 00:10:09,171 a determined Sir Ernest gave the order to set sail on December 5, 1914. 117 00:10:12,971 --> 00:10:16,885 At first it seemed as though the whalers’ warnings had been unfounded. 118 00:10:16,885 --> 00:10:21,142 For three days the conditions were favourable and we made good progress. 119 00:10:21,685 --> 00:10:27,714 Then, a thousand miles further North than expected we encountered the enemy… 120 00:10:28,457 --> 00:10:29,714 pack ice. 121 00:10:46,428 --> 00:10:50,114 By any rational analysis the decision 122 00:10:50,114 --> 00:10:54,057 to push on into the Weddell Sea was ludicrous. 123 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,685 All the signs were against it. 124 00:10:56,742 --> 00:11:00,142 The Norwegian whalers on South Georgia told them before they set off. 125 00:11:00,142 --> 00:11:01,885 It’s crazy. You’re not going to get through. 126 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,514 Worsley on several occasions spoke to Shackleton about the conditions of the ice 127 00:11:20,542 --> 00:11:23,800 and that he thought that it wasn’t going to get any better. 128 00:11:25,057 --> 00:11:27,685 But Shackleton elected to continue. 129 00:11:44,457 --> 00:11:47,885 You have to put into context where Shackleton was coming from. 130 00:11:48,285 --> 00:11:50,885 He was desperate to get away. 131 00:11:50,885 --> 00:11:54,257 He was openly having an affair with an American actress 132 00:11:54,428 --> 00:11:57,200 and so life at home can’t have been too rosy. 133 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,685 And his brother, 134 00:11:59,690 --> 00:12:02,542 Frank Shackleton was implicated in a fraud 135 00:12:02,550 --> 00:12:07,257 so the shit was hitting the fan as far as Shackleton was concerned at home. 136 00:12:07,260 --> 00:12:12,485 And also it would have been a crushing blow to his ego to turn around and go back. 137 00:12:16,057 --> 00:12:19,457 And so against all common sense, 138 00:12:19,457 --> 00:12:25,228 he somehow persuaded his captain Worsley to push on regardless into the ice. 139 00:12:39,714 --> 00:12:44,571 Hurley captured our progress from all manner of precarious perches. 140 00:12:44,857 --> 00:12:48,314 More than once he used colourful Australian language 141 00:12:48,314 --> 00:12:51,457 to accuse me of trying to throw him into the frozen sea. 142 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,485 We were travelling through a city of ice. 143 00:13:20,771 --> 00:13:23,542 Some of the bergs were miles wide, 144 00:13:23,542 --> 00:13:26,828 and loomed like white castles. 145 00:13:36,542 --> 00:13:40,971 Negotiating a route through pack was taking its toll 146 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,114 and we began to fall well behind schedule. 147 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,742 The continental crossing could only be achieved in the Antarctic summer. 148 00:13:48,742 --> 00:13:52,314 But rather than making landfall at the first opportunity 149 00:13:52,428 --> 00:13:57,371 the Boss wanted to push as far South as he could to shorten the trek. 150 00:13:58,028 --> 00:14:04,200 Then just 60 miles from our destination progress halted altogether. 151 00:14:15,257 --> 00:14:21,085 Shackleton didn’t take the opportunity of going to a relatively close point on the coast that they could see. 152 00:14:21,257 --> 00:14:22,514 Ah, he kept going. 153 00:14:22,620 --> 00:14:25,600 And Frank Worsley of course, he didn’t have much say in the matter 154 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:25,685 in terms of the ambitious nature of Shackleton’s dream to cross the continent. And Frank Worsley of course, he didn’t have much say in the matter 155 00:14:25,685 --> 00:14:30,760 in terms of the ambitious nature of Shackleton’s dream to cross the continent. 156 00:14:30,771 --> 00:14:32,650 So he was driven forward 157 00:14:32,650 --> 00:14:32,657 So he was driven forward and that sealed the fate of the Endurance. 158 00:14:32,657 --> 00:14:34,650 and that sealed the fate of the Endurance. 159 00:14:36,171 --> 00:14:39,910 Worsley was the captain of the ship. But Shackleton was the leader of the expedition 160 00:14:39,910 --> 00:14:39,914 Worsley was the captain of the ship. But Shackleton was the leader of the expedition and what the boss said, the boss got. 161 00:14:39,914 --> 00:14:42,200 and what the boss said, the boss got. 162 00:14:48,628 --> 00:14:51,714 The ice closed in around the Endurance. 163 00:14:52,057 --> 00:14:53,828 It was the height of summer 164 00:14:53,828 --> 00:14:56,771 but we could see no water in any direction. 165 00:15:02,542 --> 00:15:09,220 Worsley never ever criticises Shackleton for basically getting them into this terrible predicament. 166 00:15:09,220 --> 00:15:09,228 Worsley never ever criticises Shackleton for basically getting them into this terrible predicament. He seemed to have had a willingness to present things in a positive light. 167 00:15:09,228 --> 00:15:13,657 He seemed to have had a willingness to present things in a positive light. 168 00:15:15,371 --> 00:15:18,800 I could not dwell on the gravity of our situation. 169 00:15:19,314 --> 00:15:21,600 My logbook entry reads simply, 170 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:23,714 “We therefore lie to for awhile, 171 00:15:23,714 --> 00:15:25,714 to see if the Pack will open at all 172 00:15:25,714 --> 00:15:28,257 or when this North Easterly wind ceases.” 173 00:15:28,685 --> 00:15:30,542 …but it did not open. 174 00:15:31,257 --> 00:15:34,657 We were tantalisingly close to our destination 175 00:15:34,942 --> 00:15:36,857 but as our storekeeper put it, 176 00:15:36,971 --> 00:15:41,542 we were stuck “like an almond in the middle of a chocolate bar”. 177 00:15:46,085 --> 00:15:48,257 They thought it was just a temporary hold up. 178 00:15:48,257 --> 00:15:53,200 May be having to winter over it meant that expedition was going to put, be well behind time. 179 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:59,000 But Shackleton of course never actually admitted just how serious the situation was. 180 00:16:03,485 --> 00:16:07,428 A month later open water was spotted in the distance 181 00:16:07,428 --> 00:16:10,657 and a Herculean effort was made to free the ship. 182 00:16:20,228 --> 00:16:24,620 For two days we dug and chipped away at the ice 183 00:16:24,620 --> 00:16:24,628 For two days we dug and chipped away at the ice in the hope of reaching the lane of water before it closed. 184 00:16:24,628 --> 00:16:28,571 in the hope of reaching the lane of water before it closed. 185 00:16:40,771 --> 00:16:45,028 I then drove into the pack with full engines. 186 00:16:58,514 --> 00:17:02,114 But the ice was too thick to penetrate and 187 00:17:02,114 --> 00:17:07,457 and we were forced to abandon this last desperate bid for freedom. 188 00:17:12,228 --> 00:17:16,514 Finally the ice just completely glued around them and 189 00:17:16,514 --> 00:17:19,285 really it’s a case of waiting for the next year, 190 00:17:19,285 --> 00:17:22,770 summer to come and the ice to move north 191 00:17:22,770 --> 00:17:22,771 summer to come and the ice to move north and break up and then release the tension in the pack. 192 00:17:22,771 --> 00:17:25,857 and break up and then release the tension in the pack. 193 00:17:26,914 --> 00:17:30,771 But in the meantime there was nowhere to go. They would have to stay as they were. 194 00:17:31,170 --> 00:17:33,280 It’s a total trap. 195 00:17:36,142 --> 00:17:39,050 Sir Ernest and first officer Frank Wild 196 00:17:39,057 --> 00:17:41,800 confirmed what most of us already knew, 197 00:17:42,142 --> 00:17:46,028 any hope of crossing the Antarctic Continent was gone. 198 00:17:47,857 --> 00:17:51,400 Shackleton’s focus was now on our survival. 199 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:53,971 He wanted to save everybody. 200 00:17:53,971 --> 00:17:57,485 It was important to him personally that he bought his men home. 201 00:17:57,685 --> 00:18:03,800 Close behind that would be his desire to get Frank Hurley’s pictures home as well. 202 00:18:05,285 --> 00:18:10,171 Shackleton needed those films because Shackleton needed money. 203 00:18:17,257 --> 00:18:21,371 The expedition was put together in bit of a hurry like most things Shackleton did. 204 00:18:21,514 --> 00:18:24,257 And it was a very, very ambitious project. 205 00:18:24,628 --> 00:18:31,771 These fellows were going to walk 1800 miles across mostly unchartered territory. 206 00:18:31,914 --> 00:18:36,257 Um and my own view is that ah, 207 00:18:36,257 --> 00:18:41,000 they would have all died if they had actually landed. They would have almost certainly would have perished. 208 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,400 I was now Captain of a floating hotel 209 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,571 we affectionately christened The Ritz… 210 00:18:51,571 --> 00:18:57,342 though I can assure you there were few similarities to the London establishment of the same name. 211 00:18:57,942 --> 00:19:00,028 We would settle in for the winter 212 00:19:00,028 --> 00:19:02,257 and sail home in the spring. 213 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:10,570 We threw ourselves into the tasks required to sustain life on the ice, 214 00:19:10,570 --> 00:19:10,571 We threw ourselves into the tasks required to sustain life on the ice, everyone pitching in regardless of rank. 215 00:19:10,571 --> 00:19:13,342 everyone pitching in regardless of rank. 216 00:19:17,114 --> 00:19:20,571 We collected snow for drinking and bathing. 217 00:19:21,371 --> 00:19:23,628 We hunted seal and penguin, 218 00:19:24,485 --> 00:19:27,400 and toiled to keep Endurance clean. 219 00:19:28,342 --> 00:19:31,285 Life was busy and even comfortable. 220 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:33,371 Our situation was desperate, 221 00:19:33,371 --> 00:19:35,685 but we all put on a brave front 222 00:19:35,685 --> 00:19:37,514 and pretended otherwise. 223 00:19:37,514 --> 00:19:39,057 There were many diversions, 224 00:19:39,142 --> 00:19:40,857 we listened to grama-phone records, 225 00:19:40,857 --> 00:19:42,857 played games and held debates 226 00:19:42,857 --> 00:19:44,942 about the books we were reading. 227 00:19:49,428 --> 00:19:53,085 And Hurley gave a few lantern talks a little like this one. 228 00:19:54,742 --> 00:19:59,342 Every Saturday night we toasted our sweethearts and wives, 229 00:19:59,342 --> 00:20:03,371 and tried to convince ourselves we would soon return to them. 230 00:20:08,314 --> 00:20:11,885 Shackleton knew the need to keep men busy. 231 00:20:13,885 --> 00:20:17,085 Insanity wasn’t by any means unknown on a ship. 232 00:20:19,371 --> 00:20:21,428 You have very little room to escape. 233 00:20:21,428 --> 00:20:24,257 And um it’s quite common in those days 234 00:20:24,257 --> 00:20:26,571 to take a lot of women's frocks and things down. 235 00:20:26,742 --> 00:20:28,914 Just to put on plays and so on. 236 00:20:28,914 --> 00:20:32,485 It seemed to be regarded as pretty essential to keep moral up. 237 00:20:34,314 --> 00:20:38,828 Feeding 28 men from limited stores is no small task 238 00:20:39,085 --> 00:20:41,828 and though he was the victim of merciless ribbing, 239 00:20:41,828 --> 00:20:45,457 our cook, whom we affectionately called Doughballs… 240 00:20:45,457 --> 00:20:47,571 did a magnificent job. 241 00:20:47,714 --> 00:20:50,370 He baked a dozen loaves of bread a day, 242 00:20:50,370 --> 00:20:50,371 He baked a dozen loaves of bread a day, and thankfully he developed a talent for preparing penguin. 243 00:20:50,371 --> 00:20:55,057 and thankfully he developed a talent for preparing penguin. 244 00:20:57,228 --> 00:21:00,771 Shackleton immediately realised that scurvy would be one of the 245 00:21:00,771 --> 00:21:09,142 major problems for them so they went to great efforts to kill penguins and seals where ever they possibly could find them. 246 00:21:10,142 --> 00:21:17,400 There is not an awful lot of vitamin C in meat but there is certainly some so that is what saved them from having scurvy. 247 00:21:22,142 --> 00:21:26,400 And let us not forget an Englishman’s best friend, the dog. 248 00:21:26,571 --> 00:21:30,085 Our canine crewmates became true companions. 249 00:21:33,457 --> 00:21:38,971 The dogs must have been such great companions and that would have helped them enormously. 250 00:21:39,342 --> 00:21:42,085 They were exercising them and 251 00:21:42,085 --> 00:21:44,542 the dogs were everything for them. 252 00:21:44,542 --> 00:21:47,914 Much more than they were working dogs. They were their pets. 253 00:21:50,685 --> 00:21:55,314 We gave them names like Samson, Nelson and Smiler. 254 00:21:55,771 --> 00:21:59,142 In this cold, barren place they provided us 255 00:21:59,142 --> 00:22:02,857 with an opportunity to express love and affection. 256 00:22:14,057 --> 00:22:18,971 But as the months passed it became more difficult to keep spirits up. 257 00:22:20,457 --> 00:22:25,000 There is no desolation more complete than the polar night, 258 00:22:25,657 --> 00:22:28,628 24 hours of darkness. 259 00:22:29,685 --> 00:22:32,514 Life without the sun is soul destroying, 260 00:22:32,514 --> 00:22:35,742 and it made our incarceration nearly unbearable. 261 00:22:47,942 --> 00:22:53,028 Sometimes cheering up the crew required drastic action. 262 00:23:00,857 --> 00:23:05,800 An ice bath at 29 degrees below freezing may not have been pleasant, 263 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,571 but it provided an entertaining distraction. 264 00:23:11,085 --> 00:23:13,828 When you had a naked snow bath, 265 00:23:13,828 --> 00:23:18,514 the carpenter, Harry McNish recorded in his diary, 266 00:23:18,514 --> 00:23:20,971 the poor old skipper’s gone mad. 267 00:23:21,657 --> 00:23:24,428 Worsley played many roles. 268 00:23:27,142 --> 00:23:31,085 I’m not sure that Frank Worsley ever totally grew up. 269 00:23:31,085 --> 00:23:34,285 The enthusiasms of youth stayed with him. 270 00:23:34,485 --> 00:23:37,371 I think the word laricken always comes to mind. 271 00:23:37,914 --> 00:23:41,085 All of these characteristics really came to the fore 272 00:23:41,085 --> 00:23:42,800 as the chips got down. 273 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:47,200 I’m not sure what it says about my character but from my logbook entry of the time, 274 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,342 it seems I was finding the situation rather jolly. 275 00:23:50,942 --> 00:23:56,450 “While looking ahead and planning to meet all possible dangers, I live comfortably and happy, 276 00:23:56,450 --> 00:23:56,457 “While looking ahead and planning to meet all possible dangers, I live comfortably and happy, and can truly say that at present 277 00:23:56,457 --> 00:23:58,450 and can truly say that at present 278 00:23:58,450 --> 00:24:02,114 I am enjoying myself far more than in civilisation”. 279 00:24:05,342 --> 00:24:07,342 Despite being trapped 280 00:24:07,342 --> 00:24:10,228 I took solace in the fact we were moving. 281 00:24:11,828 --> 00:24:14,457 The currents were forcing the pack ice North 282 00:24:14,457 --> 00:24:16,457 carrying the Endurance with it. 283 00:24:21,228 --> 00:24:27,828 The Weddell sea has what they call a gyre and that is a current that rotates clockwise. 284 00:24:28,740 --> 00:24:35,110 And measuring that gyre was something that captain Worsley was doing all the time, even though the ship was in the ice, 285 00:24:35,110 --> 00:24:39,428 he was navigating and keeping a record of where she was. 286 00:24:40,514 --> 00:24:46,742 Well, these ice flows are so large and yet they are still moving in this, in this gyre. 287 00:24:46,942 --> 00:24:50,057 They’re rafting up on top of each other at times. 288 00:24:50,714 --> 00:24:53,228 Pressure just builds and builds and builds. 289 00:24:59,371 --> 00:25:03,771 They spent months hacking away at the ice and trying to keep the ship clear. 290 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,771 There are those who describe optimism as a kind of madness. 291 00:25:12,114 --> 00:25:16,971 If that is the case, then I was most certainly lunatic, 292 00:25:17,714 --> 00:25:23,714 because at no stage had I considered the possibility that I may lose my ship. 293 00:25:29,828 --> 00:25:32,742 But six months after our stranding, 294 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:38,200 the Boss and Wilde informed me I must face the horrible likelihood 295 00:25:38,485 --> 00:25:41,142 that Endurance was doomed. 296 00:25:46,857 --> 00:25:49,828 My ship was being strangled 297 00:25:49,828 --> 00:25:52,257 and I could do nothing to save her. 298 00:26:09,657 --> 00:26:12,942 The weight behind these ice flows was just immense. 299 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,057 The grip just got too strong of course and gradually started tilting the ship 300 00:26:17,057 --> 00:26:20,142 and being a wooden ship it eventually started crushing it of course. 301 00:26:28,685 --> 00:26:32,514 They could split apart at any time so really, really scary. 302 00:26:42,628 --> 00:26:47,057 I had to accept Endurance was mortally wounded. 303 00:26:50,885 --> 00:26:56,057 I think he would have struggled hugely knowing that he was going to lose it. 304 00:26:56,057 --> 00:27:00,971 Not only from the perspective of a captain losing any vessel 305 00:27:00,971 --> 00:27:03,885 but for the situation it was going to put them in. 306 00:27:03,885 --> 00:27:07,540 And I think he was well aware that if they lost the ship, 307 00:27:07,540 --> 00:27:07,542 And I think he was well aware that if they lost the ship, they were likely to perish. 308 00:27:07,542 --> 00:27:09,800 they were likely to perish. 309 00:27:13,428 --> 00:27:16,971 On October the 27th, 1915. 310 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,228 Almost a year to the day since leaving Buenos Aires 311 00:27:20,857 --> 00:27:22,228 we abandoned ship. 312 00:27:29,457 --> 00:27:32,314 To be suddenly cast out on to the ice with 313 00:27:32,314 --> 00:27:35,200 the security of the ship no longer there 314 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,371 would be a big shock. 315 00:27:37,371 --> 00:27:40,428 It must have been incredibly hard for them. 316 00:27:45,542 --> 00:27:48,828 We were exiled to a frozen wasteland 317 00:27:48,828 --> 00:27:51,000 that could soon become a graveyard. 318 00:27:51,685 --> 00:27:54,457 I overheard one of the men reciting a prayer 319 00:27:54,457 --> 00:27:56,457 while another whispered 320 00:27:56,457 --> 00:27:58,771 “will none of us see our homes again.” 321 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,542 Our situation was dire. 322 00:28:23,914 --> 00:28:28,200 We had nothing to keep out the cold save thin linen tent. 323 00:28:38,857 --> 00:28:42,770 That first night we were forced to move camp twice 324 00:28:42,770 --> 00:28:42,771 That first night we were forced to move camp twice as the unstable ice flow we now lived on continued to shift and crack. 325 00:28:42,771 --> 00:28:48,228 as the unstable ice flow we now lived on continued to shift and crack. 326 00:28:59,371 --> 00:29:00,857 For the first time, 327 00:29:00,857 --> 00:29:03,228 it was possible to imagine 328 00:29:03,228 --> 00:29:05,685 the obstacles before us insurmountable. 329 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:14,142 The icy depths below us seemed to beckon. 330 00:29:23,514 --> 00:29:25,514 Imagine you've got 28 men 331 00:29:25,514 --> 00:29:30,057 on this this crust of ice. This thin crust, maybe two or three feet thick 332 00:29:30,057 --> 00:29:32,600 lying on top of an ocean 333 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,342 five hundred, five thousand feet deep, whatever it is. 334 00:29:35,742 --> 00:29:39,028 But that’s not just a smooth plain of ice. 335 00:29:39,028 --> 00:29:44,685 The ocean currents and waves cause it to buckle and crack and to rear up in great ridges and hammocks. 336 00:29:47,257 --> 00:29:48,885 Just unbelievable. 337 00:29:56,628 --> 00:30:01,142 I was now a Captain, in a frozen ocean, without a ship. 338 00:30:01,628 --> 00:30:05,685 My crew castaways with faint hope of survival 339 00:30:06,257 --> 00:30:09,600 but we could not succumb to despair. 340 00:30:10,371 --> 00:30:13,285 We had to determine a way forward. 341 00:30:14,028 --> 00:30:19,885 I felt we should wait for the flow to move towards open water and then set off in our lifeboats. 342 00:30:20,285 --> 00:30:22,114 Shackleton’s plan, however, 343 00:30:22,428 --> 00:30:24,542 was to march to Paulet Island 344 00:30:24,542 --> 00:30:29,800 which my calculations put at 346 miles away 345 00:30:30,228 --> 00:30:31,914 and where twelve years earlier 346 00:30:31,914 --> 00:30:34,171 a Swedish expedition had built a hut. 347 00:30:38,514 --> 00:30:39,971 Before setting off 348 00:30:39,971 --> 00:30:43,485 we were forced to dispose of anything that might weigh us down, 349 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,742 even our most precious belongings. 350 00:30:48,114 --> 00:30:50,628 McNish the carpenter had a cat. 351 00:30:50,628 --> 00:30:52,628 He was actually a male cat 352 00:30:52,628 --> 00:30:55,310 but he was called Mrs Chippy 353 00:30:55,310 --> 00:30:55,314 but he was called Mrs Chippy and McNish loved this cat very much. And it was also a bit of a mascot 354 00:30:55,314 --> 00:31:01,170 and McNish loved this cat very much. And it was also a bit of a mascot 355 00:31:01,170 --> 00:31:01,171 and McNish loved this cat very much. And it was also a bit of a mascot for the rest of the men. 356 00:31:01,171 --> 00:31:02,228 for the rest of the men. 357 00:31:02,228 --> 00:31:04,714 And that was the first animal to go 358 00:31:05,028 --> 00:31:11,457 because she couldn’t play any part in the rescue or just another mouth to feed, but 359 00:31:11,742 --> 00:31:14,057 I think there was a lot of resentment. 360 00:31:15,628 --> 00:31:21,085 McNish never forgave Shackleton for issuing the order to kill his cat. 361 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,542 The dogs were still a valuable part of the crew 362 00:31:26,542 --> 00:31:29,342 as they negotiated the treacherous terrain. 363 00:31:30,057 --> 00:31:33,057 When we reached open water we would need the lifeboats, 364 00:31:33,057 --> 00:31:37,771 so like the dogs we were also harnessed to sled. 365 00:31:41,228 --> 00:31:45,085 Despite the ruthless culling of our once prized possessions, 366 00:31:45,085 --> 00:31:47,914 each boat weighed more than a ton. 367 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:53,571 It was back breaking work. 368 00:31:53,571 --> 00:31:55,885 They were dragging in through hummocky ice. 369 00:31:55,885 --> 00:31:58,657 They were making maybe one mile a day. 370 00:31:58,657 --> 00:32:01,485 And then frequently they would have gone a mile forward 371 00:32:01,485 --> 00:32:05,480 but the ocean currents might have caused them to drift a mile backwards. 372 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:05,485 but the ocean currents might have caused them to drift a mile backwards. And it became obvious within a few days that this was achieving nothing 373 00:32:05,485 --> 00:32:10,400 And it became obvious within a few days that this was achieving nothing 374 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:14,285 other than trashing the sledges, trashing the boats. 375 00:32:14,285 --> 00:32:16,285 And trashing the men. 376 00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,914 Shackleton eventually had to admit to himself, ‘yes, it was a crazy idea. 377 00:32:22,914 --> 00:32:25,685 We’ve just got to basically stay put. 378 00:32:25,971 --> 00:32:29,114 And wait and see where the ocean currents take us. 379 00:32:32,942 --> 00:32:35,457 We established “Ocean Camp”. 380 00:32:35,742 --> 00:32:38,685 A home made miserable by the summer thaw. 381 00:32:40,571 --> 00:32:45,142 The surface of the flow a quagmire of melted snow and rotting ice. 382 00:32:45,657 --> 00:32:48,342 Our belongings constantly sodden. 383 00:32:55,628 --> 00:32:57,885 We were still in view of Endurance, 384 00:32:57,885 --> 00:33:00,257 and over the next two months 385 00:33:00,257 --> 00:33:03,857 we watched as she was slowly crushed by the pack. 386 00:33:31,057 --> 00:33:34,828 We visited her twisted hull on a number of occasions, 387 00:33:34,828 --> 00:33:36,828 pillaging what supplies we could. 388 00:33:41,857 --> 00:33:44,342 These were dangerous excursions 389 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:46,971 because we knew it would not be long 390 00:33:47,142 --> 00:33:49,885 before she was swallowed by the ice. 391 00:34:22,885 --> 00:34:25,342 It was with great remorse 392 00:34:25,685 --> 00:34:30,285 but a little relief that I finally watched her go. 393 00:34:36,257 --> 00:34:39,200 He must have felt alittle bitter because he probably felt 394 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:43,714 if his advice had been followed they may not have got into that particular situation. 395 00:34:56,057 --> 00:35:01,285 Five weeks later we began our second attempt to cross the ice. 396 00:35:01,942 --> 00:35:04,571 We trekked at night when the ice was crisper. 397 00:35:04,571 --> 00:35:06,885 Once again it was a slow, 398 00:35:07,142 --> 00:35:09,085 soul destroying journey. 399 00:35:09,628 --> 00:35:11,371 And for the first time 400 00:35:11,371 --> 00:35:14,714 some members of the crew questioned Sir Ernest’s command. 401 00:35:17,857 --> 00:35:21,257 There were something like 300 miles to go 402 00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,942 and McNish the chippie 403 00:35:24,942 --> 00:35:27,400 and for that matter, captain Worsley 404 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,171 really didn’t think that was a very good idea. 405 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:35,285 The lifeboats, which were going to save them, could not be damaged. 406 00:35:36,371 --> 00:35:38,514 And after about a week of that, 407 00:35:38,914 --> 00:35:41,171 Harry McNish, the carpenter, 408 00:35:41,171 --> 00:35:43,714 the oldest member of the expedition, a wryly old bird 409 00:35:43,714 --> 00:35:46,885 who was always critical of Shackleton’s leadership 410 00:35:47,457 --> 00:35:50,970 basically staged a mutiny and said ‘this is crazy. 411 00:35:50,970 --> 00:35:50,971 basically staged a mutiny and said ‘this is crazy. We shouldn’t be doing this’. 412 00:35:50,971 --> 00:35:52,257 We shouldn’t be doing this’. 413 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:57,971 And Shackleton brought out his revolver and threatened to shoot McNish if he didn’t do as he was told. 414 00:35:58,942 --> 00:36:02,457 We marched on, and after seven gruelling days 415 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,942 we had only covered 10 miles. 416 00:36:05,857 --> 00:36:08,342 I explained to the Boss, 417 00:36:08,342 --> 00:36:11,914 at the rate we were moving our journey would take a year. 418 00:36:12,571 --> 00:36:16,228 If we continued we would all perish. 419 00:36:16,657 --> 00:36:19,485 So it was decided we would stop. 420 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:27,200 As I’d originally suggested our best chance was to wait for the moving ice to carry us to open water. 421 00:36:32,514 --> 00:36:34,680 We established our new home 422 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:34,685 We established our new home ironically named “Patience Camp”. 423 00:36:34,685 --> 00:36:37,742 ironically named “Patience Camp”. 424 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,800 It was almost a year since Endurance first became trapped. 425 00:36:48,114 --> 00:36:50,771 I could no longer remember life on land 426 00:36:50,942 --> 00:36:54,220 and I fought against the mounting desperation 427 00:36:54,220 --> 00:36:54,228 and I fought against the mounting desperation we were all experiencing. 428 00:36:54,228 --> 00:36:56,114 we were all experiencing. 429 00:37:05,885 --> 00:37:08,280 Then inexplicably 430 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:08,285 Then inexplicably our main sources of sustenance 431 00:37:08,285 --> 00:37:10,514 our main sources of sustenance 432 00:37:10,514 --> 00:37:13,800 penguins and seals disappeared. 433 00:37:15,570 --> 00:37:19,970 Our rations were reduced to a mere nine and a half ounces a day. 434 00:37:25,542 --> 00:37:28,000 Hunger was a constant companion 435 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,800 and we became obsessed with food. 436 00:37:33,428 --> 00:37:37,400 Facing starvation we could no longer spare meat for the dogs. 437 00:37:40,028 --> 00:37:42,371 We were left with no choice 438 00:37:42,742 --> 00:37:45,057 but to shoot and eat them. 439 00:37:46,171 --> 00:37:48,342 A decision so distressing 440 00:37:48,342 --> 00:37:51,657 it felt worse than anything we’d endured so far. 441 00:38:15,914 --> 00:38:21,742 On the days when currents meant fast progress I was greatly relieved. 442 00:38:22,142 --> 00:38:25,571 It seemed the men held me responsible for the camp’s advancement 443 00:38:25,571 --> 00:38:28,571 as if I was Skipper of the floe itself. 444 00:38:35,200 --> 00:38:36,600 Eventually 445 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:40,685 the day came when the ice broke up and open water was sighted. 446 00:38:42,942 --> 00:38:45,371 We could finally launch the lifeboats 447 00:38:45,371 --> 00:38:47,971 and set off in search of land. 448 00:38:56,342 --> 00:39:00,371 After 15 months some of the men had lost their sea legs, 449 00:39:00,371 --> 00:39:03,542 but I was glad to be back on the water. 450 00:39:16,428 --> 00:39:19,000 We faced the constant threat 451 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:24,057 of being crushed by moving bergs as they ploughed through the ice pack. 452 00:39:51,885 --> 00:39:56,200 Our expedition Artist, George Marsden captures, I believe, 453 00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:58,914 the vulnerability of our situation. 454 00:40:00,971 --> 00:40:05,857 I was to navigate all three craft from my boat, the Dudley Docker 455 00:40:08,342 --> 00:40:10,228 We thought our best chance 456 00:40:10,228 --> 00:40:12,800 was to head for the South Shetland Islands 457 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:14,457 50 miles away. 458 00:40:16,171 --> 00:40:21,142 It would have been extremely difficult because they weren’t yet in open sea. 459 00:40:21,257 --> 00:40:24,171 They had all the risks of the ice 460 00:40:24,514 --> 00:40:28,371 and this is where they had to have faith in Captain Worsley. 461 00:40:30,857 --> 00:40:33,800 Shackleton was the big picture man and 462 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:37,571 in terms of small boats, Worsley had far more experience. 463 00:40:37,857 --> 00:40:40,485 And of course he knew how to navigate. 464 00:40:43,285 --> 00:40:48,142 Until we cleared the pack ice it was too dangerous to travel at night. 465 00:40:48,285 --> 00:40:50,914 And so we camped on bergs 466 00:40:51,685 --> 00:40:54,514 Sleep was almost impossible. 467 00:40:58,200 --> 00:40:59,542 They weakened 468 00:40:59,885 --> 00:41:01,657 without sleep and without 469 00:41:01,657 --> 00:41:04,142 warmth and very inadequate food. 470 00:41:04,142 --> 00:41:06,142 And some of them so sea sick as well. 471 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:21,228 The weight of responsibility was onerous. 472 00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:25,428 I had to navigate from glimpses of the sun in my sextant. 473 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:34,250 Yes, it’s a little bit of a black art 474 00:41:34,250 --> 00:41:34,257 Yes, it’s a little bit of a black art because there’s a huge skill 475 00:41:34,257 --> 00:41:36,250 because there’s a huge skill 476 00:41:36,371 --> 00:41:40,971 to what they call bringing the sun down onto the horizon. 477 00:41:45,942 --> 00:41:49,171 If you’re on a boat that’s leaping from wave top to wave top, 478 00:41:50,428 --> 00:41:52,714 the horizon is all over the place. 479 00:41:56,142 --> 00:41:58,285 And the sun is in your sextant 480 00:41:58,285 --> 00:42:00,600 because you see it through a smokey mirror. 481 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:07,228 This little green thing is leaping around and you have to take two sights before you can get a complete fix of where you are. 482 00:42:19,542 --> 00:42:24,828 So you’ll be able to imagine my distress when after three days of rowing 483 00:42:24,828 --> 00:42:30,600 my calculations indicated that the currents had pushed us back 30 miles towards our starting point. 484 00:42:31,285 --> 00:42:34,085 Information we felt best kept from the crew. 485 00:42:35,714 --> 00:42:37,914 After several false starts 486 00:42:37,914 --> 00:42:40,257 the conditions dictated our only hope 487 00:42:40,257 --> 00:42:43,628 was to head for the uninhabited Elephant Island. 488 00:42:45,314 --> 00:42:47,400 Elephant Island is a dot. 489 00:42:47,885 --> 00:42:49,828 It’s like a grain of sand on a beach. 490 00:42:49,828 --> 00:42:53,057 It’s just a lump of rock sticking out of the Southern Ocean 491 00:43:06,171 --> 00:43:08,114 As the days passed 492 00:43:08,114 --> 00:43:11,114 some of the men struggled to maintain their sanity. 493 00:43:12,057 --> 00:43:14,314 Their fragile conditions made worse 494 00:43:14,542 --> 00:43:19,114 by Killer Whales who cruised beneath us like black torpedoes. 495 00:43:25,285 --> 00:43:27,800 That would have been extremely frightening 496 00:43:27,914 --> 00:43:30,457 and the day length getting shorter obviously. 497 00:43:31,285 --> 00:43:33,857 Every day the temperature is dropping 498 00:43:33,857 --> 00:43:35,314 and dropping and dropping. 499 00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:37,314 And that was doubly scarey. 500 00:43:37,828 --> 00:43:39,650 I believe it was Napoleon 501 00:43:39,650 --> 00:43:39,657 I believe it was Napoleon who said it takes more courage to suffer than to die, 502 00:43:39,657 --> 00:43:43,628 who said it takes more courage to suffer than to die, 503 00:43:44,285 --> 00:43:48,171 and as such my men were truly courageous. 504 00:43:55,885 --> 00:43:57,857 After five days 505 00:43:57,857 --> 00:43:59,571 we were freezing to death. 506 00:44:00,057 --> 00:44:02,450 Fresh water was in short supply 507 00:44:02,450 --> 00:44:02,457 Fresh water was in short supply and we resorted to chewing on raw seal meat 508 00:44:02,457 --> 00:44:05,485 and we resorted to chewing on raw seal meat 509 00:44:05,485 --> 00:44:07,142 for the sake of the blood. 510 00:44:10,685 --> 00:44:16,171 There is a state that you get into when it’s completely grim. 511 00:44:17,285 --> 00:44:20,085 Life just doesn’t seem that important. 512 00:44:21,742 --> 00:44:24,514 That’s where the leadership was so key. 513 00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:30,028 Captain Worsley who was on the helm for 514 00:44:30,028 --> 00:44:32,714 40 hours, non-stop. 515 00:44:33,828 --> 00:44:36,800 They had to bend him back into position 516 00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:38,800 to straighten him out so that he could sleep. 517 00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:40,942 because physically he had just 518 00:44:41,228 --> 00:44:45,485 formed into that frozen V shape of clutching the tiller. 519 00:44:51,885 --> 00:44:56,257 Several of the men had simply given in, 520 00:44:56,857 --> 00:44:58,428 they had no spirit. 521 00:44:59,542 --> 00:45:01,628 They were doomed. 522 00:45:02,285 --> 00:45:03,400 And then, 523 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:05,514 Ladies and Gentlemen, 524 00:45:05,742 --> 00:45:07,714 to my great relief, 525 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:10,885 Elephant Island appeared. 526 00:45:12,571 --> 00:45:16,657 But we weren’t to make landfall that night. 527 00:45:23,371 --> 00:45:27,314 A gale blew in and we lost sight of land. 528 00:45:33,257 --> 00:45:37,857 I am certain that had we not known Elephant Island was out there, 529 00:45:38,342 --> 00:45:40,942 the storm would have defeated us. 530 00:45:42,428 --> 00:45:46,480 And that’s when I think his true seamanship would have come to the fore. 531 00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:46,485 And that’s when I think his true seamanship would have come to the fore. And this is where they began to realise 532 00:45:46,485 --> 00:45:48,657 And this is where they began to realise 533 00:45:48,800 --> 00:45:52,257 just what a very, very special man he was. 534 00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:57,771 After fifteen months on the ice, 535 00:45:57,771 --> 00:46:00,142 and seven gruelling days at sea, 536 00:46:00,485 --> 00:46:03,085 all 28 men made landfall 537 00:46:03,085 --> 00:46:06,285 on April the 15th, 1916. 538 00:46:06,542 --> 00:46:10,714 How they got through without losing anybody 539 00:46:11,228 --> 00:46:12,714 was a miracle. 540 00:46:21,742 --> 00:46:23,685 Having been through Hell 541 00:46:23,685 --> 00:46:29,057 this desolate, uninhabited, lump of rock seemed to nothing short of Heaven. 542 00:46:32,371 --> 00:46:35,600 The Boss congratulated me for getting us there 543 00:46:35,828 --> 00:46:41,114 and for a brief moment I allowed myself to enjoy our success. 544 00:47:10,171 --> 00:47:14,314 It would seem that having reached land we should have been saved. 545 00:47:14,742 --> 00:47:17,942 But unfortunately I am unable to end the story here. 546 00:47:18,285 --> 00:47:20,057 For our new home on the “beach” 547 00:47:20,057 --> 00:47:22,885 was by no means the Riviera . 548 00:47:32,457 --> 00:47:36,250 Most of the island is guarded by hundred foot high ice cliffs; 549 00:47:36,250 --> 00:47:36,257 Most of the island is guarded by hundred foot high ice cliffs; very steep glaciers come right down into the sea. 550 00:47:36,257 --> 00:47:39,114 very steep glaciers come right down into the sea. 551 00:47:39,514 --> 00:47:43,342 Elephant island is an unbelievably violent place. 552 00:47:51,828 --> 00:47:56,485 We’d landed on one of the most inhospitable islands on earth, 553 00:47:56,914 --> 00:48:00,942 and we had only ourselves to look to for salvation. 554 00:48:06,485 --> 00:48:12,685 Nobody was interested or searching for the missing explorers. 555 00:48:12,771 --> 00:48:16,800 There was a war on. More important things were happening. 556 00:48:19,142 --> 00:48:22,742 Winstone Churchill was on record as snaring at them, 557 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:24,742 calling them penguins. 558 00:48:26,457 --> 00:48:31,828 The fortunes of this particular expedition were not regarded as terribly important 559 00:48:32,057 --> 00:48:36,942 against the background of thousands of men dying in the trenches of France almost every day. 560 00:48:39,914 --> 00:48:46,114 I think the assumption by those who even thought about them was that they were dead. 561 00:48:49,828 --> 00:48:53,514 Sir Ernest, First Officer Frank Wild and I 562 00:48:53,514 --> 00:48:54,942 discussed the options 563 00:48:54,942 --> 00:48:58,457 and determined a rescue mission was our only hope. 564 00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,742 I tried to convince the Boss to stay with the men 565 00:49:01,742 --> 00:49:03,428 but he would not hear of it. 566 00:49:03,714 --> 00:49:06,685 Wilde would be left in charge on the Island. 567 00:49:09,057 --> 00:49:13,942 Worsley had already been planning way back on the ice before the Endurance sank. 568 00:49:13,942 --> 00:49:18,714 He’d been planning contingencies, possibilities. He’d been calculating distances 569 00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:23,514 thinking of how they were going to escape from this terrible predicament. 570 00:49:27,028 --> 00:49:30,971 The closest settlement was Port Stanley on the Falkland Islands, 571 00:49:30,971 --> 00:49:35,450 but I determined the winds favoured an attempt at South Georgia 572 00:49:35,450 --> 00:49:35,457 but I determined the winds favoured an attempt at South Georgia 800 miles away. 573 00:49:35,457 --> 00:49:37,771 800 miles away. 574 00:49:39,457 --> 00:49:43,228 We would attempt to reach the whaling station we'd visited 575 00:49:43,228 --> 00:49:45,257 what seemed like a lifetime before. 576 00:49:46,428 --> 00:49:47,457 Then 577 00:49:47,628 --> 00:49:50,342 in a dramatic scene which I shall never forget, 578 00:49:50,885 --> 00:49:52,685 the Boss addressed the men. 579 00:49:56,514 --> 00:49:58,600 He outlined the plan to them 580 00:49:58,714 --> 00:50:05,142 and made it clear this journey promised to be even more difficult than anything we’d experienced to date. 581 00:50:07,857 --> 00:50:12,542 He was also honest about the slim chance of success. 582 00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:18,514 Despite the great risk of failure, 583 00:50:18,971 --> 00:50:22,171 every single man volunteered. 584 00:50:25,142 --> 00:50:29,171 Four were chosen to join Shackleton and myself, 585 00:50:30,685 --> 00:50:32,571 McNish the carpenter, 586 00:50:34,285 --> 00:50:35,828 John Vincent 587 00:50:35,828 --> 00:50:39,000 and two Irishmen, young Tim McCarthy 588 00:50:39,342 --> 00:50:41,000 and Tom Crean. 589 00:50:43,114 --> 00:50:45,914 Shackleton was a great persuader. 590 00:50:46,057 --> 00:50:49,971 He had this amazing ability to gather around him a group of people 591 00:50:49,971 --> 00:50:52,200 and to inspire them, to lead them, 592 00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:56,657 into danger, to take colossal risks but some how to keep them with him. 593 00:50:56,857 --> 00:51:00,257 And always with himself as the centrepiece, the head. 594 00:51:05,571 --> 00:51:09,428 We threw ourselves into preparing the James Caird. 595 00:51:09,628 --> 00:51:12,114 At 22 feet 6 inches long, 596 00:51:12,114 --> 00:51:15,228 she was the largest of our three lifeboats. 597 00:51:20,171 --> 00:51:26,114 First and foremost was the importance of covering in the lifeboat by McNish the carpenter, 598 00:51:26,114 --> 00:51:30,457 who’d already fallen out with Shackleton. And Shackleton purposely took him on that voyage 599 00:51:30,457 --> 00:51:33,257 to make sure that he didn’t cause further trouble for Frank Wilde. 600 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:42,200 It was McNish of course who was openly critical of the boss for getting them into this mess, 601 00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:45,371 who made the James Caird sea worthy. 602 00:51:46,428 --> 00:51:48,710 He recorked the planking 603 00:51:48,710 --> 00:51:48,714 He recorked the planking and cannibalised the other two smaller boats, 604 00:51:48,714 --> 00:51:51,685 and cannibalised the other two smaller boats, 605 00:51:52,028 --> 00:51:56,685 which was such a sacrifice because it meant that the men left behind, 606 00:51:56,685 --> 00:52:00,142 the two boats that they had were really not useable. 607 00:52:03,140 --> 00:52:05,771 And they ballasted her more heavily. 608 00:52:05,771 --> 00:52:12,600 Shackleton wanted very heavy ballast. Worsley didn’t but Shackleton’s word won out. 609 00:52:16,971 --> 00:52:18,628 Ladies and Gentlemen 610 00:52:18,628 --> 00:52:23,885 as we reach this part of the story I must admit to a slight swell of emotion 611 00:52:24,457 --> 00:52:28,800 for to say goodbye to those truly courageous men 612 00:52:29,485 --> 00:52:32,628 was one of the most difficult moments of my life. 613 00:52:34,514 --> 00:52:36,628 The evening before we left 614 00:52:36,628 --> 00:52:38,857 there was a sort of farewell “party”. 615 00:52:39,314 --> 00:52:45,571 For the occasion we made “wine” from ginger, sugar and methylated spirits. 616 00:52:46,257 --> 00:52:49,714 I did my best to appear festive that night, 617 00:52:49,914 --> 00:52:51,485 but it took some effort, 618 00:52:51,857 --> 00:52:54,028 as I felt anything but. 619 00:52:55,114 --> 00:52:59,600 I think Frank Worsley knew that it was a very risky thing to do. 620 00:53:00,828 --> 00:53:02,857 In terms of the odds, 621 00:53:03,400 --> 00:53:05,542 maybe a ten percent chance. 622 00:53:06,200 --> 00:53:09,057 But I think they knew it was the only chance. 623 00:53:12,171 --> 00:53:15,342 My mate’s put on a show of optimism 624 00:53:15,485 --> 00:53:18,600 joking about how much beer we should bring back 625 00:53:18,771 --> 00:53:21,171 planning our homecoming celebrations. 626 00:53:21,914 --> 00:53:24,714 But we all knew it was more likely 627 00:53:24,971 --> 00:53:27,142 that we would never see each other again. 628 00:53:31,371 --> 00:53:33,742 Haggard and bedraggled 629 00:53:34,428 --> 00:53:37,542 these men were the best I had known. 630 00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:46,000 I was haunted by images of 631 00:53:46,514 --> 00:53:49,314 their fate if our mission should fail. 632 00:53:56,057 --> 00:53:59,942 On the 24th of April, 1916 633 00:53:59,942 --> 00:54:02,457 we launched the James Caird. 634 00:54:12,342 --> 00:54:14,428 I was woefully aware 635 00:54:14,428 --> 00:54:17,428 that no matter what adversity we would face, 636 00:54:17,542 --> 00:54:20,371 we were embarking on an adventure. 637 00:54:20,942 --> 00:54:23,171 The men we were leaving behind 638 00:54:23,342 --> 00:54:26,600 were condemned to wait and hope, 639 00:54:27,171 --> 00:54:29,400 with no way of knowing our progress. 640 00:54:32,114 --> 00:54:35,171 I especially felt for Wilde who’d be in charge, 641 00:54:35,342 --> 00:54:39,085 a role which could ultimately amount to a suicide watch. 642 00:54:40,057 --> 00:54:42,800 I don’t think anyone else could have kept those men together 643 00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:44,028 as well as he did. 644 00:54:45,085 --> 00:54:49,028 If the plan failed, they’d all perish. There’s no doubt about that. 645 00:54:59,742 --> 00:55:04,514 The men kept waving for as long as they thought we could see them. 646 00:55:09,771 --> 00:55:14,742 I think they had a pretty good idea of what was ahead. Um 800 miles. 647 00:55:15,200 --> 00:55:18,571 of the world’s worst ocean in winter; 648 00:55:19,114 --> 00:55:22,657 a lot of ice at first to work their way through; 649 00:55:22,857 --> 00:55:25,171 a lot of overcast weather which meant 650 00:55:25,171 --> 00:55:28,114 difficulty in getting sights and knowing where they were; 651 00:55:28,828 --> 00:55:33,628 and after 800 miles, an island only a hundred miles long, 652 00:55:34,285 --> 00:55:37,171 um which isn’t that big a target. 653 00:55:42,257 --> 00:55:44,571 By darkness on that first night, 654 00:55:44,571 --> 00:55:47,171 we’d cleared the ice surrounding Elephant Island 655 00:55:47,171 --> 00:55:49,171 and reached open water. 656 00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:54,080 Below deck 657 00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:54,085 Below deck any hopes we had of sheltering from the wet and freezing conditions were dashed. 658 00:55:54,085 --> 00:55:59,028 any hopes we had of sheltering from the wet and freezing conditions were dashed. 659 00:55:59,571 --> 00:56:03,314 The cramped space forced us to lie on the ballast rocks. 660 00:56:04,085 --> 00:56:09,685 That night conditions confirmed that this would be an arduous journey. 661 00:56:19,600 --> 00:56:24,800 I think at this point the responsibility was still shared between Shackleton and Worsley, but 662 00:56:25,257 --> 00:56:32,914 I think Worsley probably knew that it was his talents that would be the defining reason for survival. 663 00:56:34,314 --> 00:56:36,742 Shackleton confessed to Worsley, 664 00:56:36,742 --> 00:56:39,200 I don’t know anything about small boats. 665 00:56:39,200 --> 00:56:43,057 I’ve never been in this situation before. I’m counting on you. 666 00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:45,800 I think Worsley probably knew that. 667 00:56:48,314 --> 00:56:50,228 Shackleton at least admitted 668 00:56:50,228 --> 00:56:55,542 that he knew nothing about sailing so they were totally in the hands of Frank Worsley. 669 00:57:02,257 --> 00:57:07,971 Once again our lives depended on the sextant. And once again nature conspired against us. 670 00:57:14,257 --> 00:57:18,085 It was three days before I glimpsed the sun. 671 00:57:18,485 --> 00:57:22,228 When I managed to take a sight I shouted to Sir Ernest below. 672 00:57:23,885 --> 00:57:24,914 He'd yell "mark" 673 00:57:24,914 --> 00:57:26,914 and Shackleton in this case 674 00:57:26,914 --> 00:57:30,485 would take the time because the time is also very important 675 00:57:30,485 --> 00:57:33,171 for any longitude sightings. 676 00:57:38,200 --> 00:57:43,571 And then to go down below and sit on these moving rocks of ballast with water swilling about the place 677 00:57:43,571 --> 00:57:45,400 and do his calculations 678 00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:47,400 to make sure that he was on track 679 00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:51,485 um was yeah, very, very crucial to the whole thing. 680 00:57:53,714 --> 00:57:57,514 Worsley had four sights in 16 days 681 00:57:57,514 --> 00:58:02,428 but he seemed to have a unique instinct for dead reckoning, 682 00:58:02,828 --> 00:58:09,428 which is the seamen’s term for finding out where you are without relying on celestial navigation. 683 00:58:10,085 --> 00:58:13,142 So he knew which way the currents were going. 684 00:58:13,285 --> 00:58:16,400 He felt what the speed of the boat was. 685 00:58:16,400 --> 00:58:21,371 And this they were stopping and starting and and changing course because of the winds. 686 00:58:21,371 --> 00:58:25,485 But he had in his brain some kind of a map 687 00:58:25,485 --> 00:58:28,371 that he could say at the end of the day, 688 00:58:28,371 --> 00:58:34,571 well, we’ve made about 56 miles in a north easterly direction or whatever it should be. 689 00:58:34,571 --> 00:58:37,428 And to do all of that in his head, 690 00:58:37,428 --> 00:58:42,685 it’s um it’s a gift far more than a science. 691 00:58:52,228 --> 00:58:56,114 Ice built up on our hull, and threatened to sink us. 692 00:59:00,342 --> 00:59:03,428 They didn’t have any sailing clothes. 693 00:59:03,685 --> 00:59:06,000 They didn’t have any sea boots. 694 00:59:06,485 --> 00:59:09,428 They didn’t have any water proof gloves. 695 00:59:09,742 --> 00:59:13,542 This is on a boat that’s been thrown around 20 feet in the air. 696 00:59:13,542 --> 00:59:16,714 So they very easily could've lost a man over board. 697 00:59:22,714 --> 00:59:26,285 These freezing conditions were so bitter 698 00:59:26,285 --> 00:59:30,142 we could only bear to work on deck for five minutes at a time. 699 00:59:33,200 --> 00:59:36,085 Those bodies must have been aching. 700 00:59:37,828 --> 00:59:39,885 They were getting no rest 701 00:59:39,885 --> 00:59:43,485 and what rest they were getting was lying on rocks. 702 00:59:52,800 --> 00:59:57,228 Frank said the only good part of the day was when they were served hot hoosh. 703 00:59:59,714 --> 01:00:03,057 The hoosh sounds very unpalatable 704 01:00:03,057 --> 01:00:05,228 but was a life saving mixture. 705 01:00:10,514 --> 01:00:14,285 It was a hot milk mixed with something called pemmican, 706 01:00:14,285 --> 01:00:17,285 which is a high fat compressed meat 707 01:00:17,771 --> 01:00:22,457 for combatting hypothermia because of the fat content. 708 01:00:27,542 --> 01:00:30,657 And even that was difficult because they had to try and 709 01:00:30,657 --> 01:00:32,742 keep the prim ace upright 710 01:00:33,171 --> 01:00:36,171 and they were bent double underneath this canapé. 711 01:00:38,314 --> 01:00:40,171 Unable to sit sit upright 712 01:00:40,171 --> 01:00:43,057 we suffered stomach pain and cramps. 713 01:00:43,800 --> 01:00:46,942 Our misery threatened to overwhelm us. 714 01:00:54,885 --> 01:00:58,657 By the second week I had grave concerns for the crew. 715 01:00:59,485 --> 01:01:03,485 Our hands and knees were raw from crawling over the ballast rocks 716 01:01:03,600 --> 01:01:07,200 and our limbs were swollen; covered with sores. 717 01:01:07,914 --> 01:01:11,314 Worse, the sleeping bags were rotting. 718 01:01:13,085 --> 01:01:23,800 Their reindeer sleeping bags had become so sodden with salt water that the hairs of the reindeer skin were disintegrating. 719 01:01:23,800 --> 01:01:27,142 They were in their food, in their hair, in their mouths. 720 01:01:27,142 --> 01:01:31,771 The discomfort was just extraordinary. Not to mention the cold. 721 01:01:32,514 --> 01:01:34,857 They were never warm the whole time. 722 01:01:39,914 --> 01:01:42,942 It was exasperated badly 723 01:01:42,942 --> 01:01:46,914 when one of the casks of what they thought was fresh water 724 01:01:46,914 --> 01:01:48,600 was found to have leaked. 725 01:01:48,600 --> 01:01:52,228 And was not fresh water anymore. It was a salty mess. 726 01:01:53,028 --> 01:01:55,114 Everything was cutting against them. 727 01:01:56,771 --> 01:01:59,200 McNish was severely frostbitten, 728 01:01:59,200 --> 01:02:00,914 suffering from exposure, 729 01:02:02,628 --> 01:02:05,571 while Vincent seemed to have lost the will to live. 730 01:02:09,885 --> 01:02:17,857 To be in a boat like the James Caird which would have been hard to, hard to steer; the ballast was shifting all the time; 731 01:02:18,285 --> 01:02:22,485 and they were hit by rogue waves that could have finished them in seconds. 732 01:02:31,971 --> 01:02:35,200 There was nothing nature hadn’t thrown at us, 733 01:02:35,485 --> 01:02:37,342 however by the 13th day, 734 01:02:37,514 --> 01:02:41,171 despite having only managed three sun sights with the sextant 735 01:02:41,171 --> 01:02:44,971 I was confident that we were nearing our destination. 736 01:02:45,657 --> 01:02:51,400 By my reckoning South Georgia was only about 15 miles away. 737 01:02:53,400 --> 01:02:58,057 I began watching for the tell tale signs land was ahead. 738 01:03:07,371 --> 01:03:10,142 Then on the 7th of May 739 01:03:10,142 --> 01:03:14,085 young Tim McCarthy, whose optimism had never wavered, 740 01:03:14,085 --> 01:03:17,114 spotted the peaks of South Georgia. 741 01:03:21,114 --> 01:03:22,542 However, 742 01:03:22,542 --> 01:03:24,542 as you now all know, 743 01:03:24,542 --> 01:03:29,885 the nature of this journey was that we were to be tested at all times, 744 01:03:29,885 --> 01:03:33,342 and making landfall was to be no different. 745 01:03:43,942 --> 01:03:47,571 The weather turned and we were hit by a severe gale. 746 01:03:55,028 --> 01:04:02,257 In that same storm there was a hurricane force blow that sank a 500 ton steamer, 747 01:04:02,485 --> 01:04:04,971 who was on her way to South Georgia with coal. 748 01:04:05,228 --> 01:04:07,885 And she disappeared without a trace. 749 01:04:11,200 --> 01:04:13,857 For two days we battled the storm 750 01:04:14,028 --> 01:04:18,457 and after all we’d endured I feared we would not have the strength to fight on. 751 01:04:18,685 --> 01:04:23,628 We would be smashed against the coast we had so longed to reach. 752 01:04:24,371 --> 01:04:29,657 And a little boat like that doesn’t go into the eye of the wind very easily. 753 01:04:29,657 --> 01:04:35,000 He alone had the knowledge of how to beat off a lee shore. 754 01:04:35,000 --> 01:04:40,542 Which is one of the most terrifying thing a seaman can ever encounter. 755 01:04:47,057 --> 01:04:49,514 If they were swept straight past South Georgia that was it. And they knew that. 756 01:04:49,514 --> 01:04:56,342 They knew that from the outset that they had to make land fall as quickly as they possibly could. And they landed at a place that they called Cape Cove. 757 01:04:58,600 --> 01:05:01,800 Frank’s 20 plus years under sail 758 01:05:01,800 --> 01:05:04,228 and operating small boats around New Zealand – 759 01:05:04,228 --> 01:05:05,628 that was crucial to the whole deal. 760 01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:12,600 It was a masterpiece of navigation. No question. 761 01:05:15,342 --> 01:05:22,000 They had set their feet on real land. Not Elephant Island’s rocky, icy, little, shingly beach. 762 01:05:22,000 --> 01:05:25,000 But this was land that had tussock grass, 763 01:05:25,000 --> 01:05:27,400 fresh clear water. 764 01:05:27,742 --> 01:05:32,800 This was real heaven by comparison to anything they had had for the last 18 months. 765 01:05:39,057 --> 01:05:42,628 They ate Elephant seal heart and Albatrosses. 766 01:05:42,942 --> 01:05:50,171 They had to spend a few days just building up their strength because they knew they still had to save 22 other men, so 767 01:05:50,171 --> 01:05:56,800 even in that moment of absolute joy, it wasn’t the end of the story. They still had to go on beyond that. 768 01:06:01,714 --> 01:06:06,771 The storm had forced us to land on the wrong side of South Georgia. 769 01:06:08,628 --> 01:06:10,485 We were on the Western shore 770 01:06:10,485 --> 01:06:13,571 while the Whaling Station was at Stromness Bay 771 01:06:13,571 --> 01:06:15,685 on the Island’s eastern side. 772 01:06:15,942 --> 01:06:17,228 To sail there 773 01:06:17,428 --> 01:06:22,914 would be a 150 mile passage round the blustery coast. 774 01:06:24,942 --> 01:06:31,371 The last storm had severely damaged the James Caird. Vincent and McNish were near death so going back to sea 775 01:06:31,542 --> 01:06:32,742 was not an option. 776 01:06:37,257 --> 01:06:39,114 The Boss and I agreed 777 01:06:39,114 --> 01:06:44,371 that walking across the Island’s uncharted interior was our only chance. 778 01:06:45,085 --> 01:06:50,228 The condition of the men was such that it would be impossible for all of us to make the journey. 779 01:06:51,457 --> 01:06:53,885 Sir Ernest, Tom Crean and I 780 01:06:53,885 --> 01:06:55,428 would attempt the crossing, 781 01:06:55,428 --> 01:06:58,400 leaving young McCarthy to care for the others. 782 01:07:03,485 --> 01:07:06,057 They waited for calm weather. 783 01:07:06,285 --> 01:07:11,514 They knew they were, their strength was running out. Um, they needed to be able to see 784 01:07:11,514 --> 01:07:14,714 more than anything because the outline of the map of the island 785 01:07:14,714 --> 01:07:17,542 had nothing. No one had been into the interior. 786 01:07:17,714 --> 01:07:20,828 So they needed clear weather and they waited for a full moon. 787 01:07:34,171 --> 01:07:38,742 In the middle of the night, nine days after making landfall we set off. 788 01:07:43,400 --> 01:07:46,400 After our previous ordeals we were thin, 789 01:07:46,400 --> 01:07:50,600 wasted, and poorly equipped for a mountain climbing expedition. 790 01:07:59,342 --> 01:08:02,885 They had a 90 foot rope with them but they didn’t have any ice axes. They had a rough 791 01:08:02,885 --> 01:08:06,628 carpenters adze which they could chop a few steps every so often perhaps but… 792 01:08:14,657 --> 01:08:19,228 They had screwed brass screws from the life boat through the soles of their shoes 793 01:08:19,228 --> 01:08:24,971 so they had rudimentary crampons to grip the ice but not being mountaineers – pretty damned frightening. 794 01:08:24,971 --> 01:08:27,200 And what’s particularly extraordinary is that they had no tent. 795 01:08:27,200 --> 01:08:31,000 They knew that if they got caught by a blizzard they’d probably die. 796 01:08:31,000 --> 01:08:32,657 So they just had to keep moving. 797 01:08:37,685 --> 01:08:40,514 Once again I was the navigator. 798 01:08:56,428 --> 01:08:59,400 No one had ever crossed the island before, 799 01:08:59,600 --> 01:09:04,057 and we knew the mountains to be at least 9,000 feet high. 800 01:09:04,685 --> 01:09:09,171 I estimated we were 25 to 30 miles from the whaling station, 801 01:09:09,171 --> 01:09:12,142 although I had no way of being certain. 802 01:09:14,542 --> 01:09:18,371 I’ve attempted to illustrate our journey from memory, 803 01:09:18,371 --> 01:09:22,628 my recollections I hope not too confused by the exhaustion I felt at the time. 804 01:09:25,371 --> 01:09:30,171 We didn’t know where we were going or what obstacles lay ahead. 805 01:09:30,542 --> 01:09:33,514 Too often we had to double back. 806 01:09:34,457 --> 01:09:40,485 Retracing our steps was a devastating blow that tested our resolve to carry on. 807 01:09:52,514 --> 01:09:54,542 The going was so demanding 808 01:09:54,542 --> 01:09:57,200 we had to halt every twenty minutes. 809 01:10:00,057 --> 01:10:02,400 These brief rest stops 810 01:10:02,400 --> 01:10:04,400 were all we could allow ourselves 811 01:10:04,542 --> 01:10:07,800 as to sleep would be to die. 812 01:10:13,542 --> 01:10:19,171 They were so tired that at one point Shackleton told them he’d give them half an hour. 813 01:10:21,542 --> 01:10:25,771 And let them sleep for five minutes and woke them up and said they’d had their half hour 814 01:10:25,771 --> 01:10:29,428 because he was scared that they would not wake up at all. 815 01:10:45,828 --> 01:10:48,571 So they kept on going. 816 01:10:51,885 --> 01:10:55,457 And what normally happens when you’re traversing glacier roped up, 817 01:10:55,457 --> 01:11:01,485 is people don’t keep quite the same speed and then you trip up on the rope and you curse and swear at each other. 818 01:11:01,485 --> 01:11:10,742 And Worsley actually mentions this and says, how they were so careful not to lose their tempers, still to maintain that, that sort of calm cheerfulness. 819 01:11:19,542 --> 01:11:26,914 Through out the journey all three of us had a strong feeling of being accompanied by a fourth man. 820 01:11:27,942 --> 01:11:33,857 And perhaps it was this soul who kept us safe for there is one incident that defies explanation. 821 01:11:37,857 --> 01:11:40,657 16 hours after we’d set off 822 01:11:40,971 --> 01:11:43,542 we came to the edge of a precipice. 823 01:11:51,400 --> 01:11:53,771 We had no idea what lay below 824 01:11:54,085 --> 01:11:57,485 but time was running out and we could not turn back. 825 01:12:01,342 --> 01:12:07,057 It was decided that, using our rope as a sled, we would throw ourselves into the void… 826 01:12:08,028 --> 01:12:09,657 if we were to die, 827 01:12:09,800 --> 01:12:12,514 it would be on our own terms. 828 01:12:47,542 --> 01:12:52,914 Our toboggan ride took us a thousand feet down the steep slope. 829 01:12:54,628 --> 01:12:57,942 Yet again we had cheated death. 830 01:13:11,971 --> 01:13:16,457 By then of course they were utterly driven. They still had another range to cross. 831 01:13:18,885 --> 01:13:23,800 They ran out of kerosene half way across the crossing, so they had their last hoosh. 832 01:13:24,971 --> 01:13:26,942 And Shackleton heard 833 01:13:27,714 --> 01:13:33,914 the sound of the station whistle at Stromness, he thought. He wasn’t sure. 834 01:13:36,371 --> 01:13:39,714 That was at 6:30. At 7 o’clock they all listened. 835 01:13:55,914 --> 01:13:59,428 And there it was again. The whistle to turn to, to go to work. 836 01:14:13,657 --> 01:14:19,257 And this was the first sound that they’d heard for 17 months 837 01:14:19,485 --> 01:14:21,971 that haven’t been generated by themselves. 838 01:14:22,142 --> 01:14:24,142 So that was an absolutely 839 01:14:24,771 --> 01:14:26,257 marvellous moment. 840 01:14:27,657 --> 01:14:32,800 After 36 hours, half frozen and nearly unconscious 841 01:14:33,485 --> 01:14:35,714 we reached the whaling station. 842 01:14:41,771 --> 01:14:48,200 And the sight of men and buildings and all of those things that they’d been without for so long; 843 01:14:48,200 --> 01:14:51,714 and it meant safety; and it meant more than anything else 844 01:14:51,714 --> 01:14:57,600 rescue and safety for the other 22 men, which the burden of carrying them – 845 01:14:57,600 --> 01:14:59,228 their lives with them 846 01:14:59,228 --> 01:15:03,371 is what kept Shackleton, Worsley and Crean going. 847 01:15:06,171 --> 01:15:09,428 For the first time since abandoning Endurance 848 01:15:10,085 --> 01:15:11,885 I enjoyed a hot bath. 849 01:15:12,514 --> 01:15:14,971 A change of clothes and a shave. 850 01:15:15,914 --> 01:15:21,857 Then that same night the whalers took me back to collect the three men on the other side of the Island, because 851 01:15:21,857 --> 01:15:25,400 but we knew we could not rest until everyone was safe. 852 01:15:25,942 --> 01:15:30,600 That very night he didn’t stop to rest. He didn't stop to um... 853 01:15:30,600 --> 01:15:35,428 you know revel in the fact that he you know had made this journey and it was complete. 854 01:15:35,771 --> 01:15:40,857 He turned around and went straight back to pick up his three James Caird ship mates. 855 01:15:47,971 --> 01:15:49,685 In the months that followed 856 01:15:49,685 --> 01:15:52,685 Tom Crean, Sir Ernest and I 857 01:15:52,857 --> 01:15:58,200 were forced to abandon three separate attempts to reach Elephant Island 858 01:15:58,200 --> 01:16:01,257 and the 22 men waiting there. 859 01:16:04,685 --> 01:16:08,857 It was a gigantic frustration for Shackleton. 860 01:16:12,228 --> 01:16:19,228 The boats or ships were either too small or unsafe to take into icy waters. 861 01:16:22,371 --> 01:16:25,685 He was trying to get some help out from Britain. 862 01:16:27,257 --> 01:16:30,285 Nobody wanted to offer him any help at all. 863 01:16:34,628 --> 01:16:38,600 Sir Ernest knew that the men would be in a very bad way 864 01:16:38,600 --> 01:16:41,114 and worried that should they perish 865 01:16:41,114 --> 01:16:44,057 he would be accused of having abandoned them. 866 01:17:03,857 --> 01:17:05,971 Then, on our fourth attempt, 867 01:17:05,971 --> 01:17:08,057 in the Chilean boat, The Yelcho, 868 01:17:08,228 --> 01:17:10,057 we sighted the island. 869 01:17:10,542 --> 01:17:15,857 It had been 128 days since we’d left its shores. 870 01:17:18,971 --> 01:17:21,057 It seemed too much to expect 871 01:17:21,457 --> 01:17:26,942 that after four months of winter on a God forsaken lump of rock, 872 01:17:26,942 --> 01:17:29,942 that all our shipmates could still be alive. 873 01:17:32,742 --> 01:17:36,657 The whole spit could have been totally swept clear of everything. 874 01:17:37,000 --> 01:17:38,657 during winter storms. 875 01:17:38,657 --> 01:17:41,371 Ah no question there could have been nobody alive at all. 876 01:17:43,800 --> 01:17:45,628 As we neared the coast 877 01:17:45,628 --> 01:17:48,342 we watched the men gather on the beach 878 01:17:48,885 --> 01:17:50,800 as their number grew 879 01:17:51,142 --> 01:17:53,028 so too our hopes. 880 01:18:07,114 --> 01:18:10,228 The Boss counted anxiously and then said… 881 01:18:10,742 --> 01:18:12,828 they’re all there Skipper, 882 01:18:13,571 --> 01:18:15,200 "they’re all alive. 883 01:18:22,485 --> 01:18:24,314 …they’re are all alive Skipper, 884 01:18:26,228 --> 01:18:28,400 and they’re all coming home.” 885 01:18:33,314 --> 01:18:37,028 We had not conquered Antarctica, but 886 01:18:37,714 --> 01:18:40,171 I believe in our failure 887 01:18:40,942 --> 01:18:42,942 there was greater success. 888 01:18:43,971 --> 01:18:45,200 Thank you. 889 01:18:48,485 --> 01:18:50,400 Frank never lost hope. 890 01:18:50,714 --> 01:18:53,914 Somebody said once. ‘He was not born to be drowned’. 891 01:18:55,600 --> 01:18:59,200 He did believe he could get through everything and did. 892 01:19:00,485 --> 01:19:06,000 Getting everybody home was Shackleton’s responsibility as a leader 893 01:19:06,000 --> 01:19:09,485 but without Frank Worsley I don’t think he’d have managed it. 894 01:19:09,485 --> 01:19:13,000 All the credit went to Shackleton. That was the sort of man that he was 895 01:19:13,000 --> 01:19:19,200 but without question the journey could not have been achieved without Frank Worsley’s contribution.