Shackleton's Heroes (33 page)
Read Shackleton's Heroes Online
Authors: Wilson McOrist
Twelve months earlier, Mackintosh, on the way back to Hut Point with Joyce and Wild, often wrote on the trials and tribulations of a frozen sleeping bag:
As a matter of fact the bags are bags in name only for as we straighten them out it
crackles and crunches like as if we were breaking a piece of wood and it is more in the form of a board when laid out. When all else is done we get in! The inside fur is a mass of ice, congealed from my breath.
One creeps into the bag, toggles up with half-frozen fingers, and hears the crackling of the ice. Presently drops of thawing ice are falling on one's head. Then comes a fit of shivers. You rub yourself and turn over to warm the side of the bag which has been uppermost. A puddle of water forms under the body.
After about two hours you may doze off, but I always wake with the feeling that I have not slept a wink.
34
And here is another Mackintosh mid-March diary note from the year before:
Had a hoosh and a yarn and then unfolded our frozen boards (bags once!) and placed our bodies inside, the prior greeting â the cold ice against your fingers as you separated the flap of the bag, open it then in go your legs followed by the rest of your body so apart from the ice crackling as you get in nothing happens, but after this down goes your head which meets a shower of snow and ice, you ease the flap over and toggle up â the toggling generally takes a little time as the fingers âgo' but this is eventually accomplished you are prepared for sleep.
The warmth from the body now sets up a thaw, you turn and shift position, but all is damp while at this stage, the ice resting against the helmet close to cheek, made that part so cold that it started my tooth going. I turned helmet round and made things better; all our clothes, the top ones, are damp.
Towards early morning the temperature falling, everything froze again, this caused feet to get cold, the cold gradually creeping up body, until shivering commenced and then you shivered until till getting up time brought relief.
35
Hayward had written then:
It is really unfair to tax anybody's imagination, to the extent required to obtain anything like a fair average idea of the hideous night, the weather & the sleeping bag contrived to make last night for me, I will only say that I have never had to contend with anything like it & hope I may never have to again.
36
Spencer-Smith was now taking opium. In an interview in 1976 Richards thought back and remembered they had a medicine chest with some poisons in it: some cocaine tablets, opium and strychnine. He had no idea what the strychnine was for.
37
They could not yet see the next food depot yet, one of three that Cope and his party had laid down in 1915, all within 40 miles of Hut Point.
Hayward summed up the day in a few words: âBright. Under way 9 o/c AM all started, drift very hard going in places. 10 M for day.'
38
Wild: âSaw a skua gull this morning.'
39
(This indicated they were now close to the sea.)
Joyce maintained his diary:
Sledge going hard, especially in soft places. If Hayward had not broken down we should not feel the weight so much. Wind and drift very heavy. A good job it is blowing some, or else we should have to relay. All land obscured.
Sun shining brightly + no wind, it seemed strange last night. no flapping of tent in ones ears, about 8.30 came on to drift again under way 9.20 both sails set. sledge going hard especially in soft places if Hayward had not give in we should not feel the weight so much. Lunch 12.45.
Under weigh at 3 wind + drift very heavy a good job it is blowing some or else we should have to relay all land obscured Distance about 10 or 11 miles a very good performance Camped 7.10 in the dark.
Patients not in the best of trim. I hope to get in bar accidents in 4 days.
40
Spencer-Smith:
Calm till breakfast and then a good southerly (with drift) and sunshine helped a lot. The afternoon was dull and overcast, but the days trek is about 10 m.: no sign of Cope's No. 3 Depot.
I am on the rear sledge now â a skittish little thing. Bad gripes. 1 gr. opium afternoon and evening.
41
On 6 March the six men were less than 40 miles from Hut Point. In the morning they picked up supplies from Cope's No. 3 depot. It had taken them two hours to reach there, only a mile and a half from where they set off in the morning. Their progress after lunch was even worse. They had lunched at 12.30 and were under way at two o'clock but there was less of a wind, making it difficult for Joyce, Richards and Wild and their four dogs to haul three sick men on the sledges. Even with assistance from a gentle wind for part of the day they had managed only 8 miles, putting them around 30 miles from Hut Point by evening.
Joyce: âGoing with a fair wind in the forenoon which eased somewhat after lunch which caused very heavy work in pulling. It seems to me I shall have to Depot someone if the wind eases at all.'
42
7 March was a difficult day, made up of a number of stages: from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. â four hours packing up camp; from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. â they travelled only one and a half miles; from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. â they camped for lunch where they then decided to dump one of the sledges and any unnecessary gear; from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. â over these six hours they only managed only another one and a half miles. At 8 p.m. they camped, having travelled approximately 3 miles for the entire day.
Joyce:
Although we turn out at 5 it seems a long time to get under way. There is double as much work to do now with our invalids.
This is the calmest day we have had for weeks. The sun is shining + all land in sight. It is very hard going. Had a little breeze about 11 o'clock, set sail, but work still very, very heavy.
Hayward and Skipper going on ahead with sticks, very slow pace, but it will buck them up and do them good. If one could only get some fresh food!
43
Hayward at lunch: âAnyhow we were forced to camp, having only trundled about 1½ M. At this camp we depoted everything possible including personal gear â 1 sledge, decreasing the load by perhaps 200 lb.'
44
Then Hayward on their afternoon:
We were again under way by 1.30, the Skipper having gone on ahead. This new arrangement was not the success expected & going still very difficult, being ⦠2 men & dogs, on overtaking the Skipper he was whacked & was put on the sledge, this added weight proved too much.
It was plainly sure that unless our speed can be improved the result will be disastrous & the six of us will never get in.
45
Joyce: âDistance about three and a half miles.'
46
That evening they made the decision to leave Mackintosh. After their meal Joyce and Richards called Wild to their tent to discuss the situation. They knew they could not keep going and after talking it over Richards tells us he said: âWell, there's only one thing to do, Smith's almost at his last gasp, we've got to get in with him, we can't get in as it is, we may not get in at all.'
47
Spencer-Smith was weakening rapidly and Mackintosh was unable to walk, being on the sledge all the time, and Hayward most of the time. They had reached the stage where progress had become almost impossible if there was no following wind. If they did not quickly make Hut Point, Richards thought it âmight be fatal'.
48
They guessed that fate would now play its part.
Richards thought later, when speaking about this stage of their journey, that Mackintosh may have lost his capacity for clear thought at this time and was prepared to leave decisions to others. When Richards, Joyce and Wild decided that the correct thing to do was to leave him in the tent Mackintosh acquiesced without any complaining or comment at all. Richards was sure that he could see that if they did not do something they might all perish, even though they were close to Hut Point. The three fitter men thought
that, at the time and in their judgement, the right thing to do was to try to get Spencer-Smith (and Hayward) to Hut Point as they felt that Spencer-Smith was near death. If they could get him to Hut Point they would save his life, because they believed that seal meat would quickly cure his scurvy.
49
Hayward was now badly off his food and was eating only a little of his pemmican. His lips were discoloured and he was almost incapable of moving his legs.
50
In his diary note that day he admitted that he was now of no value to the others â and he expressed his concern â what would his fiancée think of him?
Joyce:
After a consultation decided to Depot the Skipper + proceed in with Smith + Hayward + leave him with 3 weeks provisions + I told him when we camped what we proposed to do + I could not see any other way out it he said:
âdo anything you like with me Joyce'.
It may be blowing hard tomorrow as we can take him on further it seems hard only about 30 miles away + yet cannot get any assistance. Our gear is absolutely rotten, no sleep last night shivering all night in wet bags. I wonder what will be the outcome of it all after our struggle âTrust in Prove'.
51
Hayward:
We camped & things were talked over & everybody naturally being anxious of finishing on what would best help matters to a safe conclusion.
It was decided that the Skipper remain here in camp & the rest of us push on with full speed as we are all more or less unwell at any time & further men needing Back up. In any case it is absolutely necessary that we get fresh food quickly & of course we hope that we may obtain assistance at Hut Pt.
Anyhow it's a cinch that drastic measures are required for such a drastic position & this seems the best thing to be done.
Am now out of the team, my legs having become so swollen, stiff & painful as to make my pulling any weight in the trace impossible, in fact it is as much as I can do to keep up even with this slow pace.
I do not know what you will think of me, & I will not try to describe my feelings.
52
Richards: âWe are all rapidly going down with scurvy. Hayward particularly bad. Decided to depot Skipper here and march onto Hut Point and out again as soon as possible.'
53
Wild: âWe have decided to leave the Skipper here & struggle onto Hut Point with the other two & then come back for the Skipper. I think that's the only way we can possibly do it.'
54
He started with a Many Happy Returns of the Day to âF' â his sister Fredrica Ethel, who was born this day in 1875.
55
He goes on to explain that the O.M. (Mackintosh) would be left here. H. (Hayward) and he would remain at H.P. (Hut Point) and the others would come back with seal-meat, and with C. (Cope) their doctor, who Spencer-Smith expected to be at Hut Point.
To F. M. H. R. O. T. D.
A bitterly cold night: bag frozen stiff in a bad position. Glorious weather but only for about 3 miles, as the wind dropped.
Decided to depot O.M. tomorrow and push on to H.P. with the invalids â Hayward's legs are very bad now and even Wild has a touch in the teeth.
H. and I will be left at H.P. and the others will come back at top speed with seal-meat and C. and fetch the O.M. with whom we leave 3 weeks' food.
56
The six men were just 30 miles from Hut Point.
1.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
2.
Ibid.
3.
Ibid.
4.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
5.
Hayward diary, 1 March 1916
6.
Joyce field diary, 1 March 1916
7.
Spencer-Smith diary, 1 March 1916
8.
Hayward diary, 1 March 1916
9.
Joyce field diary, 1 March 1916
10.
Richards diary, 1 March 1916
11.
Hayward diary, 1 March 1916
12.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
13.
Richards letter to A. J. T. Fraser, 9 July 1961
14.
Joyce field diary, 2 March 1916
15.
Hayward diary, 2 March 1916
16.
Richards diary, 2 March 1916
17.
Joyce field diary, 2 March 1916
18.
Spencer-Smith diary, 2 March 1916
19.
Joyce field diary, 2 March 1916
20.
Wild diary, 3 March 1916
21.
Richards diary, 3 March 1916
22.
Spencer-Smith diary, 3 March 1916
23.
Hayward diary, 3 March 1916
24.
Joyce field diary, 3 March 1916
25.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
26.
Richards, interview with P. Lathlean, 1976
27.
Richards diary, 4 March 1916
28.
Joyce field diary, 4 March 1916
29.
Wild diary, 4 March 1916
30.
Hayward diary, 4 March 1916
31.
Spencer-Smith diary, 4 March 1916
32.
Joyce field diary, 4 March 1916
33.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
34.
Mackintosh diary, 2 March 1915
35.
Ibid., 20 March 1915
36.
Hayward diary, 8 March 1915
37.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
38.
Hayward diary, 5 March 1916
39.
Wild diary, 5 March 1916
40.
Joyce field diary, 5 March 1916
41.
Spencer-Smith diary, 5 March 1916
42.
Joyce field diary, 6 March 1916
43.
Ibid., 7 March 1916
44.
Hayward diary, 7 March 1916
45.
Ibid.
46.
Joyce field diary, 7 March 1916
47.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
48.
Richards,
The Ross Sea Shore Party
49.
Richards, interview with L. Bickel, 1976
50.
Cope Medical Report of the Ross Sea Base ITAE. January 1917
51.
Joyce field diary, 7 March 1916
52.
Hayward diary, 7 March 1916
53.
Richards diary, 7 March 1916
54.
Wild diary, 7 March 1916
55.
Debby Horsman, great-niece of A. P. Spencer-Smith. Private papers
56.
Spencer-Smith diary, 7 March 1916