´óÏó´«Ã½

« Previous | Main | Next »

Edgar Evans: A Welshman to the Pole

Post categories: ,Ìý

Phil Carradice Phil Carradice | 09:25 UK time, Friday, 17 February 2012

No matter what you think about the efficacy of Scott's 1912 expedition to the South Pole, his organisation and his overall attitudes, you cannot dispute the raw courage of the five men involved in the final push for the pole - a push that was ultimately as cruel and brutal as it was futile.

Scott's ship Terra Nova leaves Cardiff for Antarctica 15 June 1910 National Museum of Wales

Scott's ship Terra Nova leaves Cardiff for Antarctica 15 June 1910 (National Museum of Wales)

As most people now know, the Norwegian explorer beat Scott to the pole by five weeks and, devastated by the knowledge, all members of Scott's party perished on the return journey.

People often speak about the courage of Captain Oates, walking out to his death in the final blizzard rather than delay and hinder his comrades, but one man whose contribution to the expedition is often overlooked is Welshman Edgar Evans.

Evans was born on 7 March 1876 at Middleton, near Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula. He was the son of a sailor and was always destined for a career at sea. At the age of 13 he enlisted in the Royal Navy and by 1899 was serving on HMS Majestic where Lieutenant Robert Falcon Scott was employed as torpedo officer.

Edgar Evans served his time and was duly promoted, eventually reaching the rank of petty officer. He went with Scott on his first Antarctic expedition between 1901 and 1904, being part of a three-man team (the others being Scott and William Lashley) that travelled by sledge into the interior of Victoria Land in 1903.

Evans was always a big man and was described both as a "huge, bull necked figure" and, perhaps more damagingly, as a womaniser who enjoyed his ale and rum. Certainly by the time Scott's final expedition left Britain on the Terra Nova in 1910 he was past his prime.

An episode in New Zealand where he fell, drunk, into the water while attempting to get back to the ship after a night on the town would certainly have had him shipped back home in disgrace if there had been a different commander. Scott knew his man, however, and felt that he would need Evans' strength - and cheerful personality - in the weeks and months ahead.

Scott was right. Evans was a tireless worker who was always busying himself at one job or another. Scott's decision not to use dogs to pull the sledges - a decision that, arguably, lost him the race with Amunsden - meant that Evans' enormous strength was soon found to be invaluable.

The Polar party departs

When the Polar party was announced it was, perhaps, inevitable that "Taff" Evans would be one of the number, along with Scott, Lawrence Oates, Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers. Late in 1911, the small five-man team set off, reaching the South Pole on 17 January 1912, just 11 weeks after departure. The sudden and devastating realisation that they had been beaten to their goal must have been horrendous and the journey back to base was both desperate and deadly.

The Antarctic was hit by some of the worst gales ever seen, with snow and ice battering at the five disappointed explorers. It soon became apparent that they were in serious trouble.

Evans had cut his hand just before reaching the pole and, in the dreadful conditions the party endured, the wound refused to heal properly. Always the strongest and most physically able of men, Evans now began to unravel - both physically and emotionally - before the eyes of his fellow explorers. Within days of leaving the pole he was suffering from frostbite to his fingers and nose and often seemed to be living in a different world.

Short on food, supplies and time

When descending the Beardmore Glacier on 4 February, Evans slipped and fell through the ice. He was pulled clear but had injured his head - Scott thought he had concussion - and his condition worsened. By now he was making extremely slow progress through the ice and snow, often delaying the party which was already short of both food supplies and, most important of all, time.

On 16 February he was left far behind as the other four men hauled their sledge towards the next supply depot. Scott wrote in his diary, which was later recovered from his body:

"After lunch and Evans still not appearing, we looked out to see him still afar off... I was first to reach the poor man and was shocked by his appearance; he was on his knees with clothes disarrayed, hands uncovered and frostbitten, and a wild look in his eyes."

Captain Oates stayed with Evans while the others went back to their tent for a sledge to transport the stricken man. They could do nothing for him and Edgar Evans died at approximately 12.30am on 17 February, exactly one month after they had reached the South Pole.

His body was never found, although Scott and his comrades must have buried it somewhere in that icy wilderness. Had Scott lived they would have recovered the body and given it a suitable burial. It was not to be. Within a few short days Scott and the other three had also perished.

Edgar Evans' widow erected a plaque in his memory in the church at Rhossili. It bears the inscription "To seek, to strive, to find and not to yield," a suitable and appropriate testimony to the first Welshman ever to reach the South Pole.

If Phil's article has made you curious about Scott's Polar expedition, the National Museum Cardiff is running an exhibition called Captain Scott: South For Science. It runs until Sunday 13 May 2012 and is supported by the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust. Find out more about the exhibition on the .

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Ask most people to name the five members of Scott's Last Expedition that went to the Pole and you'll probably get Scott, Oates... and maybe Wilson if you're lucky. Bowers and Evans were two of the unsung heros of Antarctic exploration. Evans died 17th February 1912, Oates 17th March 1912 and Scott, Wilson and Bowers around 29th March 1912

  • Comment number 2.

    You didn't mention that Scott chose to take four men with him to the Pole whilst all preparations had been made on the assumption that four men in total would make the final push. I can never understand why Scott did this. Poor Evans, who being so big, would need so many calories per day was effectively starving.

  • Comment number 3.

    Jean is correct - it seems as though it was a last minute decision to take a party of 5 rather than 4 to the Pole. Evans was indeed a big man but they were all slowly starving themselves - it was recently quoted to me that they were taking in 4,500 calories per day but burning 6,000. Today we all know about calories, protein, carbohydrates etc but a hundred years ago that indepth knowledge was not available. They were all brave men - travelling into the unknown.

  • Comment number 4.

    Hi Jean, Scott's decision to enlarge the final Polar Party was just one of several logistical mistakes he made. The refusal to use dogs (and thereby extending the time his party would be on the ice) was another. And, of course, people paid with their lives.

  • Comment number 5.

    Nowadays if you want to swim the Channel or row the Atlantic you know - through other people's experiences - the best way to do this or to do that... We must not forget that these were early days in the exploration of the Antarctic and no one had been to the South Pole before. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. That's not to say that mistakes may have been made but we must also bear in mind that it is generally considered that the weather during the expedition was worse than normal. You can argue for and against decisions made and the enviroment but I would like to think that they were all men that we should feel proud of.

  • Comment number 6.

    Yes, Scott did make a lot of mistakes and historians have argued about this for years. I've read a lot about the subject and agree with newnigel when he says that the weather was certainly against them that year. They were all brave men heading off into the icey wastes, which I think is why the story is so fascinating. There is also the pathos, of course, in Scott's diaries. If you are interested in the story, then read The Worst Journey in the World by Cherry Apsley Garrard - amazing.

  • Comment number 7.

    I am currently going through my copy of Scott's Diary (again!). Each day I am reading just one entry, the entry relating to what happened exactly 100 years ago. What makes things so sad is that we now know the outcome, yet when Scott was writing this - even though he had serious concerns - he must have thought that they would finally get through.
    The Museum at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge currently has a (free) exhibition on Scott's Last Expedition. It includes some of the original letters written by the men when they realised that they were not going to be make it. They are heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking. Try to get to the Museum before the exhibition closes sometime in May, it is well worth it.

  • Comment number 8.

    I will certainly get along to the museum before the exhibition closes. I may want to criticize Scott for a whole range of reasons but I would never dream of running down his courage - or the men who went with him to Antarctica. Their bravery was immense and that, perhaps, is something we tend to overlook when we are taking critical stock of what went on in 1912. After all, hindsight is the only exact science.

  • Comment number 9.

    I thoroughly enjoyed the original article and all the comments people have made. And yet the one thing nobody has mentioned is why? Why go out to Antarctica and put yourself through all that? The old adage "Because it's there" is surely not good enough. So, why?

  • Comment number 10.

    It is an interesting discussion as to why people do such risky things. I understand the comments regarding the mistakes on the Scott expedition, and have enjoyed reading differing accounts of the expedition: Cherry-Garrard's timeless "The Worst Journey in the World', Roland Huntford's classic but devastating 'The Last Place on Earth' and more recently Susan Solomon's more sympathetic 'The Coldest March'.

    My own view is that people will always attempt to achieve 'firsts', and frequently these are beset by dangers that only later, after decades have past, seem unreasonable. Unfortunately death comes with the territory: think North-West Passage (hundreds of British dead), Mallory, Irvine and several support climbers on Everest, The North face of the Eiger, Apollo 1, the list goes on. Although Shackleton was famous for never losing a man under his own direct command, nevertheless men did die on the opposite side of Antarctica in his Transantarctic expedition. Even Amundsen, later in his career, took tremendous risks in the Arctic and died on an attempt to rescue others. In this context, Scott's expedition seems better seen as a largely well-organised expedition that came very close to succeeding at an indescribably difficult task.

Ìý

More from this blog...

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.