GALLANT CHILEAN.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 167, 29 April 1935, Page 8

GALLANT CHILEAN.

ANTARCTIC RESCUE RECALLED. Captain Luis Pardo, commander of the Chilean tug Yelclio, which rescued 22 men of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition from Elephants Island in August, 1915, died at Santiago last month. _ The rescue took nlace after Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, was crushed by ice and sank in. the Antarctic. As their ship went down members of the expedition put off in small boats and landed on the little piece of land known as Elephante Island, in the South Shetland Islands, south of Cape Horn. Not having wireless, Shackleton, realising that his only hope of being rescued was to go himself in search of help, went in one of his boats to> South Georgia Island. There he found assistance, hut three efforts which he organised to rescue his expedition from the ice-bound Elephante Island failed. The fourth attempt, made by Captain Pardo in the Yelclio, succeeded. The men had waited four months in the ice before they were taken off by the Yelcho. Captain Pardo, who was decorated by the British Government for his services, was in London last year for the unveiling of a statue of Shackleton. Ever since his heroic effort 20 years ago he has kept in touch with Lady Shaekletbin. Sir Ernest Shackleton, in his “life,” had expressed his gratitude to the Chilean commander.