WITH SCOTT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVXIII, Issue 53, 4 March 1937, Page 8

WITH SCOTT.

AND SHACKLETON.

THREE EXPEDITIONS.

VISITOR FROM ENGLAND

VETERAN EXPLORER HERE.

Veteran of three expeditions to the Antarctic—two with Scott and one with Shackleton—Captain R. G. England, of London, is at present in Auckland. Hβ has been, with his wife, in New Zealand since last November, and leaves for Aurtralia by the Wanganella to-morrow nijrht. In 1909 he gave up the sea, and is now a director of the largest transport service in Great Britain.

Tales, wonderful tales, of ships and seas and ice, of hardship and courasre, of grit and determination, were told byCaptain England this morning. His first introduction to the blizzards of the

Antarctic Circle was early in 1902 -when, as second in command of the relief ship Morning (commanded by Captain W. Colbeck) he sailed from Lyttelton with provisions for the Scott expedition.

"It was not an easy task," admitted Captain England. "Our main difficulty was the fact that we had no knowledge of where Captain Scott had made his winter headquarters. There was no radio in those days, and it was necessary for us to search many islands on our way south. Records of Captain Scott were sometimes found in a cylinder nailed to a post. There was sometimes a note inside. All we knew was that he was going south. Eventually we fonnd him on a promontory in the Ross Sea." Provisoes Taken Overland. Ten .or fifteen miles of solid ice separated Scott's ship 'Discovery from the relief ship Moroinjje Ifc.was essential: that |the provieitpfng Gajriprj; far the wintfarlje -'SirtjiiSv&wij wfttr aB speed, for the sea -was fast freezing behind the Morning. It was found impossible, said Captain England, to take the Morninjr any -nearer the Discovery, although frantic efforts were made to saw through the ice by hand. Eventually it was necessary to take the provisions overland on sledges drawn by the crew. There were no doge aboard the Morning.

Their job completed, the Morning set sail for Lyttelton to leave Scott and hie expedition to spend a grim winter aboard the Discovery in the bleakness of the South. Scott's position was reported to the Admiralty as soon as the Morning reached Lyttelton, e*id Captain England. Realising the difficult nature of Scott's task, .the Admiralty eent another relief ship, the Terra Nova, from England with all speed, and towards the end of 1903 the new ship and the Morning, with Captain England still second in command, sailed once again for the Antarctic. They left from Hobart. Gtm Cotton Used In Ice. "Thia time we could get only within 20 miles of the Discovery," continued Captain England. "We had taken a lot of gun cotton with Uβ, and we tried blasting our way through the ice. After many weeks we prepared an extra big charge, and with a terrific blast the ice, aide* by a heavy swell, parted, and the three ships were freed. We then made a rendezvous at the Auckland Islands. On April 1, 1904, we arrived back in Lyttelton. People wouldn't turn out to see us when the story of our arrival first went round, because it was April Fools' Day, and they thought they were being fooled. After that we set eail for England, and disbanded at Plymouth."

Three years went by, three years of comfort for Captain England, but the lure of adventure wae too strong, and when an opportunity came his way to join Shaekleton's expedition in 1907, he grasped it with both hands. Captain England commanded Shackleton's ship Nimrod and was second in command of the expedition. After that expedition, which lasted nearly two yeare, he gave up the sea and launched out in commerce. He had married the daughter of the late Mr. Charles Wesley Turner, ot Christchurch, one of the original directors of the New Zealand Shipping Company. He mentioned that many of Scott's expedition married New Zealand girls. Happy Memories. Ana now theee three historic expeditions for Captain England are only memories. "The discomforts and the hardships have all melted away ar.d those expeditions only bring back memories of one long period of happiness," he said. "Strenuous times? Yes, there were strenuous times, all right."

What stories mast be recounted at the yearly gathering of the Antarctic Club, a body which was founded in London in 1929. Its members are the men from all the expeditions that have crossed the Antarctic Circle. Once a year, in the "first week of January, they meet in London and live again those days of daring. The first president was Admiral Skelton, the present is Admiral Evavo. Captain England was president in 1933.

Although the club has no clubrooms, it is registered. Christmas and Xew Year card* are sent out by its members. Tμ silver lettering in a circle on the iront is the name of the club printed round half the globe. Perched on the South Pole is & penguin.