MR. THOMAS S. CREAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 26, 30 July 1938, Page 9

MR. THOMAS S. CREAN

LONDON, July 28,

The death has ' occurred of Mr. Thomas S. Crean, a former petty officer in the Navy, who went to the South Pole twice with Captain Scott and o^ice^with Sir Ernest Shackleton. He saved the lives of Scott and Evans, going to a distant base and returning laden with food.

Crean made his first voyage to the Antarctic as an A.B. with Scott's Discovery Expedition of 1901. As a petty officer, 8.N., he again accompanied Scott on the expedition of 1912.

Crean, Evans, and Lashly were the last to see Scott and his companions alive. They were greatly distressed when Scott chose them for the return party on December 31. "Poor old Crean wept," Scott wrote in his journal. Their journey back should not have been difficult. But a blizzard

held them up for three days. Lieutenant Evans developed symptoms of scurvy, but he continued to pull at the sledge. After struggling on for four days he could go no further, and his companions pulled him on the sledge. Four days of this struggling brought them to Comer Camp; then came a heavy snowfall; the sledge could not travel. Next day Crean set out alone to tramp to Hut Point, 34 miles away. Lashly stayed to nurse Evans and almost certainly saved his life till help came. Crean reached Hut Point after an exhausting march of 18 hours and the dog team was sent out to bring back Evans and Lashly. Both Lashly and Crean received the Albert Medal.

It was on Shackleton's Endurance that Crean made his next voyage south. He was one of the five the leader chose to accompany him on the remarkable small boat journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia.