Antarctic Heroism

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18378, 21 April 1934, Page 9

Antarctic Heroism

WRITTEN more than 20 years after ” Captain Scott and his gallant comrades died on their return journey from the South Pole, Mr. George Beaver's “George Wilson of the Antarctic” makes a valuable addition to an already considerable literature on the subject. Edward Wilson — doctor, naturalist and artist —was Scott’s closest friend and first lieutenant, and the story of his life makes engrossing reading.

“If this book succeeds in showing what kind of a man Bill was,” writes Mr. Cherry-Garrard in his introduction, “it will give you courage and that is what the world has wanted since he died, and never perhaps so much as now' . . . you will read here the story of a man who, however appalling the conditions, and whatever the dangers, in the face of starvation and more than once of inevitable death, just went on doing his job.”

This is a big tribute, but it is not a full estimate. Not only did Dr. Wilson “do his job,” but by his unfailing cheeriness and selflessness helped others to carry on—he was a man upon whom others could lean; a man whose habit it was to step in and help; to volunteer for unpleasant tasks and hide the virtue behind an excuse. His most fascinating ideal (as disclosed by one of his letters) was to become entirely careless of soul or body in looking after the welfare of others.