Category: Heritage

Remembering Sir Ernest Shackleton

Sir Ernest Shackleton died on 5th January 1922 at Grytviken in South Georgia on the Quest expedition.

On 4 January, 1922, the ‘Quest’ reached South Georgia and cast anchor off the Grytviken whaling station. Sir Ernest Shackleton visited old friends at the whaling station and organised preparations for the expedition. He returned to the ‘Quest’ that evening in good cheer. He wrote the following words in his diary, that were to be his last:

At last, after sixteen days of turmoil and anxiety, on a peaceful sunshiny day, we came to anchor in Grytviken. How familiar the coast seemed as we passed down: we saw with full interest the places we struggled over after the boat journey. Now we must speed all we can, but the prospect is not too bright, for labour is scarce. The old familiar smell of dead whale permeates everything. It is a strange and curious place. Douglas and Wilkins are at different ends of the island. A wonderful evening.

In the darkening twilight I saw a lone star hover Gem-like above the bay.

(Source: https://shackletonexhibition.com/shackletons-death-5-january-1922/)

Uruguay: Funeral Of Sir Ernest Shackleton At Monte Video –
Source: British Pathé https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA80C9UW74VZ6MHD3S5U7D9FU2A-URUGUAY-FUNERAL-OF-SIR-ERNEST-SHACKLETON-AT-MONTE-VIDEO/query/shackleton

Quest’s Logbook On Ernest Shackleton’s Death; His Grave In Grytviken, South https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/88099203/quests-logbook-ernest-shackletons-death-his-grave-grytviken.html

‘South’, Shackleton’s account of the ‘Endurance’ expedition, was published in 1919 in London by William Heinemann.

In the preface, Shackleton wrote “… I think that though failure in the actual accomplishment must be recorded, there are chapters in this book of high adventure, strenuous days, lonely nights, unique experiences, and above all, records of unflinching determination, supreme loyalty and generous self-sacrifice on the part of my men which … still will be of interest to readers who now turn gladly from the red horror of war … to read … the tale of the White Warfare of the South.”

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_(book))

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/104/1045518/south/9780712664127.html

(Source: Penguin Books)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/South-Endurance-Expedition-Ernest-Shackleton/dp/0140288864

(Source: Amazon)