This morning, the 16th March, in 1912 Captain L E Oates, formerly of the 6th Dragoons and a veteran of the Boer Wars, walked out of the tent where he and his 3 companions had slept announcing:" I am going out and may be some time". The temperature was minus 40 and he was on his way back from the South Pole. Physically he was the weakest of his party and had been holding then up for a few days and had asked them to leave him in his sleeping bag just the day before. His act of self sacrifice was his attempt to save the others from certain death, as they still had quite a distance to go to the next supply drop. Unfortunately, it was for nothing as the other three led by Robert Scott also died 13 days later, just 11 miles short of the depot.
Their attempt to reach the Pole first was also a failure as the Norwegian party led by Amundsen had beaten them by a month.
Last year was the centenary and Oates sacrifice was remembered by many.
I oft quoted him when younger and like all good English schoolboys of the last century, love and rejoice in Scott’s Polar expedition.
If they all died how did they know Oates walked to his death?
Well WE Oats means more than one Oat, so some must have survived. Why couldn’t they just eat Quaker Oats to stay warm?
If they all died how did they know Oates walked to his death?
Hi Bjcard: Scott kept a journal.
I think this would have been Lawrence Oates. W.E. Oates seems to have been an explorer in Africa, around 1875.
@wittmann:
If they all died how did they know Oates walked to his death?
Hi Bjcard: Scott kept a journal.
Fair enough. Interesting story though. Thanks for sharing.
@Herr:
I think this would have been Lawrence Oates. W.E. Oates seems to have been an explorer in Africa, around 1875.
It appears you are right Herr KaLeun: my apologies everyone.
I honestly have spent my whole life thinking he was called WE!
Cannot imagine where or when that began!
As I recall… when the last of them died, they were less than a half a day’s walk from the nearest town stop.
They just couldn’t see it, and didn’t know it.
EDIT
Yes there are no towns, but you know what I meant. :P
Town…. not really. They were some ten miles from the next food depot, and they knew where it was, but just couldn’t make it. There are no real towns on Antarctica even today, and there were certainly no permanent settlements either back then.
