The heart of the Antarctic

After being sent back to England a year early from Robert Falcon Scott's National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904 on account of ill health, Ernest Shackleton determined to return to the Antarctic - this time as leader of his own expedition. In 1907 he was ready.

The British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909 left England in August 1907 aboard the sealer Nimrod. Among its complement of men it carried Douglas Mawson, as expedition physicist, and also Professor of Geology from Sydney University Sir T W Edgeworth David. David initially planned only to travel with the expedition to the Antarctic and to return with the Nimrod at the end of the summer. In the event Shackleton persuaded him to stay on.

Shackleton had promised Scott that he would not make his base in McMurdo Sound, the site of Scott's first expedition; instead he would look for a site further east in Edward VII Land. However, he was unable to reach this because of ice conditions, and did not believe the Ross Ice Shelf would provide a safe site for his base (unlike Roald Amundsen who would safely maintain his base there several years later). Shackleton was forced to seek McMurdo Sound and established his base at Cape Royds.

From here he would make his assault on the South Pole. Another party would also try to reach the South Magnetic Pole. Before these attempts, however, a party of six men climbed Mt Erebus (the active volcano behind the base). This was the first ascent of the mountain and valuable data was collected.

Shackleton's expedition was equipped with a car which they hoped would be capable of pulling loaded sledges. However, it could not deal with the cold conditions and failed early despite much care from the mechanic, Bernard Day. The expedition was also equipped with Manchurian ponies. Each pony was able to pull a loaded sledge.

Over the winter the expedition's magazine was produced. Going one step better than the South Polar Times which was bashed out on a typewriter during Scott's expedition, Shackleton had taken south a small printing press. Two of his men, Frank Wild and Ernest Joyce, had received some training in England from the printers Causton and worked in difficult conditions to produce Aurora Australis - the first book published in Antarctica.

In September 1908 Mawson, David and Alistair Mackay set out on their expedition to the South Magnetic Pole. They reached the Pole's vicinity on 16 January 1909 after a strenuous journey and then had a long trek back to the coast to meet the returning Nimrod. In all they covered 2,028 kilometres hauling their own sledges.

Meanwhile Shackleton was attempting to reach the South (Geographic) Pole: with him were Frank Wild, Eric Marshall and Jameson Adams. They each led a pony pulling a loaded sledge. As the loads were reduced throughout the journey with the establishment of depots the ponies were shot to serve as food. It was hoped the fresh meat would help stave off scurvy. A month after starting out they passed Scott's furthest south. On 3 December they discovered the Beardmore Glacier bearing due south and their 'open road' to the polar plateau. The group took over two weeks to climb to the top of the glacier; at an altitude of over 3,000 metres breathing was hard and they faced a head wind blowing from the Pole. They trekked on, but by early January Shackleton calculated that their provisions were not enough to get them to the Pole and back. Finally, on 9 January 1909, he made the decision to turn back: they had reached 88 degrees 23' S at longitude 162 degrees E. They were only 180 kilometres from the South Pole. So near! But they raised the flag, posed for the camera and marched back across the plateau, down the Beardmore Glacier and safely back to camp. It had not been easy; food was still very short even with the pony meat stored at the depots.

Shackleton's Nimrod expedition had been a triumph: the South Magnetic Pole attained, Mt Erebus climbed and to reach so close to the geographic Pole. Shackleton, Mawson and Wild all returned to the Antarctic on later expeditions.

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