Return To Civilization
The rescued party, having had its last contact with civilization in 1914, was unaware of the course of the World War. News of Shackleton's safe arrival in the Falklands briefly eclipsed war news in the British newspapers on 2 June 1916. The expedition returned home in piecemeal fashion, at a critical stage in the war, without the normal honours and civic receptions. When Shackleton himself finally arrived in England on 29 May 1917, after a short American lecture tour, his return was barely noticed.
Most of the members of the expedition returned to take up immediate active military or naval service. Before the war ended two—Tim McCarthy of the open boat journey and the veteran Antarctic sailor Alfred Cheetham—had been killed in action, and Ernest Wild of the Ross Sea party had died of typhoid while serving in the Mediterranean. Several others were severely wounded, and many received decorations for gallantry. Following a propaganda mission in Buenos Aires, Shackleton was employed during the last weeks of the war on special service in Murmansk, with the Army rank of Major. This occupied him until March 1919. He thereafter organised one final Antarctic expedition, the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition on Quest, which left London on 17 September 1921. Shackleton died of a heart attack on 5 January 1922, while Quest was anchored at South Georgia.
Wild, Worsley, Macklin, McIlroy, Hussey, Alexander Kerr, Thomas McLeod and cook Charles Green, from Endurance, all sailed with Quest. After Shackleton’s death the original programme, which had included an exploration of Enderby Land, was abandoned. Wild led a brief cruise which brought them into sight of Elephant Island. They anchored off Cape Wild, and were able to see the old landmarks, but sea conditions made it impossible for them to land.
It would be more than 40 years before the first crossing of Antarctica was achieved, by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1955–58. This expedition set out from Vahsel Bay, following a route which avoided the Beardmore Glacier altogether, and bypassed much of the Ross Ice Shelf, reaching McMurdo Sound via a descent of the Skelton Glacier. The entire journey took 98 days.
Read more about this topic: Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
Famous quotes containing the words return to, return and/or civilization:
“Retirement requires the invention of a new hedonism, not a return to the hedonism of youth.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Real kindness seeks no return;
What return can the world make to rain clouds?”
—Tiruvalluvar (c. 5th century A.D.)
“If, then, this civilization is to be saved, if it is not to be submerged by centuries of barbarism, but to secure the treasures of its inheritance on new and more stable foundations, there is indeed need for those now living fully to realize how far the decay has already progressed.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)