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1912 onwards: The story behind the failed expedition into the Antarctic
Dead Men
What you need to know before your trail
Three intrepid explorers, Scott, Wilson and Bowers are discovered in their tent, having starved to death. This is not just a tragedy however but soon turns into a really perplexing mystery as how could the men have remained only 11 miles from the safety of camp where there was food and water. Why did the men not attempt to make the short journey back. What happened for the men to perish?
Many years later a woman carrying a dead man’s name – Birdie Bowers, an infamously secretive painter, is named after one of the men, Henry “Birdie” Bowers who was one of Scott’s companions. A century after his death, she is determined to discover what really happened to him.
But the landscape now is even colder and more unwelcoming that it was back then.
Travel Guide
1912 expedition to the Antarctic
The British Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Tera Nova expedition was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. It was led by Robert Falcon Scott and the team had various scientific and geographical objectives, but one of their main goals was to be the first to read the south pole. When they got there however, they discovered to their horror that a Norwegian team had beat them to it.
The entire party perished on the trek back. Search parties did find many of their bodies, possessions such as journals several months after they went missing but some of their bodies, journals, and photographs were found by a search party eight months later. There is still a huge amount of mystery and controversy around why they perished and how such trained explorers died close to camp.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Dead Men
Destination: Antarctica Author/Guide: Richard Pierce Departure Time: 1912 onwards
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