Our speaker on 13 July 2017 was Dr Sydney Cullis, whose topic was The Heroic Antarctic Explorers and the South African War of 1899 – 1902. Before commencing his power point illustrated lecture, Dr Cullis paid tribute to the historian and author, Dr Taffy Shearing (SAMHS Life Member), who gave a lecture to our Branch some 20 years ago and who passed away recently.
Dr Cullis introduced his talk by explaining that the South African War occurred in the middle of the heroic era of Antarctic exploration (1895 – 1922) so it is not surprising that some men took part in both. What research has revealed is that for many of the important leaders of Antarctic exploration (i.e. Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, Ernest Joyce, John King and Lawrence Oates) the war was directly or indirectly responsible for their careers as polar explorers.
The Sixth International Geographic Congress in 1895 resulted in the exploration of Antarctica. The first to winter there was the Belgian ship Belgica. The second ship to do so was a sailing ship of 721 tons, the German Gauss in 1901 – 1903. Two French expeditions followed in 1903 – 1905 and 1908 – 1910. These were followed by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition in 1902 – 1904, led by W S Bruce in the Scotia, and Captain R F Scott, who pioneered sledge journeying, in the Discovery in 1901-1904. In 1907 – 1909 Sir Ernest Shackleton’s British expedition reached to within 155km /97 miles of the South Pole.
In 1911 the Norwegian Roald Amundsen in the Fram and Capt Scott in the Terra Nova raced to reach the South Pole first. Amundsen won but Scott and his party perished in the attempt. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set out to cross the Antarctic Continent. His ship Endurance was trapped in the ice of the Weddel Sea and crushed. Shackleton’s outstanding leadership and ingenuity saved the lives of his expedition. They drifted on ice floes and then sailed to Elephant Island in Endurance’s boats. Five men sailed in one of these boats 1,280km/ 800 miles to South Georgia to arrange for the rescue of those left behind on Elephant Island.
Ernest Shackleton (1874 – 1922), was born in Southern Ireland and was educated at Dulwich College which he left when he turned 16 years of age to join the Merchant Navy. By 1899 he was serving as an officer in the Tintagel Castle, which was used as a troopship during the South African War. One of his duties was that of ship’s entertainment officer. Shooting practices were also held on board.
He befriended Lieutenant Cedric Longstaff of the East Surrey Regiment, whose father had donated 100,000 pounds to Scott’s Antarctic Expedition. It seems probable that this friendship helped to secure the post of third lieutenant in the 1901 National Antarctic Expedition. He took part in the first great South Polar trek which went further south than any previous expedition. He was stricken with scurvy and was sent home to recover.
Dr Edward Wilson and Capt Scott, who had served in the South African War, described the war as a “ghastly nightmare” and the battle of Paardeberg as “sinful cruelty”.
Frank Wild (1874 – 1939) had joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 15. During the South African War he joined the Royal Navy as a rating and was serving in Simon’s Town when Capt Scott needed replacements for unsuitable men for his National Antarctic Expedition in 1901. Four thousand men applied and Wild was one of those chosen. He was an excellent choice. In addition to the 1901 - 1904 expedition, he served with Shackleton in the Nimrod in 1907 – 1909, in Mawson’s Australasian expedition in 1912 – 1904, in the Endurance in 1914 – 1916 with the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition and, finally, in the Quest expedition of 1921 – 1922, which he commanded after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s death. His later years were spent in South Africa, where he died on 23 August 1939. His ashes were discovered in Johannesburg many years later and these were interred near those of Sir Ernest Shackleton in South Georgia. His Arctic Medal was sold for 130,000 pounds.
Dr Cullis then described how Ernest Joyce (1874 – 1940) joined the 1901 Expedition in Simon’s Town after war service in the RN during the South African War. He was a 15 year-old RN Able Seaman in HMS Sybille, a second class cruiser and was part of the Naval Brigade from that ship landed to defend Lambert’s Bay against the Commando of Commandant Nieuwoudt. Some of his men fired at the Sybille which returned the fire. The Sybille ran aground in the early hours of 16 January 1901 and was the only British ship lost during the South African War. She had been returning to Lamberts Bay after riding out a storm but the current swept the ship 9,6km /6 miles to the south. She was off course and ran aground.
Joyce’s next ship was HMS Gibraltar and, when Captain Scott needed four volunteers, he was one of those selected. He was to serve in four Antarctic expeditions and was in charge of the dogs and sledges. Unlike Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton did not use dogsleds if another means of transport was available. Joyce did excellent work setting up the stores depots which saved the lives of the returning men. He did not take part in the Quest expedition but volunteered for the Mount Everest expedition in 1922. In 1923 he was awarded the Albert Medal for gallantry.
John King Davis, an Irishman, took part in three Antarctic expeditions between 1907 and 1930. After serving as a steward in the Carisbrooke Castle, and passage from Cape Town to England, he made a career in the Merchant Navy and was Chief Officer of the Nimrod in 1907.
Our speaker next described the career of Capt Lawrence Edward Grace Oates. His uncle, Frank Oates, was a distinguished naturalist and Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, who died of malaria in Matabeleland in 1875. Oates was a sickly lad who was sent to South Africa where he spent three winters at Caledon. Encouraged by his father, his health gradually improved so that he could spend two years as a boarder at Eton. He was unable to gain admission to either Oxford or Cambridge and took over the running of his father’s estate. He joined the militia.
During the South African War he was commissioned in the 6th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards on 30 May 1900. On arrival in Cape Town in 1901, he was sent to Piquetberg, Groenfontein and Prince Alfred Road. When Aberdeen was occupied by the Boers, he and his draft were sent to relieve the town. The Boers withdrew and Col Pearson’s column occupied it. Oates and 14 men were sent out to deal with the enemy who were firing from the nearby hills. Approximately 9,6km/ 6 miles from Aberdeen, at Fairview Farm, two of his men were wounded and two horses shot. Oates and his men withdrew under fire to a dry river bed. Cmdt Scheepers called upon them to surrender but Oates replied “we have come here to fight not surrender”. More men were wounded and they were running short of ammunition, but they managed to return to the town, with Oates providing covering fire. Col Pearson made no attempt to rescue his men as “it was too dangerous to do so.” Unaware of Oates’s plight, the commando withdrew but a parting shot wounded Oates in the femur. He lay in agony until a rescue attempt could be made.
He recuperated at home in England and returned to South Africa, joining his regiment now part of Rimington’s column on 31 December 1901. Before the war ended, he was again wounded by an overzealous sentry. When he returned home after the war, his mother paid for the recasting and re-hanging of two bells in the Church at Gestingthorpe with a Latin inscription thanking God for his safe return. Although he had made a remarkable recovery, one of his legs was 2 cm shorter than the other. He was recommended for the VC for his gallantry at Aberdeen but was mentioned in despatches instead.
In 1909, he contributed 1,000 pounds towards the costs of Scott’s 1910 Expedition and joined Scott as an unpaid member with responsibility for the horses – they used horses instead of dogs to pull their sleds. He knew that he was not fit enough to be included in the Polar Party but Scott wanted to show his appreciation for his services and to include a British Army representative, so included him in the Party.
Oates contracted scurvy and this together with gangrene, which infected his previously injured leg, made him very weak. This prompted him to go out into the blizzard and freeze to death rather than delay the progress of the rest of the party. Dr Cullis showed us a slide of the plaque erected in his memory by his old regiment.
Cecil Meares, 1877 – 1937, was born in Ireland and served in South Africa in the Scottish Horse during the South African War being present at Gruisfontein and Rooiwal. He took part in the 1910 – 1913 Expedition. He was in charge of the 31 dogs and 19 ponies which pulled the transport sledges. These had been purchased in Siberia, where Meares also recruited Dimitri Gerof, a young Russian dog driver, who joined the Expedition. The two of them handled the transport of rations from the Terra Nova up to the Lower Glacier Depot, enduring short rations so that more supplies could be moved forward.
Horace Buckridge served in the Imperial Light Infantry during the South African War. He came from Australia and joined his unit in Durban. He was present at the battles of Laings Nek and Spion Kop, where he was captured. He later served in Scott’s Railway Guards. He took the part of Mrs Quinn in the first play ever to be staged in Antarctica. He later died of a head injury.
Dr James H H Pirie (1879 – 1967) was born in Scotland and qualified as a doctor there. In 1903 he joined the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, serving as its medical officer. He became interested in Antarctic Philately. He served as medical officer in the RAMC in Kenya during the First World War and later was on the staff of the SA Institute of Medical Research. He served with distinction as chairman of the SA Medical Aid for Russia and the Soviet Red Cross and was awarded the King’s Commendation (Civil) during the Second World War.
Bertram Armytage, 1869 – 1910, was an Australian who was educated at Jesus College Cambridge, which he represented at rugby and rowing. His parents were well off and he was a part-time soldier serving in the Royal Victoria Artillery Brigade. During the South African War he was commissioned in the 6th Dragoon Guards. He took part in the 1902 - 1904 Expedition and, afterwards, was unable to find a suitable job. He sadly took his own life in the Melbourne Club on 10 March 1910.
Dr Cullis explained that Roald Amundsen, 1872 - 1928, the Polar explorer who was the first to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911, had trained long and hard for this feat. He had spent two winters ashore on King William Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, where he learnt from the Eskimos how to survive in that inhospitable climate. He taught them English. The only book in English that he had was the Illustrated London News special edition on the South African War.
Dr Henrik Greve Blessing, 1866 – 1918, was also Norwegian, born near Oslo and qualified as a medical doctor. He served on Fridtjof Nansen’s Fram expedition from 1893 to 1896. The Fram spent this time drifting along the Arctic Ocean’s North West Passage along the Siberian coast. As doctor he had little to do so he studied the causes of scurvy and discovered that stress is the main cause. He was also a botanist and studied algae and Siberian plant life. He became addicted to morphine. He came to South Africa in 1900, returning to Norway in 1904.
In December 1901 he stayed with an uncle in Eshowe. He studied the local plant life and learnt their medicinal properties from the sangomas. He was greatly impressed by the members of the Republican Forces and admired their high principles and courageous defence of their homeland. He also noticed that, when the Boers plundered British stores and commandeered houses, they never failed to “take a little surprise for the wife”. He had been involved with Arctic exploration.
The Acting Chairman, Mr Alan Mountain, thanked Dr Cullis for his most comprehensive and interesting coverage of a little-known topic and presented him with the customary gift.
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FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
THURSDAY, 10 AUGUST 2017: OPERATION BARBAROSSA: THE START OF THE RUSSO-GERMAN WAR, 1941 by Mr. Greg Pullin.
Our speaker for August is fellow-member Greg Pullin, on the subject of Operation Barbarossa: The Start Of The Russo-German War, 1941. The 22nd of June, 1941 saw the 76th anniversary of the start of the biggest military campaign in recorded history. More than 3,8 million Axis forces, led by the German Wehrmacht (along with the Finnish armed forces as co-belligerents), took on the military might of the Soviet Union. The Axis’ underestimation of the strength and resilience of the Soviet forces eventually cost Hitler’s Germany the Second World War and led to the subjugation of the Axis partners, along with other democracies in Eastern Europe, to Soviet domination. Operation Barbarossa saw radically new tactics, extensive tank battles and the development of new armour equally to the surprise of friend and foe.
Greg is well-known – nationally and internationally - amongst the modelling, war gaming, armour and military aviation research fraternities. His knowledge on the aforementioned subjects, is in one word, phenomenal and then he still follows a most demanding professional career. The lecture will be illustrated and is certainly not to be missed.
THURSDAY, 14 SEPTEMBER 2017: The topic and speaker wil be announced closer to the date.
BOB BUSER: Treasurer/Asst. Scribe
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