Ross Sea party

The Ross Sea party was a component of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-
Antarctic Expedition 1914–17. Its task was to lay a series of supply depots across the
Great Ice Barrier from the Ross Sea to the Beardmore Glacier, along the polar route
established by earlier oleaginous expeditions. The expedition's main party, under
Shackleton, was to land near Vahsel Bay on the opposite coast of Antarctica, and to
march across the continent via the South Pole to the Ross Sea. As the main party would
be unable to carry sufficient fuel and supplies for the whole distance, their survival
depended on the Ross Sea party setting up supply depots, which would cover the final
quarter of their journey.

Shackleton set sail from London on his ship Endurance, bound for the Weddell Sea in
August 1914. Meanwhile, the Ross Sea party personnel gathered in Australia, prior to
departure for the Ross Sea in the second expedition ship, SY Aurora. Organisational
and financial problems delayed their start until December 1914, which shortened their
first depot-laying season. After their arrival the inexperienced party struggled to
master the art of Antarctic travel, in the process losing most of their sled dogs.
Map of the sea routes of Endurance, the
A greater misfortune occurred at the onset of the southern winter when the Aurora, James Caird, and Aurora, the overland
supply depot route of the Ross Sea party,
locked in an ice-floe which broke off from the main shelf, was torn from its moorings.
and the planned overland route of the
The ocean currents then pulled ship further away from the sledding parties marooned
Weddell Sea party led by Ernest
on shore and drifted for over six months before breaking free of the ice. Sadly the Shackleton on his trans-Antarctic
Aurora's damaged rudder forced her to return to New Zealand rather than returning expedition of 1914–15:
for the stranded shore party. Voyage of Endurance
Drift of Endurance in pack ice
Despite these setbacks, the Ross Sea party survived inter-personnel disputes, extreme Sea ice drift after Endurance sinks
weather, illness, and the deaths of three of its members to carry out its mission in full Voyage of the James Caird
during its second Antarctic season. This success proved ultimately without purpose, Planned trans-Antarctic route
because Shackleton's main expedition was unable to land after Endurance was crushed Voyage of Aurora to Antarctica
Retreat of Aurora
in the Weddell Sea ice. Shackleton eventually led his men to safety, but the
Supply depot route
transcontinental march did not take place and the Ross Sea party's depots were not
required. The Ross Sea party remained stranded until January 1917, when Aurora,
which had been repaired and refitted in New Zealand, arrived to rescue them. Public recognition of their efforts was slow in coming,
but in due course four Albert Medals were awarded to members of the party, two posthumously. Shackleton later wrote that those who
died "gave their lives for their country as surely as those who gave up their lives in France or Flanders."[1]

Contents
Background
Personnel
Problems in Australia
First season, 1914–15
Depot-laying, January–March 1915
Loss of the Aurora
Improvisation
Second depot-laying season 1915–16
Journey to Mount Hope
Return
Deaths of Mackintosh and Hayward
Rescue
Aftermath
See also
Notes and references
 Sources
External links

Background
After the conquest of the South Pole by Roald Amundsen in December 1911 Shackleton, who had sought this achievement himself, was
forced to rethink his polar ambitions. He believed that there remained "one great main objective of Antarctic journeyings—the crossing
of the South Polar continent from sea to sea."[2] Basing his strategy on plans developed earlier by the Scottish explorer William Spiers
Bruce, Shackleton planned to land with his main party as far south as possible, on the Weddell Sea coast.[3] His transcontinental team
would then march southward to the Pole, before continuing across the polar plateau and descending via the Beardmore Glacier (which
Shackleton had discovered in 1909) to the Great Ice Barrier. The final stretch would take them across the Barrier to McMurdo Sound
on the Ross Sea coast.[2][3]

Shackleton estimated that the crossing would cover approximately 1,800 miles (2,900 km),[2] a distance too great for his party to carry
all its supplies. In support of the main journey, therefore, a separate Ross Sea party would land in McMurdo Sound and would lay a
series of supply depots across the 400 miles (640 km) width of the Barrier, to assist the crossing group home.[2] It would also carry out
scientific investigations. Shackleton described the depot-laying as vital to the success of the whole undertaking, but believed it would
not present any great difficulties in execution.[4] The Ross Sea party's vessel would be SY Aurora, a ship recently used by Douglas
Mawson and the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.[2]

Personnel
To lead the Ross Sea party Shackleton chose Aeneas Mackintosh, having first
attempted to persuade the Admiralty to provide him with a naval crew.[5] Mackintosh,
like Shackleton, was a former Merchant Navy officer, who had been on the Nimrod
expedition until his participation was cut short by an accident that resulted in the loss
of his right eye.[6] Another Nimrod veteran, Ernest Joyce, whose Antarctic experiences
had begun with Captain Scott's Discovery Expedition, was appointed to take charge of
sledging and dogs. Joyce was described by Shackleton's biographer, Roland Huntford,
as "a strange mixture of fraud, flamboyance and ability",[7] but his depot-laying work
Ross Sea party members: Back row from during the Nimrod expedition had impressed Shackleton.[8] Ernest Wild, a Royal Naval
left: Joyce, Hayward, Cope, Spencer- petty officer, was added to the party possibly through the persuasion of his brother,
Smith. Centre: Mackintosh third from left, Frank Wild, who was travelling as Shackleton's second-in-command on Endurance.[9]
Stenhouse fourth from left
Some of the appointments to the party were made rather hurriedly, reflecting the
limited time frame that Shackleton had allowed for preliminary organisation. Joseph
Stenhouse, a young officer from the British India Steam Navigation Company, was appointed as the Aurora's First Officer after
travelling from Australia to London to seek an interview with Shackleton.[10] The Reverend Arnold Spencer-Smith, a Scottish Episcopal
Church priest and former schoolmaster, joined as a replacement for one of the original members of the expedition who had left for
active service in the First World War.[11] Victor Hayward, a London finance clerk with a taste for adventure was recruited on the basis
of his having worked on a ranch in Canada.[12]

Although the Ross Sea party's main role was to lay supply depots, Shackleton added a small scientific team to carry out biological,
meteorological and magnetic research in the region. The chief scientist in this group was Alexander Stevens, a Scots geologist and
former theology student.[13] John Cope, a 21-year-old Cambridge graduate, was the team's biologist; a would-be medical student, he
later became ship's surgeon.[14] Two other scientists were appointed in Australia, the physicist Dick Richards (who signed up for a
nominal wage of £1 per week) and industrial chemist Keith Jack. An Australian cousin of Spencer-Smith's, Irvine Gaze, was taken on as
a general assistant.[14]

Problems in Australia
Mackintosh and the nucleus of the party arrived in Sydney, late in October 1914. They found that Aurora was in no condition for an
Antarctic voyage, and required an extensive overhaul. The registration of the ship in Shackleton's name had not been properly
completed, and Shackleton had evidently misunderstood the terms under which he had acquired the vessel from Mawson.[15][16]
Mawson had reclaimed much of the equipment and stores that had been aboard, all of which needed replacing.[15] To compound the
problem, Shackleton had reduced the funds available to Mackintosh from £2,000 to £1,000, expecting him to bridge the difference by
soliciting for supplies as free gifts and by mortgaging the ship.[17] There was no cash available to cover the wages and living expenses
for the party.[18]
Shackleton was now beyond reach, aboard Endurance en route for Antarctica.[15] Supporters of the expedition in Australia, notably
Edgeworth David who had served as chief scientist on the Nimrod expedition, were concerned at the plight in which Mackintosh's party
had been placed. They helped to raise sufficient funds to keep the expedition alive, but several members of the party resigned or
abandoned the venture.[19] Some of the last-minute replacements were raw recruits; Adrian Donnelly, a locomotive engineer with no
sea experience, signed as second engineer, while wireless operator Lionel Hooke was an 18-year-old electrical apprentice.[14]

Despite all these difficulties, Aurora set out from Sydney on 15 December 1914, bound for Hobart, where she arrived on 20 December
to take on final stores and fuel. On 24 December, three weeks later than the original target sailing date, the Aurora finally sailed for the
Antarctic, arriving off Ross Island on 16 January 1915. Mackintosh decided to establish a shore base at Cape Evans, Captain Scott's
headquarters during the 1910–13 Terra Nova Expedition, and to find a safe winter mooring nearby for Aurora.[20]

First season, 1914–15

Depot-laying, January–March 1915

Believing that Shackleton might attempt a crossing during the first season, Mackintosh decided that the first two depots had to be laid
without delay, one at 79°S near Minna Bluff, a prominent Barrier landmark, and another further south at the 80° mark. These were, in
his view, the minimum that would enable Shackleton's party to survive a crossing of the Barrier.[21] The delayed arrival of Aurora in the
Antarctic had given little time for acclimatisation for the dogs and for the untrained men, and this led to differences of view about how
to proceed. Ernest Joyce, by far the most experienced Antarctic traveller in the party, favoured a cautious approach and wanted to delay
the start by at least a week.[21][22] Joyce claimed that Shackleton had given him independent control over sledging activities,[23][24] a
view rejected by Mackintosh and later demonstrated as without foundation.[25]

Mackintosh's view having prevailed, on 24 January 1915 the first of three parties set out for the Barrier journey, the others following on
the next day. Further dissension soon arose between Joyce and Mackintosh about how far south the dogs should be taken. Joyce
wanted them to go no further than the Bluff, but Mackintosh's sense of urgency meant that they were taken on to 80°S.[26] A further
setback was the failure of the attempts to move stores by motor tractor.[27] Although, ultimately, the depots were laid at Minna Bluff
and at 80°S, the overall operation was beset by problems. Not all the stores had reached the depots,[28] and, as well as the motor tractor
failure, all ten dogs taken on the journey perished during the return.[29] By the time that all parties were reunited at Hut Point (Scott's
old Discovery base at the edge of the Barrier) on 25 March,[30] the men themselves were exhausted and frostbitten, and there was a
significant loss of confidence in Mackintosh.[31] The condition of the sea ice in McMurdo Sound made the journey back to Cape Evans
impossible, so the party was stranded until 1 June, in spartan conditions and relying on seals for fresh meat and blubber fuel.[32]

It was later revealed that this first depot-laying season, and its attendant hardships, had been unnecessary. Shackleton had stated, in a
letter sent from South Georgia on 5 December 1914 (the date that Endurance left South Georgia for the Weddell Sea) to Ernest Perris of
the Daily Chronicle, that he had "no chance of crossing that season". Mackintosh was to have been informed of this, but "the cable was
never sent".[33]

Loss of the Aurora

When Mackintosh departed on 25 January 1915 to lead the depot-laying parties he left the Aurora
under the command of First Officer Joseph Stenhouse.[34] The priority task for Stenhouse was to
find a winter anchorage in accordance with Shackleton's instructions not to attempt to anchor south
of the Glacier Tongue, an icy protrusion midway between Cape Evans and Hut Point.[35] This search
proved a long and hazardous process. Stenhouse manoeuvred in the Sound for several weeks before
eventually deciding to winter close to the Cape Evans shore headquarters. After a final visit to Hut
Point on 11 March to pick up four early returners from the depot-laying parties, he brought the ship
to Cape Evans and made it fast with anchors and hawsers, thereafter allowing it to become frozen
into the shore ice.[36]

On the night of 7 May a severe gale erupted, tearing the Aurora from its moorings and carrying it
out to sea attached to a large ice floe. Attempts to contact the shore party by wireless failed. Held
fast, and with its engines out of commission, the Aurora began a long drift northward away from
Cape Evans, out of McMurdo Sound, into the Ross Sea and eventually into the Southern Ocean. Ten
men were left stranded ashore at Cape Evans. Aurora finally broke free from the ice on 12 February
1916 and managed to reach New Zealand on 2 April.[37] The Aurora, pictured in New
Zealand after the drift

Improvisation
Because Mackintosh had intended to use Aurora as the party's main living quarters, most of the shore party's personal gear, food,
equipment and fuel was still aboard when the ship departed. Although the sledging rations intended for Shackleton's depots had been
landed,[38] the ten stranded men were left with "only the clothes on their backs".[38] Mackintosh summarised their situation: "We have
to face the possibility that we may have to stay here, unsupported, for two years. We cannot expect rescue before then, and so we must
conserve and economize on what we have, and we must seek and apply what substitutes we can gather".[39] Their first recourse was to
the food and materials from supplies left behind by Scott's and Shackleton's earlier expeditions.[39] These supplies provided a harvest of
material, which enabled clothing, footwear and equipment to be improvised, while the party used seal meat and blubber as extra
sources of food and fuel. "Joyce's Famous Tailoring Shop" fashioned clothes from a large canvas tent abandoned by Scott's
expedition.[39] Even a brand of tobacco—"Hut Point Mixture"—was concocted by Ernest Wild from sawdust, tea, coffee and a few dried
herbs.[39] By these means the party equipped itself for the sledging journeys that lay ahead in the second season. On the last day of
August Mackintosh recorded in his diary the work that had been completed during the winter, and ended: "Tomorrow we start for Hut
Point".[40]

Second depot-laying season 1915–16

Journey to Mount Hope

The second season's work was planned in three stages. First, all depot stores—3,800 pounds (1,700 kg) in total—were to be transferred
from Cape Evans to Hut Point.[41] These stores would then be transported from Hut Point to a base depot at Minna Bluff. Finally, a
journey south would be made, to reinforce the 80° depot and lay new ones at 81°, 82°, 83°, and lastly at Mount Hope, near the foot of
the Beardmore Glacier, at 83°30'.[42]

Nine men in teams of three would undertake the sledging work. The first stage, hauling over
the sea ice to Hut Point, started on 1 September 1915, and was completed without mishap by
the end of the month.[41] The second stage, hauling back and forth between Hut Point and
the Bluff, proved more problematic, with unfavourable weather, a difficult Barrier surface,
and more dissension between Mackintosh and Joyce over methods.[43] This time,
Mackintosh favoured man-hauling while Joyce wanted to use the four fit dogs—of the six
dogs that had survived the winter, two were pregnant and could not work.[44] Mackintosh

On the left is Mount Hope, the site allowed Joyce to proceed in his own way, leading a party of six with the dogs, while
of the Ross Sea party's final depot Mackintosh continued to man-haul with Wild and Spencer-Smith.[43] Joyce's methods
proved the more effective in terms of loads carried and the fitness of the men.[45] The base
depot at Minna Bluff was completed by 28 December.[45]

Shortly after the main march to Mount Hope began, on 1 January 1916, the failure of a Primus stove led to three men (Cope, Jack and
Gaze) returning to Cape Evans,[46] where they joined Stevens. The scientist had remained at the base to take weather measurements
and watch for the ship.[47] The remaining six sledged south, with Spencer-Smith failing rapidly and Mackintosh complaining of a
painful knee.[48] They battled on, laying the depots, using only minimum provisions themselves although, at Joyce's insistence, keeping
the dogs well-fed: "The dogs are our only hope; our lives depend on them."[49] As they neared Mount Hope, Spencer-Smith collapsed,
unable to proceed.[50] The others left him alone in a small tent and travelled the remaining few miles to lay the final depot at Mount
Hope on 26 January 1916. Ernest Wild left a letter for his brother Frank who he assumed was by then travelling across from the
Weddell Sea with Shackleton.[51]

Return
The party turned for home on 27 January, picking up Spencer-Smith on 29th. He was by now physically helpless and had to be loaded
on to the sledge.[52] Mackintosh was soon unable to pull, and could only stagger along beside the sledge; by this time the de facto
leadership of the group had passed to Joyce and Richards.[53] Joyce described the group's plight: "I have never known such shocking
conditions. This is one of the hardest pulls since we have trekked...all we can do is to slog on with the greatest possible speed."[53]

In spite of their difficulties the party made good progress until, on 17 February about 10 miles (16 km) short of the Bluff depot, they
were halted by a blizzard.[53] They remained tent-bound for five days, by which time their supplies had run out. In desperation the
party left the tent the next day, but it soon proved impossible for Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith to travel further. Joyce, Richards and
Hayward then sledged through the blizzard to the Bluff, leaving the invalids in a tent under the care of Wild.[54] This round trip of about
20 miles (32 km) took them a week to complete. They returned with food and fuel to sustain their comrades, and the march resumed.
Within a short time Mackintosh joined Spencer-Smith on the sledge, and before long, Hayward too collapsed.[55] The three men still on
their feet were by now too weak to haul three invalids, so on 8 March Mackintosh volunteered to stay in the tent while the others
attempted to take Spencer-Smith and Hayward to Hut Point. A day later Spencer-Smith died, utterly worn out by exhaustion and
scurvy, and was buried in the ice. Joyce and Wild reached Hut Point with Hayward on 11 March and went back for Mackintosh. By 16
March the whole surviving party had reached the hut.[55]

From the start of the hauling of loads from Cape Evans on 1 September 1915 to the arrival of
the survivors back at Hut Point, a total of 198 days had passed, the longest sledging journey
in terms of elapsed time undertaken on any expedition up to that time.[56]

Deaths of Mackintosh and Hayward

Mackintosh and Spencer-Smith
The five survivors slowly recovered their strength with a diet of seal meat. The ice was too being drawn on the sledge by Joyce
thin for them to risk the final trip to Cape Evans, and the monotony of their diet and
surroundings became wearisome. On 8 May Mackintosh announced that he and Hayward and Wild

intended to risk the ice and walk to Cape Evans. Against the strenuous objections of their
companions they departed, and within the hour disappeared into a blizzard. The others
went to look for them after the storm and found only tracks leading to the edge of the broken ice. Mackintosh and Hayward were never
seen again. They had either fallen through the thin ice or had been carried out to sea on an ice floe. Richards, Joyce and Wild waited
until 15 July to make the trip to Cape Evans, where they were at last reunited with Stevens, Cope, Jack and Gaze.[57][58]

Rescue
After Aurora's arrival in New Zealand in April 1916, Stenhouse began the task of raising funds for
the ship's repair and refit, prior to its return to Antarctica to rescue the marooned men. This proved
difficult: nothing had been heard from Shackleton since Endurance had left South Georgia in
December 1914, and it seemed likely that relief expeditions were necessary for both strands of the
expedition.[59] However, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was completely out of funds, and
there was no obvious alternative source of finance. Given the chaotic financial circumstances in
which Aurora had departed from Australia, private subscribers were hard to find.[59] Finally, the
governments of Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain agreed jointly to fund the refit of Aurora,
Ernest Shackleton at the but insisted on their joint committee having full control of the relief expedition.[59]
time of the Imperial Trans-
Antarctic Expedition On 31 May, Shackleton arrived in the Falkland Islands with the story of his escape after the loss of
Endurance in the Weddell Sea.[59] His first priority was to effect the rescue of the rest of the Weddell
Sea party, stranded on Elephant Island, and it was early December before he arrived in New
Zealand. He was too late to influence the organisation of the Ross Sea party's relief; the joint committee had appointed John King Davis
to lead the expedition and had dismissed Stenhouse and Aurora's other officers.[60] Davis was a veteran of Mawson's recent
Australasian expedition, and had turned down Shackleton's offers in 1914 of the command of either Endurance or Aurora.[61][62] As a
gesture, Shackleton was permitted to sail as a supernumerary officer when the ship left on 20 December.[60] On 10 January 1917, when
Aurora reached Cape Evans, the survivors were astonished to see Shackleton approaching them; they then learned for the first time the
futility of their labours. After a further week spent in a vain search for the bodies of Mackintosh and Hayward, Aurora headed north for
New Zealand, carrying the seven survivors of the original shore party.[63]

Aftermath
The Hut Point and Cape Evans huts remain, protected by the Antarctic Heritage Trust and the New Zealand government. Within the
Cape Evans hut an inscription by Richards on the wall near his bunk, listing the names of those lost, can still be read, but the generally
deteriorating condition of the huts has caused concern.[64]

The Aurora survived for less than a year after her final return from the Ross Sea. Shackleton had sold her for £10,000,[65] and her new
role was as a coal-carrier between Australia and South America. She disappeared in the Pacific Ocean, on or about 2 January 1918,
having either foundered in a storm or been sunk by an enemy raider. Aboard her was James Paton of the Ross Sea ship's party, who
was still serving as her boatswain.[66] Ernest Wild was also a victim of the First World War. He died of typhoid in Malta, on 10 March
1918, while serving with the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean.[67]

On 4 July 1923, Joyce and Richards were awarded Albert Medals by George V for their bravery and life-saving efforts during the second
depot-laying journey. Wild and Victor Hayward received the same award, posthumously. Many of the survivors enjoyed long and
successful careers. The young wireless operator, Lionel Hooke, joined Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Ltd and was responsible for
many technological innovations. He became the company's managing director in 1945 and its chairman in 1962, having been knighted
for services to industry in 1957.[68] Of the four dogs who survived the trek, Con was killed by the other dogs in a fight before the rescue.
The others, Oscar, Gunner and Towser, returned in the ship to New Zealand and were placed in Wellington Zoo, where Oscar lived,
allegedly, to the age of 25.[69] Near the end of his life Dick Richards, the last survivor of the party,[70] was without regrets and did not
regard the struggle as futile. Rather, he believed, it was something that the human spirit had accomplished, and that no undertaking
carried through to conclusion was for nothing.[71]

See also
List of Antarctic expeditions
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration

Notes and references

1. Shackleton (1919), p. 340
2. Shackleton (1919), Preface pp. xi–xv
3. Huntford, p. 367
4. Shackleton (1919) pp. 241–42
5. Huntford, p. 371
6. Shackleton (1911), pp. 52–53
7. Huntford, p. 194
8. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 21–22
9. Huntford, p. 414
10. Haddelsey, pp. 21–22
11. Huntford, pp. 412–13
12. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 31–32
13. Tyler-Lewis, p. 41
14. Tyler-Lewis, p. 50
15. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 43–45
16. Haddelsey, p. 25
17. Tyler-Lewis, p. 46
18. Tyler-Lewis, p. 47
19. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 46–49
20. Bickel, pp. 43–44
21. Bickel, pp. 46–47
22. Fisher, p. 400
23. Bickel, p. 38
24. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 67–68
25. Tyler-Lewis, p. 260
26. Huntford, p. 412
27. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 84–85
28. For example, of 220 pounds (100 kg) of food and fuel planned for the 80° depot, only 135 pounds (61 kg) was actually deposited,
according to Tyler-Lewis, p. 92
29. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 94–97
30. Hut Point, about 13 miles (21 km) south of Cape Evans, has been established by Scott during the 1901–04 Discovery Expedition
as a shelter and storage depot. Close to the Barrier's edge, it was a natural starting point for southern journeys. Bickel, p. 46
31. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 104–06
32. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 106–111
33. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 214–15
34. Officially, Stenhouse had been in command since leaving Sydney. The mercantile marine officials there would not accept
Mackintosh on the grounds of his impaired eyesight, though this change of command was not revealed to the crew and
Mackintosh was still treated as the captain – Tyler-Lewis, p. 51
35. John King Davis later said that, for the ship's safety, this instruction should have been disregarded and the ship wintered in the old
Discovery berth at Hut Point – Tyler-Lewis, p. 225
36. Bickel, pp. 70–72
37. Shackleton (1919), pp. 304–33
38. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 130–31
39. Bickel, pp. 79–83
40. Bickel, p. 92
41. Tyler-Lewis, p. 148
42. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 145–46
43. Bickel, pp. 94–111
44. Tyler-Lewis, p. 160
45. Tyler-Lewis, p. 159
46. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 163–64
47. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 143–44
48. Bickel, p. 124
49. Bickel, p. 138
50. Tyler-Lewis, p. 171
51. Huntford, p. 480
52. Tyler-Lewis, p. 178
53. Bickel, pp. 146–147
54. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 182–85
55. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 189–92
56. Tyler-Lewis p. 249
57. Tyler-Lewis, pp. 193–97
58. Bickel, pp. 204–13
59. Haddelsey, pp. 70–71
60. Haddelsey, pp. 78–80
61. Tyler-Lewis, p. 27
62. Haddelsey, p. 22
63. Shackleton (1919), pp. 334–337
64. Griggs, Kim (7 December 2001). "Scott's hut needs urgent repair" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1695897.stm). BBC.
Retrieved 5 February 2008.
65. Huntford, p. 642
66. Tyler-Lewis, p. 274
67. Tyler-Lewis, p. 267
68. Tyler-Lewis, p. 273
69. Bickel, p. 235
70. Richards died 8 May 1985, aged 91. Tyler-Lewis, p. 265
71. Tyler-Lewis p. 265

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Dictionary of National Biography. Melbourne University Press. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
Bickel, Lennard (2001). 'Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy. London: Pimlico Press.
ISBN 0-7126-6807-1.
Fisher, Marjorie and James (1957). Shackleton. London: James Barrie Books.
Griggs, Kim (7 December 2001). "Scott's hut needs urgent repair" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1695897.stm). BBC.
Retrieved 5 February 2008.
Haddelsey, Stephen (2008). Ice Captain: The Life of J.R. Stonehouse. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press.
ISBN 978-0-7509-4348-2.
Huntford, Roland (1985). Shackleton. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-25007-0.
McElrea, Richard (2004). Polar Castaways: The Ross Sea Party of Sir Ernest Shackleton, 1914–17. Montreal: McGill-Queen's
University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2825-3.
Richards, Richard W. (2002). The Ross Sea Shore Party 1914–17. Norwich: The Erskine Press. ISBN 1-85297-077-4.
Shackleton, Ernest (1919). South. London: William Heinemann.
Shackleton, Ernest (1911). The Heart of the Antarctic. London: William Heinemann.
Tyler-Lewis, Kelly (2007). The Lost Men: The Harrowing Story of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
ISBN 978-0-7475-7972-4.

External links
The Ross Sea party story (http://cv.vic.gov.au/CV/Stories/The-Ross-Sea-Party/?t=5041&s=5220) at the State Library of Victoria
The Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–1917 (http://www.south-pole.com/p000098a.htm)
Nova Online – Shackleton's Lost Men (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/1914/lostmen.html)