An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor by Michael Smith Page B

the loss of a monarch, King Edward VII who had died three weeks earlier after only nine years on the throne. As
Discovery
left the same port in 1901, Britain was still coming to terms with the death of Queen Victoria after 63 years on the throne and was preparing for the coronation of Edward. Second,
Terra Nova
had to sail past
Discovery
, now in the merchant fleet of the Hudson’s Bay Company, which happened to be berthed in the same dock.

    Terra Nova
headed first to Greenhithe near Dartford and then round to Spithead and on to Cardiff, where she was to take on 100 tons of free coal and a large donation for the expedition’s kitty from generous public subscriptions in South Wales.
Terra Nova
had caught the imagination of Wales and the people of Cardiff alone raised around £2,500, (today: £212,000) the largest single donation of the £14,000 (today: over £1,200,000) which the expedition raised through public subscription.

    There was one other sober duty to perform before the ship left Britain. On the way to Cardiff, Scott mustered the entire party at the stern of the ship and quietly suggested that each man should make out a will before travelling South.

    At Cardiff, a banquet was held for the officers at the Royal Hotel, while the men were entertained at nearby Barry’s Hotel. After dinner, Scott asked the men to join the officers and Taff Evans, a native of South Wales, was given pride of place between Scott and the Lord Mayor. Unfortunately, the burly Evans got so drunk that it took six fellow sailors to help him back on board
Terra Nova
.

    Finally, on 15 June 1910,
Terra Nova
was ready to bid farewell to Britain and set sail for the Antarctic. A large and boisterous crowd had gathered to cheer the expedition off, mindful that they would be gone for at least two years, perhaps more. Public hopes were high and there was a feeling that capturing the South Pole, the last geographic prize, would provide a boost to the country’s confidence. Britain, after seeing the end of the long Victorian age and the brief Edwardian era, was undergoing considerable social change under the Liberal Government of Asquith and was more uncertain than it had been for a very long time. For some, the prize of capturing the South Pole would be a symbol of the country’s strength, particularly at a time when the threat of war with Germany was looming ever larger.

    The departure was strongly reminiscent of
Discovery
’s farewell almost a decade earlier. Like
Discovery
, the
Terra Nova
made a slightly unhappy start as she slipped through the lock gates. In the excitement, a member of the crew was accidentally knocked overboard. But unlike the incident involving the unfortunate Bonner on
Discovery
nine years earlier, the mishap was not fatal. The seaman managed to clamber back on board and the vessel moved slowly out into the Channel flanked by a flotilla of crowded small pleasure craft. On board one vessel, the Cardiff Artillery band energetically played ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Lt Evans yelled a grateful thanks to the crowds through a handy megaphone and
Terra Nova
was finally on her way.

    The first stop was to be Madeira, next Simonstown, South Africa, and then on to Melbourne, Australia, before leaving forthe final staging post of Lyttelton in New Zealand, as
Discovery
had done nine years before.

    As they crossed the equator on the way to South Africa on 15 July, Crean was at the centre of the traditional festivities and an initiation ceremony for those, mainly the young scientists, who were ‘crossing the line’ for the first time. Taff Evans was dressed as Neptune, the strapping Petty Officer Frank Browning an unlikely sea goddess Queen Amphitrite and Williamson and Crean were the two policemen who manhandled the victims to their ritualistic ducking. Gran was ducked with some relish on the dubious basis that he had never before crossed the line in a British ship.

    Scott had remained behind in Britain to complete fund-raising