Everything about Edgar Evans totally explained
Petty Officer
Edgar Evans (
March 7,
1876 -
February 17,
1912) was one of
Robert Falcon Scott's companions on his ill-fated
Terra Nova Expedition to the
South Pole in
1911-
1912.
Background
Evans was born in Middleton,
Rhossili,
Wales, on
March 7,
1876, the son of a seaman. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in
1891, and in
1899 began service on
HMS Majestic, where Scott was serving as a torpedo lieutenant.
Discovery Expedition
Evans then joined Scott's first
Antarctic expedition in
Discovery in
1901-
1904. Along with
William Lashly, he accompanied Scott on his "Furthest West" sledge journey to the interior of
Victoria Land in
1903.
Terra Nova Expedition
Scott's biographer
Roland Huntford described Evans as "a huge, bull-necked beefy figure" and a "beery womanizer" who was "running a bit to fat" by the time of Scott's second expedition in
Terra Nova. Evans was nearly left behind in
New Zealand when he drunkenly fell into the water while boarding the ship. However, Evans was a favorite of Scott, who decided to overlook the incident.
Scott chose Evans as a member of his polar party, together with Lieutenant
Henry Robertson Bowers,
Lawrence Oates, and Dr.
Edward Adrian Wilson. They reached the
South Pole on
January 17,
1912, but their return journey became a desperate affair. Evans had cut his hand in an accident as they were nearing the pole, and the wound didn't heal properly. During the return journey Evans began to deteriorate mentally as well as physically, and may have suffered a head injury in a fall into a
crevasse on
February 4,
1912, which caused his condition to worsen rapidly. By this time he was also suffering badly from
frostbite in his fingers and nose.
On
February 16,
1912, nearing the base of the
Beardmore Glacier, Evans collapsed. The next morning, unable to keep up, he was left behind while the others went ahead man-hauling the sledge towards the next supply depot; they'd to make a return journey to fetch him on the empty sledge. He died in the tent that night. It wasn't recorded what was done with his body, and none of the other members of the polar party survived the return journey. His widow, Lois (they'd married in 1904 and had three children), had a plaque placed, in his memory, in the Norman church at Rhossilli. The Petty Officer (1st Class) is also remembered at the naval shore establishment on Whale Island, Portsmouth, where the Edgar Evans Building was opened in 1964, the first to be named after a petty officer rather than an admiral.
Edgar Evans isn't to be confused with Lieutenant
E.R.G.R. "Teddy" Evans, Scott's second-in-command on the
Terra Nova expedition.
Further Information
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