Shackleton's Dogs

Issue Date: 22 December 2005









Introduction

The purpose of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-17) was to complete the last major journey in the Antarctic, by making a crossing from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea via the South Pole. For various reasons this was not achieved and the expedition was a failure although the Caird Coast was discovered along the eastern shore Weddell Sea. There were two parts to the expedition, each with its own ship.

Shackleton sailed with Endurance from South Georgia into the Weddell Sea where she was beset on 19th January 1915 only 125 nautical miles from her goal of Vahsel Bay in the Filchner Ice Shelf. Here, Shackleton proposed to establish his base camp from which the Antarctic crossing would commence in the following austral summer of 1915-16. As it would be 1800 nautical miles via the South Pole to the Ross Sea, a chain of depots had to be established over the latter part of the route from foot of the Beardmore Glacier to McMurdo Sound. These depots were to be established by the Ross Sea Party which sailed from Hobart, Tasmania, in Aurora under Captain Æneas Mackintosh.

Although Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition was unsuccessful, it provided two of the most amazing stories of the Heroic Age of polar exploration. The most famous was the trek across the frozen Weddell Sea by Shackleton and all members of the expedition, after the Endurance was crushed by sea ice and sank, eventually reaching Elephant Island in the South Shetlands. Here, most of the expedition wintered under two upturned boats converted into huts, while Shackleton and four others sailed in a third boat across the Scotia Sea 800 km to South Georgia to seek rescue for his marooned men. After the hazardous journey they reached the south coast of the island and had to climb over uncharted glaciers and mountains to reach a Norwegian whaling station from where the rescue ship was despatched. The other courageous story was that of the Ross Sea Party's harrowing return trek from laying depots for Shackleton's crossing party which, of course, they had no means of knowing would never come. The expedition photographer on Endurance was the Australian Frank Hurley who had recently returned from Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Hurley's images provided some of the most evocative polar photographs ever taken, and a unique record and visual account of the loss of Endurance and the plight of the Weddell Sea Party.

The Dogs

Accounts vary as to the number of sledge dogs Shackleton embarked on Endurance in Buenos Aires in November 1914. It is likely that there were at least 54 large husky-like mixed-breed dogs comprising husky-collie, husky-St Bernard and husky-wolf crosses from various parts of Arctic Canada. Several pups were born during the voyage south. They were accommodated on Endurance in kennels built along the upper deck. This afforded shelter but it was far from ideal in rough weather. Once the ship was beset, they were soon to become close companions of the men trapped on the ice. Throughout the long winter months they provided interest, activity and excursions. When Endurance was abandoned after she was crushed on 27th October 1915 there were seven dog teams. These were used in an unsuccessful attempt to reach a supply depot on Paulet Island off the north-eastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. It had been left there by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition led by Otto Nordenskjold, some 10 years before, when his ship Antarctic had also been crushed in the ice of the Weddell Sea. However, hauling the boats over the hummocky ice pack proved too exhausting for Shackleton's men. Ocean Camp was established on a solid floe and the dog teams were used on sealing trips and to salvage three tons of supplies from the stricken Endurance, before it sank, one and a half miles away. At the end of December 1915 there was another attempt to reach Paulet Island, but that too proved impossible over the rotting ice. A second camp, Patience Camp, was established on another solid floe. Throughout the Antarctic summer the men awaited the break-up of the ice so that they could launch Endurance's three boats and sail to the nearest land, now the Elephant Island group, in the South Shetlands. As the summer advanced seals became scarce and, with too many dogs to feed, it was with great reluctance that all but one of the dog teams were as put down. By 30th March 1916, the pack ice was breaking up and the men could feel the movement of the sea below their floe. They now accepted grim reality and the last of their faithful friends were put down shortly before they took to the boats on 9th April 1916 and set sail for Elephant Island.

In contrast, there were a number of true-bred Canadian huskies amongst the 27 dogs that travelled to McMurdo Sound with the Ross Sea Party in Aurora. There was a need to set up a depot at 80°S, 150 nautical miles farther to the south on the Ross Ice Shelf, in case Shackleton made the crossing in that season. However, the huskies were in poor condition after their voyage and totally unfit for the rigorous work expected of them on the autumn depot-laying trip. They were put to serious and arduous work the moment the ship arrived to lay the depot. However, not only were the dogs not hardened for this work, they were given too little food, and in consequence most perished, leaving only four to assist the main depot laying journey to Mt Hope the following summer, 1915-16.

45p The Pups

When the dogs were brought aboard Endurance in Buenos Aires, nature had taken its course between Samson and Sally, and the first pups were born aboard the ship on 7th January 1915 as Endurance made her way south through the Weddell Sea pack ice. The Antarctic veteran Tom Crean had a love of animals and took over the role of midwife to look after Sally and her pups.

Based directly on a Frank Hurley photograph the stamp shows Tom Crean holding the squirming bundle of mischief in his arms. They are about three weeks old. Left to right the pups are: Roger, Toby (back), Nell (front) and Nelson. Once it was realised Endurance was beset, Crean constructed an ice-walled compound on the ice floe besides the ship. This was to protect the mother and her pups from the weather and other dogs, and to allow them to become acclimatised to the polar world. Known as 'Crean's Pups', they prospered as he enthusiastically cared for their welfare and, by August, each weighed around 70lb. Sadly, as economies had to be made when it was clear Endurance was doomed at the end of October 1915, all but Nelson of this litter of pups had to be put down.

45p Samson, Shakespeare and Surley

There were six teams at first, and regular exercise and training became routine. Each team had a leader and they were managed by the various expedition members who were expected to make the trans-Antarctic crossing. The expedition photographer, Frank Hurley was one of these members, and throughout the drift of Endurance he went out with his team on photographic and sealing expeditions. Many of his photographs are classics of polar photography, and the following three portraits are taken from his images. Three dogs are featured on this stamp, but little is known about any of them.

Samson was the biggest dog and from accounts he was mainly a large St Bernard! He was the father to Sally's pups. These are shown being cared for in another stamp of this series. Shakespeare was Hurley's lead dog. From the dog's appearance it seems he was possibly something of a large husky-collie cross, although well-suited to the cold of his native Canada. Hurley praises him "as the finest sledge dog that ever wore a harness". Surley, in contrast, was photographed by Hurley as a team leader, but we don't know which team, or anything else about him. However, he certainly is the most husky-like of Shackleton's dogs portrayed on this stamp.

55p Ice Kennels around Endurance

Once it was accepted that the Endurance was trapped, the fires were drawn and the ship adopted a shore routine. Life in this encampment was run as it had been on board Endurance. However, a close watch was kept on her drift, beset as she was within a solid floe trapped in the winter ice fields of the Weddell Sea. After a little southing, she began to drift in an overall north-westerly direction, and the distant vague view of land in the south disappeared. On February 24th 1915, the dogs were put over the side onto the sea ice, much to their delight! At first they were picketed down the sides of the ship, but during March as the winter approached the men built individual ice kennels for them. These were known affectionately as 'dogloos' and were constructed out of blocks of snow and roofed with sheets of ice. Their construction provided considerable amusement as the individual designs became increasingly elaborate ice and crystal palaces! Each dog was offered a blanket to lie on but these were regarded as play things and torn to shreds.

The stamp depicts the midwinter scene with a number of dogs excitedly awaiting their feed of seal beside their 'dogloos'. The hull of Endurance rises defiantly in the background. Throughout the winter and early spring the dogs remained billeted on the ice. However, at the beginning of August the 'dogloos' were destroyed by grinding of the floes as pressure within the ice pack passed around and under Endurance. Ice blocks tumbled over themselves and the dogs were brought back on board just in time.

£1 Training on the Pack Ice

Early in her drift it was hoped that Endurance might be released from the pack's icy grip to continue with the crossing of Antarctica as planned. Thus dog teams were trained and exercised around the ship and as the long months on the ice passed they became companions and provided a major diversion. Each Thursday they were weighed as part of the camp routine. In celebration of the then 'Empire Day', 24th May, an Antarctic Derby was held on a 750 yard course near the ship. There was much betting in cigarettes and chocolate. The event was won against four other teams by the 6 to 4 on favourite driven by Frank Wild. As she drifted north towards the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, the training of the dogs continued. It was absolutely necessary as it was expected they would play a crucial part in making any landfall there and thus their services would be indispensable. In reality, they provided minimal logistic support, unlike those with the Ross Sea Party, but acted as a great moral booster to the men incarcerated on the Weddell Sea ice. By October 1915 when Endurance was crushed there were seven dog teams trained and ready to assist the first attempt to sledge across the pack ice to Paulet Island.

The stamp shows Frank Hurley's dog team at rest during a training spell, although his team leader Shakespeare seems eager to be off again. In the distance, Endurance is seen heeled over in the grip if the ice pack, whilst all around the hummocks of ice, which have been rafted up under pressure, bear witness to the destructive forces that eventually overwhelmed Endurance.

First Day Cover

In celebration of Shackleton's dogs, the design of the First Day Cover shows one of the dog teams in training around Endurance.



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