Shackleton - Against Impossible Odds Quiz

Answer: Endurance

'Endurance' was a wooden Norwegian barquentine, 144 feet (43.9 metres) long and weighing 300 tons. She was purpose built for polar work. On 4 August 1914, while the ship was still in British waters, the United Kingdom was placed on a war footing. Shackleton and his crew offered their services to the Government but were authorised by the Admiralty to proceed with their mission.

In addition to Shackleton, photographer Frank Hurley joined the expedition in Buenos Aires. An unexpected addition was a stowaway, Perce Blackborow, a Welsh teenager smuggled aboard by a crew member.

Answer: Norwegian

The whaling station operated under a lease granted by the British Governor of the Falkland Islands.

Answer: Even-handed, requiring everyone to share a range of daily tasks.

In contrast to the hierarchical approach of earlier leaders, such as Robert Falcon Scott, Shackleton's attitude was unusually egalitarian for the time. The officers and specialists (doctors, photographer, etc) were all required, along with the crew, to help with the running and maintenance of the ship. Even the most fastidious of the officers, Captain Orde-Lees, who objected to being asked to scrub the decks, acknowledged the value of this approach in developing discipline.

Answer: Boredom

Shackleton's previous involvement in Antarctic expeditions had given him a strong sense of the danger of inactivity in a bleak Antarctic winter. For the time being most of his men (particularly the seamen, who had not expected to winter on the ice) were unable to pursue their usual tasks, and psychological problems or personal disputes might have developed.

As counter-measures Shackleton instituted a formal schedule of winter duties, had new sleeping quarters constructed on the ship, and divided responsibility for care of the dog teams. Games and evening entertainments were also organised.

Answer: The Little Prince

Hurley's dedication to his craft led him to strip to the waist and work in four-foot deep icy water to rescue his negatives from the abandoned 'Endurance'. His work provides an invaluable (and beautiful) record of the expedition.

Answer: The sled dogs, and the carpenter's cat, are shot.

The sled dogs were progressively shot during this period as feeding them was rapidly reducing available rations. The decision that this should include McNish's cat Mrs Chippy (actually a male) was fair, given that many of the other men had become deeply attached to the dogs.

However, for the rest of his life, McNish blamed Shackleton for the loss of his cat. McNish, a Glaswegian, died in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1930 and is buried in the same cemetery as Captain Orde-Lees, the expedition's ski expert, whom he had disliked.

Answer: Elephant Island

Hungry, tired and suffering from frostbite, boils and blisters, the expedition members set foot on land for the first time since 5 December 1914.

The expedition's main private backers (the British Government was also an important contributor) were Sir James Key Caird, a Scots jute manufacturer, Dudley Docker, an English businessman, and Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills, a philanthropist.

Answer: Upturned boats mounted on stone walls.

Snow caves were attempted but were abandoned when the men discovered their body heat melted the caves from the inside. No timber was available on the island, nor did it have structures left over from previous occupation. The tents alone were inadequate to keep out the prevailing winds but were used to wind-proof the stone walls.

Answer: "The war is not over!"

The expedition had left Europe at a time when it was confidently predicted that the war would be 'over by Christmas' and had been completely out of contact with any source of news since departing South Georgia in late 1914.

Shackleton would not have been overwhelmed to hear that Edward VII was dead - he died in 1910. Johnson's epic flight did not take place until 1930. D. H. Lawrence's controversial novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' was first published in 1928. However, the famous trial under Britain's Obscene Publications Act (1959) took place in 1960 when Penguin published the full uncensored version of the book.

Answer: None

This was the real achievement of Shackleton and his team. They had endured more than a year on the ice in appalling conditions and survived the hazardous voyages by open boat to Elephant Island and South Georgia without losing a single human life.