Tom Crean - Antarctic Hero

Tom Crean's journey to rescue his comrades Teddy Evans and William Lashly was described by  Antarctic historians as “the finest feat of individual heroism from the entire age of exploration”.

He was subsequently awarded the Albert medal for his bravery.

Crean, Lashly and Evans Scott’s supporting party began their journey back to Hut Point.

Lashly who Scott described as ‘Stale’ was in a weakened state.

Evans decided to take drastic action they would climb aboard a sledge to descend the glacier, it was a do or die situation. It would save them three days.

But Crean protested “Captain Scott would never do a damn fool thing like that”.

They survived the treacherous descent and then silence.

Crean hauled himself to his feet and his windproof trousers were torn to ribbons and Evans said the big Irishman was "left standing there in Wolsey drawers and fur boots”

But they where alive.

Evans admitted ‘how we ever escaped entirely uninjured is beyond me’

Evans was  in bad state with the symptoms of scurvy.

Crean offered to do the hazardous journey to Hut Point alone with only three biscuits and two sticks of chocolate.

This was to go down in history as Crean's lone march of bravery thus saving the lives of Evans and Lashly.

As they parted Scott gave Evans a letter for his wife then Crean, Lashly and Evans gave three huge cheers as their comrades Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates and Taff Evans headed for the pole. They where the last people to see the five men alive.

Crean was  one of 11 men in the rescue party that discovered Scott's frozen body, retrieved his diary, buried him in a cairn and inscribed on a wooden cross the words “to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield”

A quote from the book The Unsung Hero by Michael Smith,

Crean traveled further than most of the explorers traditionally associated with the Heroic Age and few left their mark as indelibly as the Irishman did.

Appropriately enough, his name is perpetuated forever on the Antarctic Continent where he achieved his fame. “Mount Crean”, which extends to a height of 8,360 ft (2.550m), in Victoria Land, Antarctic Bay.

The near 4mile(6km) “Crean Glacier” runs down  to the head of Antarctic Bay on the island of South Georgia.

Tom Crean had been within 180 miles of the pole when he was turned back by Scott.

Sir Ernest Shackelton referred to Crean as  forever singing at the tiller: ‘He always sang while he was steering, and nobody ever discovered what the song was’.

Obviously, they knew little Irish.

A quote from Two years in Antarctica by Armitage, navigator and Scott's second in command on Discovery

"Crean was an Irish man with a fund of wit and even temper which nothing disturbed".

Tom Crean   received the Antarctic medal and the Royal Geographical Society medal for his part in the Discovery adventure which went the furthest south in 1904.

Scott said of Crean  when choosing a crew for Terra Nova that Crean was the type of reliable, trusted character who would be invaluable to the venture.

Crean joined the Terra Nova  on the 14^th of April 1910.

Tom Crean's last epic journey in the Antarctic was with the Endurance expedition.

After the fated ship was crushed in the pack ice the crew took the dangerous voyage to Elephant island.

Twenty two of the men remained on Elephant island while Crean and others took the incredible open-boat journey on the ‘James Caird’ to South Georgia.

Crean, Worsley and Shackelton then set out over uncharted territory, marching  continuously for 36 hours, reaching Stromness Whaling Station to get rescue for the remaining crew.

Shackelton and Worsley while comparing their diaries of the final journey to Stromness both found that they each had a strange feeling that there had been a fourth in the party, Crean afterwards confessed to the same feeling.

After Shackelton finally secured the ship, Yelcho to rescue his men from Elephant Island he was heard in his thanks to say that he "could not speak highly enough of Crean and Worsley, who have seen this through with me".