:04:47. > :04:50.Angie's quest has become deeply personal. Without her detective
:04:50. > :04:58.work, Frank wouldn't have been found and this expedition wouldn't
:04:58. > :05:03.be on its way. My journey is pretty short and I know what is going to
:05:03. > :05:08.be at each place and what time I am heading home. But those early
:05:08. > :05:14.explorers were the first. They had no idea what was beyond there, or
:05:14. > :05:19.even how many years they might be away for. Frank's journey and life
:05:19. > :05:22.started a long way from the doubts of the southern hemisphere. He was
:05:22. > :05:25.born in Skelton in 1873, in what was then the North Riding of
:05:26. > :05:35.Yorkshire. His father was the local school-teacher and Frank was the
:05:36. > :05:36.
:05:36. > :05:40.second eldest of 13 children. When Frank Wild was growing up,
:05:40. > :05:46.Antarctica was a completely unknown Continent. Only some of the very
:05:46. > :05:50.fringes had been surveyed at that time. Frank most certainly knew
:05:50. > :05:55.nothing about Antarctica. He grew up very close to the coast and you
:05:55. > :05:59.can smell the North Sea from here. From that, he will have picked up a
:05:59. > :06:05.sense of the hall of the world's oceans. Once he had that spirit in
:06:05. > :06:09.his veins, this little village was not going to hold him back. Frank
:06:09. > :06:19.was soon on the move as his father took teaching jobs around the
:06:19. > :06:21.
:06:21. > :06:25.country. And wherever Frank went, it seemed trouble quickly followed.
:06:25. > :06:30.When Frank was allowed here in Wheldrake, he went missing and
:06:30. > :06:33.nobody could find him. Eventually a relative came into the church and
:06:33. > :06:37.discovered that little Frank had been pulling on one of these bell
:06:37. > :06:42.ropes. He had got enough momentum going and he could hang on and he
:06:42. > :06:45.got himself jammed up there on one of the upper ledges, stuck! The
:06:45. > :06:50.lure of the sea finally hooked Frank. He joined the Merchant then
:06:50. > :06:54.the Royal Navy. And soon there was an attraction that turned his -and
:06:54. > :06:59.every other sailor's head. Men were being recruited for a major British
:06:59. > :07:09.attempt to explore Antarctica. It would be led by Captain Robert
:07:09. > :07:09.
:07:09. > :07:14.Falcon Scott. Until those little parties of painfully slow human
:07:14. > :07:18.beings inched their way in woods on the edges of the Antarctic
:07:18. > :07:22.Continent, nobody knew what was in now. It is rather hard for us to
:07:22. > :07:27.imagine now what genuine blanks on the map were like. You cannot argue
:07:27. > :07:29.with the fact that they were adding to the sum of human knowledge.
:07:29. > :07:32.chance to set foot on unexplored territory excited everyone and
:07:32. > :07:40.Frank was one of 3000 sailors who volunteered for Scott's great
:07:40. > :07:45.adventure. Frank did not think he would be picked for the Discovery
:07:45. > :07:48.expedition because he was too short. But Scott had heard of his
:07:48. > :07:51.reputation and he could put up with all sorts of privations and
:07:51. > :07:58.difficulties. Despite his lack of height, Frank was soon saying
:07:58. > :08:02.goodbye to his father and heading for the great white unknown. Scott
:08:02. > :08:07.did get an awful lot of people that were in many ways like him very
:08:07. > :08:14.physically tough. And the toughest of them all, everybody said, was
:08:14. > :08:19.Scott himself. Like fried wild, he was small and stocky. -- like Frank
:08:19. > :08:22.Wild. In his three years away Frank Wild certainly impressed Scott. He
:08:22. > :08:26.set foot on the Antarctic icecap nd picked up the polar medal on his
:08:26. > :08:28.return to Britain. But Scott wasn't the only one who'd been impressed
:08:28. > :08:33.by Wild. A young merchant navy officer, Ernest Shackleton, had
:08:33. > :08:37.also been on the expedition. By 1907 Shackleton was Scott's keenest
:08:37. > :08:46.rival and he had a new plan to push for the greatest prize of all - the
:08:46. > :08:52.Shackleton's Nimrod expedition was the hottest ticket in town and
:08:52. > :09:01.Frank wasn't alone in jumping at the chance to join up. And for the
:09:01. > :09:07.dark polar winter the boss had a novel way of keeping boredom at bay.
:09:07. > :09:12.Shackleton came to Wild with his great idea that he should take a
:09:12. > :09:17.printing cause. I can imagine what he was thinking! But he did it
:09:17. > :09:22.because the boss told him to. That N'Gotty did because this is the
:09:22. > :09:29.result, Aurora Australis, the first ever book written, illustrated,
:09:29. > :09:33.bound and printed in Antarctica. really is a thing of beauty. Look
:09:33. > :09:41.at this beautiful drawing of the Southern Lights. Printed at the
:09:41. > :09:47.sign of the penguins by Joyce and Wild. Attitude 37 degrees, two
:09:47. > :09:55.minutes South. Longitude, 12 minutes East, Antarctica. And the
:09:55. > :10:01.Penguin trademark, all rights reserved! That is fabulous, and an
:10:01. > :10:05.unbelievably brilliant drawing here of the men. Here he is, Wild. In
:10:06. > :10:10.brackets it says Frankie, a sign of affection. The others have got
:10:10. > :10:13.their names and it is nice that he has got Frankie as well.
:10:13. > :10:18.Only a hundred copies of Aurora Australis were published, all bound
:10:18. > :10:21.with whatever Wild and Joyce could get their hands on. Producing the
:10:21. > :10:28.book was a welcome distraction but the men had a greater purpose in
:10:28. > :10:33.mind - polar glory. Shackleton's plan was daunting. A 1500 mile
:10:33. > :10:43.return crossing of an unchartered landscape at altitude. A team of
:10:43. > :10:51.
:10:51. > :10:56.four would go for it - Marshall, I tell you, I would not want to go
:10:56. > :11:01.to find this fabulous old equipment. Give me modern gear any day, that's
:11:01. > :11:07.for sure! You know what, in Frank Wild's time, this was absolutely
:11:07. > :11:11.the best available. It was well, cotton, fur and leather. You can
:11:11. > :11:17.imagine that when it gets wet it gets heavier and heavier. At the
:11:17. > :11:23.same time, those men were getting weaker and weaker. And more starved
:11:23. > :11:27.and further away from any help. It was a desperate measure. A full-on,
:11:27. > :11:30.massive commitment. The men climbed onto the Beardmore glacier setting
:11:30. > :11:36.foot where no humans had been. Each small step forward took them closer
:11:36. > :11:39.to the South Pole. But as the weeks became months the men were hampered
:11:39. > :11:49.by snow-blindness and frostbite. Their ponies had died, supplies
:11:49. > :12:02.
:12:02. > :12:06.were dwindling. Their lives were It was a superhuman effort, but
:12:06. > :12:11.every mile forward was one mile further away from safety. Think of
:12:11. > :12:15.it this way. Our domestic freezers run at minus 20. With the winds,
:12:15. > :12:18.these boys were experiencing temperatures twice as severe. As
:12:18. > :12:28.Wild and Shackleton huddled in their tents, the enormity of their
:12:28. > :12:28.
:12:28. > :12:32.plight was obvious. Every day their survival hangs in the balance. They
:12:32. > :12:35.are running low of food and desperately ill. What it took to
:12:35. > :12:39.pull themselves out of their sleeping bags and every morning and
:12:39. > :12:46.get back on the march when they do not have the energy to pack their
:12:46. > :12:50.sledges? With the life-force draining out of their bodies, the
:12:50. > :12:57.men continued to haul themselves forward. But the tensions were
:12:57. > :13:03.building. Year's Eve, 19 aerate, Frank is not full of festive joy.
:13:03. > :13:07.He is absolutely at the end of his tether. He says they have not been
:13:08. > :13:12.pulling worth a damp and consequently he has to suffer. He
:13:12. > :13:17.goes on to say that if they only had Joyce instead of these two
:13:17. > :13:22.useless beggars then they would have done it easily. I know how he
:13:22. > :13:28.feels. When you are working at your mental and physical limits, tiny
:13:28. > :13:32.little things become great, big, heavy issues. The best mates, your
:13:32. > :13:37.team partners that you previously loved, they can become objects of
:13:37. > :13:46.hatred. When we are working at our absolute limits, we have got a very
:13:46. > :13:52.dark place within us. Frank had just about reached toes. With his
:13:52. > :13:55.team fading fast, Shackleton made a decision that defined him. Just 97
:13:55. > :13:58.miles from the South Pole, he ordered the men to turn around.
:13:58. > :14:03.They were so exhausted that to continue would have meant certain
:14:04. > :14:07.death. Shackleton had relinquished his great chance to claim the pole.
:14:07. > :14:11.Shackleton would look after his men whatever happened, even though they
:14:11. > :14:16.were actually in dire straits. Shackleton would put his men before
:14:16. > :14:20.anything else, and in particular Frank Wild. I think that meant so
:14:21. > :14:25.much. I don't think Frank Wild never forgot. And there was one
:14:25. > :14:28.episode that would stay with Frank forever. On the return leg he was
:14:28. > :14:32.half starving, wracked with dystentry and at his lowest ebb.
:14:32. > :14:36.Shackleton gave him his last biscuit. It was a small gesture but
:14:36. > :14:39.in the circumstances it meant so much. Frank wrote: I do not suppose
:14:39. > :14:45.that anyone else in the world can thoroughly realise how much
:14:45. > :14:55.generosity and sympathy was shown by this. I do and by God shall
:14:55. > :15:00.
:15:00. > :15:02.The Nimrod expedition returned home, the men hailed as heroes.
:15:02. > :15:12.Shackleton was knighted. Frank received another clasp to his polar
:15:12. > :15:14.
:15:14. > :15:18.medal. The bond between Wild and Shackleton had been sealed. Wild
:15:18. > :15:23.was Shackleton's utterly loyal lieutenant, devoted to him with
:15:23. > :15:33.mutual devotion. They complemented each other perfectly. Wild was a
:15:33. > :15:33.
:15:33. > :15:38.moderated, but he was a rock. Any Even today crossing the Southern
:15:38. > :15:41.Ocean to get to Antarctica is a serious undertaking. It can be a
:15:41. > :15:51.stomach churning experience even on a modern ship that has all the
:15:51. > :16:03.
:16:03. > :16:06.benefits of a re-enforced steel When the explorers of the heroic
:16:06. > :16:09.age were heading south the journey to get to the ice was often the
:16:09. > :16:15.most dangerous part of the expedition. The Brits prided
:16:15. > :16:17.themselves on being a nation of seafarers but the conditions in the
:16:17. > :16:21.waters around Antarctic were something else.
:16:21. > :16:31.Even the most seasoned of sailors like Frank Wild were left digging
:16:31. > :16:33.
:16:33. > :16:40.deep into their reserves of fortitude and endurance.
:16:40. > :16:44.It's a great feeling this. A good- sized pod of whales over here at
:16:44. > :16:48.about 2.00 and even got some ice building up on the ship which is a
:16:48. > :16:55.sure sign we are getting south. It's exciting for us, but this was
:16:55. > :16:58.a sign of great danger for those early explorers, heavy overloaded
:16:58. > :17:06.ship, with dogs and supplies for many months or years and as the ice
:17:06. > :17:10.built up on it, it caused what they call too much top-hamper, the ship
:17:11. > :17:16.became top-heavy, so the men would spend every hour chipping this ice
:17:16. > :17:22.off to stop the ship becoming unstable. Frank Wild's ashes are
:17:23. > :17:25.following in the foot-steps of the great who would use the sub-
:17:25. > :17:30.Antarctic islands of the southern hemisphere as a launch pad into the
:17:30. > :17:33.ice. Our target is the remote island of south Georgia, but given
:17:33. > :17:40.where we are on the planet we have to be aware that the weather could
:17:40. > :17:43.scupper all our plans. Every day on the Scotia sea down here is a
:17:43. > :17:46.challenge. I can't help but think about the oel boys, they didn't
:17:46. > :17:51.have any of this technology whatsoever. Imagine it was like
:17:51. > :17:55.living on a ship like that, cold and maybe leaky, it won't be as
:17:55. > :18:01.warm and cosy as here. And then trying to stay in the condition to
:18:01. > :18:07.do a watch and be out on deck and have take care of the ship. Water
:18:07. > :18:09.and decks and you try and navigate, look after the dogs. And you are
:18:09. > :18:13.shivering constantly. Probably below not ever really getting warm
:18:13. > :18:16.inside. If you have ever sailed on the ocean on a boat you know after
:18:17. > :18:21.a few days everything is soaking wet and how they managed to dry
:18:21. > :18:26.that gear out that's the thing I am amazed about, how they stayed human
:18:26. > :18:30.through all that. We have some waves just hitting the upper deck
:18:31. > :18:34.here, it has a much more of a feeling of true Southern Ocean
:18:34. > :18:39.power. Yes, I often refer to it, all the water in the world is
:18:39. > :18:49.trying to squeeze through and look where we are. Right now we are
:18:49. > :18:50.
:18:51. > :18:55.about there. There are few places as remote as
:18:55. > :19:01.south Georgia, on the map of the world it's just a tiny speck, more
:19:01. > :19:05.than 900 miles from the Falklands. For 60 years, the island was a
:19:05. > :19:10.centre for the whaling and seal industry and it seemed there would
:19:10. > :19:14.be a never ending supply of wild animals. The last whalers left
:19:14. > :19:24.south Georgia almost 50 years ago, the island still gets visitors but
:19:24. > :19:55.
:19:55. > :20:00.these days they're look to look at Despite spending ten years in the
:20:00. > :20:10.Antarctic, this is my first visit to South Georgia. I am blown away
:20:10. > :20:21.
:20:21. > :20:25.Surrounded by thousands upon thousands of these iconic and
:20:25. > :20:30.absolutely beautiful King penguins, it's amazing to think that Frank
:20:31. > :20:35.Wild and his men they looked upon them as food. Frank and his men
:20:35. > :20:38.would go over, grab these birds, eat them raw at first, and that
:20:38. > :20:43.must have been hard, even if you are starving I would think. Once
:20:43. > :20:48.you built your strength up, it meant they could cook some more,
:20:48. > :20:52.extract the oil and use that oil for light and heat to cook more
:20:52. > :20:56.penguin. I think some of the men rg strug --
:20:56. > :21:02.really struggled eating raw penguin but Frank was noted as doing all
:21:02. > :21:09.right on it. He could murder a penguin and eat it straightaway. A
:21:09. > :21:14.born survivor. Good on him. As the sun set on the Edwardian age
:21:14. > :21:17.Frank Wild's reputation was rising. With two expeditions under his belt,
:21:17. > :21:22.it seemed everyone was after his services. Scott was now planning a
:21:22. > :21:26.push for the Pole, and he desperately wanted Frank and his
:21:26. > :21:31.team. But Frank rebuffed him, saying Scott was too much the Navy
:21:31. > :21:37.man. Of course in the Royal Navy it was very regimented. There were
:21:37. > :21:47.tough laws on the ship. Of course, that didn't really fit in with
:21:47. > :21:49.
:21:49. > :21:51.Frank Wild's character as it didn't with Shackleton. So, that's the
:21:51. > :21:54.sort of thing that Frank Wild wouldn't have wanted to be part of.
:21:54. > :22:01.He was much more of a free spirit. He didn't want that Royal Navy
:22:01. > :22:06.discipline. He was never hostile, Frank Wild, to Scott. To the extent
:22:06. > :22:13.that when Scott wanted to reach the the Pole on the 1910 expedition he
:22:13. > :22:21.was prepared to let Scott have the key diary of when Wild and
:22:21. > :22:25.Shackleton and Marshall went within 97 miles of the Pole itself.
:22:25. > :22:30.Frank's knowledge did help Scott, but as we now know, in terrible
:22:31. > :22:35.conditions the slow walk back from the Pole turned into a death march.
:22:35. > :22:39.And Scott and four of his men perished. There's the possibility
:22:39. > :22:45.that Frank Wild would have been chosen as the small group of men to
:22:45. > :22:49.reach the South Pole with Scott and that's something - that's a real
:22:49. > :22:53.thought to think that Frank Wild could have died as the others did
:22:53. > :22:58.on the way back. But on the other hand, could Frank's experience have
:22:58. > :23:03.proved crucial? Wild was a seasoned polar man. He
:23:03. > :23:08.had been on two expeditions already. He had proven his mettle with Scott
:23:08. > :23:13.on discovery, proven his worth with Shackleton as a guy you wanted to
:23:14. > :23:17.have around you when things got bad. And it's plausible to speculate
:23:17. > :23:22.that Scott would have reached the Pole and returned with Wild's
:23:22. > :23:25.experience. With human footprints now at the
:23:25. > :23:30.South Pole many wondered whether there was anything else left to
:23:30. > :23:34.achieve. Shackleton certainly thought so. And in 1914 he had an
:23:34. > :23:42.idea that he believed would make the world sit up and take notice.
:23:42. > :23:48.And the plan was beautiful. A totally committed traverse of the
:23:48. > :23:52.continent, from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea via the South Pole T
:23:52. > :23:57.had certainly never been done and must have felt almost impossible.
:23:57. > :24:02.Shackleton had it all lined up, including his lead ship, The
:24:02. > :24:06.Endurance. Importantly, he had his second in command, it was going to
:24:06. > :24:11.be Frank Wild. Frank had signed up but the expedition was short of men
:24:11. > :24:16.so Shackleton wrote to the first Lord of the admiralty and asked for
:24:16. > :24:20.his help. What Shackleton got back was a resounding no. These
:24:20. > :24:24.Government documents show that Churchill took a particular and
:24:24. > :24:29.personal interest in this showing his displeasure by saying: These
:24:29. > :24:33.polar expeditions are becoming an industry, and he goes on to report
:24:33. > :24:37.enough life and money has been spent on this sterile quest. The
:24:37. > :24:41.Pole has already been discovered. What is the use of another
:24:41. > :24:44.expedition? So Shackleton was going to get his
:24:44. > :24:47.expedition off the ground, it wasn't going to be this way.
:24:47. > :24:51.Churchill may have thought it a sterile quest, but there were still
:24:51. > :24:55.plenty of people who disagreed. Frank had just come back from his
:24:55. > :25:01.third expedition to Antarctica with an Australian team. It had been
:25:01. > :25:04.another couple of hard years in the cold. Modern day trips like ours
:25:04. > :25:09.tend to be brief affairs, giving a temporary taste of life here, but
:25:09. > :25:15.the old boys like Frank immersed themselves in Antarctica, they just
:25:15. > :25:19.couldn't get enough of it. I just wonder if it's possible to define
:25:19. > :25:23.what it is that brought those men back every time? It wasn't just
:25:23. > :25:29.about planting the flag and about the British empire and expanding
:25:29. > :25:33.that. But it was very much to do with scientific exploration and it
:25:33. > :25:37.was the equivalent of early space exploration. They were really
:25:37. > :25:43.coming down to the unknown and they wanted to find out about this
:25:43. > :25:48.continent and all about the geology and metreology and the ocean, so
:25:48. > :25:52.there was a lot of that going on. Didn't Frank Wild talk about the
:25:52. > :25:55.small white voices, little white voices calling him back? He did. He
:25:55. > :26:00.said once you have been to the great unknown, you cannot escape
:26:00. > :26:03.the call of the little white voices. Lovely that. It is and it's
:26:03. > :26:06.actually an expression that many people who come down to Antarctic
:26:06. > :26:10.today, they still use that because they know exactly what he meant.
:26:11. > :26:19.What a fabulously sort of powerful combination, the little white
:26:20. > :26:25.voices, and his love and loyalty to the boss.
:26:25. > :26:29.With Frank by his side Shackleton set sail on the Endurance in 1914.
:26:29. > :26:35.He had cobbled the men and money together but he also had a cash-
:26:35. > :26:38.making venture up his sleeve. He sold the expedition film rights.
:26:38. > :26:46.Cinema-goers were hungry for tales of the unknown and Shackleton was
:26:46. > :26:53.hoping to return with an Antarctic blockbuster.
:26:53. > :26:57.I am hooked on this. This is a film of The Endurance expedition.
:26:57. > :27:00.They're at the prime of life. Physically really powerful. They've
:27:00. > :27:06.got that great look in their eyes, slightly dangerous look in their
:27:06. > :27:13.eyes. They just look brilliant. Frank Wild first appears in this
:27:13. > :27:19.film looking after the dogs. Small, compact. Incredibly - he looks
:27:20. > :27:23.really powerful man. He is actually in one of the sub-divided kennels,
:27:23. > :27:27.that's how small he is. The dog is bigger than him sitting down. He
:27:27. > :27:32.loved those dogs. He had a great relationship with them, but it
:27:32. > :27:36.meant that when the dogs had to be put down for various reasons,
:27:36. > :27:39.running out of food, when they got sick, it was down to Frank to do it
:27:39. > :27:44.and he reported it just broke his heart. It was the hardest thing he
:27:44. > :27:49.ever did. Shackleton was hoping for a clear troupb Antarctica but the
:27:49. > :27:52.weather was against him. There were more icebergs than normal, the pack
:27:52. > :28:02.ice was extensive and unusually thick. And the ship made slow
:28:02. > :28:03.
:28:03. > :28:08.progress. This is exciting for us today as it
:28:09. > :28:11.was for those early explorers, that first touch of the sea ice. It's
:28:11. > :28:15.thin pact at the minute but they would have had that sense of
:28:15. > :28:20.excitement, I know. But nevertheless, it was a much more
:28:20. > :28:24.serious event for them. We are on a very powerful steel ship. We can
:28:24. > :28:27.tell by modern instruments that this is pretty thin but in the old
:28:27. > :28:33.days as soon as you touched that ice and the excitement was over,
:28:33. > :28:37.the real dangers began. No doubt about it. P the Endurance became a
:28:37. > :28:44.giant battering ram and with the Weddell sea freezing over the
:28:44. > :28:50.journey south started to grind to a halt.
:28:50. > :28:55.By January 1915 the ship was surrounded. It's literally gripped
:28:55. > :28:59.in the ice, like a vice. She's held newspaper the ice and moves around
:28:59. > :29:01.and the hope that she might sort of - they might be able to cut
:29:01. > :29:06.themselves through or blast themselves through of the ice but
:29:06. > :29:09.as it is they're held for ten months. Until they realise that
:29:09. > :29:16.actually they're not going to get the ship out of the ice and not
:29:16. > :29:19.going to reach land either. The remote location rendered the
:29:19. > :29:29.wireless useless. Unable to raise the alarm, the world was oblivious
:29:29. > :29:32.
:29:33. > :29:37.to their fate. Shackleton and Wild had a major
:29:37. > :29:41.problem. With the Antarctic winter approaching, there would be no
:29:41. > :29:47.prospect of being released from the ice. The challenge now would be to
:29:47. > :29:50.keep morale high. The men hunkered down in the
:29:50. > :29:56.Endurance and although supplies were plentiful, the waoeultd life -
:29:56. > :30:01.- wildlife was harvested and the occasional fish in a penguin's
:30:01. > :30:09.stomach helped break the culinary monotony. Routine was established,
:30:09. > :30:14.games were played but the ice was unrelenting.
:30:14. > :30:20.Eventually the Endurance could endure no more. The Hull is
:30:20. > :30:28.shattered. The masts and spires are unusable. She held there like a
:30:28. > :30:34.dying animal. Shackleton told Wild what the ice gets, the ice keeps.
:30:34. > :30:39.The great expedition was now a battle for survival.
:30:39. > :30:44.There is a cracking photograph of Wild surveying the wreckage of
:30:44. > :30:48.their once beloved ship before she goes down and yeah, I mean, he
:30:48. > :30:52.looks dejected, of course. The ship is like soon to go. It's a very sad
:30:52. > :30:58.photograph, but actually Frank Wild is one of those leaders that he
:30:58. > :31:01.wouldn't let the men realise how he is feeling. Not that he was a stiff
:31:01. > :31:04.Victorian Edwardian who wasn't in touch with his feelings, he was a
:31:05. > :31:09.great leader, he was hurting inside. He was very cool, very calm. His
:31:09. > :31:13.job was all about keeping the men's spirits up.
:31:13. > :31:18.The 28 men were forced to camp on the ice and for almost six months
:31:19. > :31:22.they were carried along on its slow drift north.
:31:22. > :31:27.They tried to haul the rescued lifeboats across the ice towards
:31:27. > :31:37.the sea but progress was just too slow. And the back-breaking work
:31:37. > :31:40.
:31:40. > :31:44.They finally drifted so far North that the pack ice began to break up.
:31:44. > :31:53.They reached open sea and had only one possible landing place to aim
:31:53. > :31:59.for. It was do or die. The men landed here, Elephant Island, one
:31:59. > :32:03.of the most desolate places in the whole Antarctic peninsula. It is
:32:03. > :32:08.bleak, barren and windswept. But for those men in their pitiful
:32:08. > :32:13.condition, it looked like salvation. They soon found out it was anything
:32:13. > :32:18.but. I wanted to land here today but it is just impossible, even
:32:18. > :32:22.with the support of a modern ship like this. It puts into perspective
:32:22. > :32:27.what Frank Wild and his men really did. They were at the end of the
:32:27. > :32:35.nearly impossible journey, starving to death, but they still pulled up
:32:35. > :32:40.and landed. Then again, they had to. If they had not landed Elephant
:32:40. > :32:44.Island was well off any normal shipping route.
:32:44. > :32:50.-- if they had not landed, they would have died. Shackleton decided
:32:50. > :32:54.to take five men with him in the lifeboat. They went to get help
:32:54. > :33:01.from the whaling stations of South Georgia. All that stood in their
:33:01. > :33:05.way was 800 miles of ocean, 70 mph winds, and mountainous waves. As he
:33:05. > :33:10.handed over command to Frank, Shackleton wrote, I have every
:33:10. > :33:15.confidence in you and always have done. May God prosper your work and
:33:15. > :33:22.your life. The fate of the 21 men are remaining on Elephant Island
:33:22. > :33:27.now lay in the hands of Frank Wild. Men were weeping around him when
:33:27. > :33:31.Shackleton left, but Frank Wild, ever the great leader that he was,
:33:31. > :33:36.he got the men working, with no time for feeling down in the dumps.
:33:36. > :33:40.You have got to put your mind to the simple task of surviving. He
:33:40. > :33:44.kept hope alive in their hearts and that is the crucial thing. The men
:33:44. > :33:49.sheltered underneath the two remaining up turned lifeboats.
:33:49. > :33:52.Conditions were squalid, but every day it Frank would tell his men to
:33:52. > :33:58.pack their bags because the boss was coming back. The battle for
:33:58. > :34:03.morale was everything. Saturday nights were music nights. Frank
:34:03. > :34:08.would raise a toast to the boss and the men. Inevitably, somebody else
:34:08. > :34:14.would raise a cup and propose a toast to wives and sweethearts. And
:34:14. > :34:19.may they never meet! The raucous evenings were accompanied by the
:34:19. > :34:25.weather man and banjo player of the expedition, Leonard. He gave the
:34:25. > :34:30.men are short of what became known as vital, mental medicine. My name
:34:30. > :34:37.is frankly wild and I am on elephant aisle. The roof is without
:34:37. > :34:43.the tile. -- Frank Wild. It is the most palatial dwelling place you'll
:34:43. > :34:46.find on Elephant Island. The weeks of waiting turned into four
:34:46. > :34:52.agonising months and the men could only assume that Shackleton and the
:34:52. > :34:58.crew had been lost. We were sitting down to a magnificent meal of cold
:34:58. > :35:03.steel bones, seaweed and limpets. The men on duty suddenly heard a
:35:04. > :35:12.sudden yell. Wild, there is a sheet! We should like to flower.
:35:12. > :35:16.The wonderful news meant everything was cooked over. Over a few minutes,
:35:16. > :35:21.Shackleton was among us, laughing and shouting like a schoolboy to
:35:21. > :35:26.think that we will be rescued and safe and well. I believe without
:35:26. > :35:30.any doubt that this was Frank's finest hour. They were almost out
:35:30. > :35:37.of fruit. He did not admitted to the men, but hope must have been
:35:37. > :35:41.fading fast. -- he did not admit it. He had kept those men on Elephant
:35:41. > :35:46.Island alive. Our journey among the icebergs is much more comfortable
:35:46. > :35:50.than any that Frank would have taken. For his relatives, it has
:35:50. > :35:57.been a voyage into the past, helping them understand what they
:35:57. > :36:03.great uncle went through. 1901, 1909, 1916, 1921, the various
:36:03. > :36:09.expeditions. Are these the original letters? Yes. Your affection at
:36:09. > :36:13.cousin Frank. He was writing to Maggie. Here he is talking about
:36:13. > :36:17.Elephant Island. Thank you for the letter and congratulations. I am
:36:17. > :36:24.glad you always thought we should get through. So did I. As you know,
:36:25. > :36:29.that helps. Well. It must have been clear to him that what he was doing
:36:29. > :36:35.was significant. He would have been very proud, knowing that these
:36:35. > :36:40.letters would end up in the right hands, somehow. As Frank penned the
:36:40. > :36:44.letter, the battle of the Somme was ending. The men from Endurance were
:36:44. > :36:49.not the only men that had been to hell and back. The world that he
:36:49. > :36:54.left in 1914 was shattered on the battlefields of the Western Front.
:36:54. > :36:59.The explorers heroics were eclipsed. A loving letter at the same time as
:36:59. > :37:06.hundreds of thousands of men were dying in the trenches. I think my
:37:06. > :37:09.grandmother was a bit upset about that at one stage. He was on an
:37:09. > :37:14.expedition, when her husband was fighting in the war. You can
:37:14. > :37:18.understand that. Even though conditions on expeditions can be
:37:18. > :37:23.desperately difficult, at least nobody is trying to kill you.
:37:23. > :37:28.they have chosen that life, haven't they? It must have been a funny
:37:28. > :37:33.time for the family. I think so. Heroism, in all its forms, was
:37:33. > :37:39.being redefined. At that point, you realised that Shackleton and his
:37:39. > :37:46.men have been living in the last surviving bubble of the pre-war
:37:46. > :37:52.world, still operating by the old rules about terrorism, still naive
:37:52. > :37:58.in some ways about what their world was like. -- heroism. They were out
:37:58. > :38:01.of step. Shackleton's men threw themselves into the war effort and
:38:01. > :38:05.Frank and the crew were scattered across the globe. It seemed that
:38:05. > :38:09.polar exploration would be a thing of the past. An awful lot of actual
:38:09. > :38:14.people die at the Battle of the Somme, but among other associated
:38:14. > :38:20.casualties is the idea offer the stiff upper lip to polar explorer,
:38:20. > :38:27.I think. They cannot keep it up after that. The world may well have
:38:27. > :38:31.been changing, but Antarctica would not let go of Shackleton. In 1921,
:38:31. > :38:38.he was planning another crack at the frozen South, this time to
:38:38. > :38:42.explore its uncharted islands on The Quest. He sent word out that he
:38:42. > :38:52.wanted the boys back together and Frank dropped everything to answer
:38:52. > :39:09.
:39:09. > :39:13.By the new year, they arrived in South Georgia. They landed at grid
:39:13. > :39:21.for can, a place that Wild and Shackleton you well because of
:39:21. > :39:26.previous expeditions. -- knew well. On the evening of the 4th January,
:39:26. > :39:30.1922, the men had dinner. It was the last time that Wild would see
:39:30. > :39:34.Shackleton alive. At 2 o'clock the next morning, the doctor was called
:39:34. > :39:41.to Shackleton's cabin. He treated him for Severe neuralgia, but
:39:41. > :39:50.within minutes, Ernest Shackleton was dead. His heart had failed. He
:39:50. > :40:00.was only 47. Once again, all eyes were on Frank. He was eyes calm
:40:00. > :40:00.
:40:00. > :40:04.throughout this terrible drama. The -- ice Khan. I think Frank Wild was
:40:04. > :40:09.devastated and broken-hearted by it. He behaved in a way that he
:40:09. > :40:13.believed Shackleton would have expected him to behave. That would
:40:13. > :40:21.be not to be over the emotional. Just take this on board and deal
:40:21. > :40:25.with the tragedy the best way that he could. For a second time, Frank
:40:25. > :40:30.found himself leading the men in difficult circumstances. He told
:40:30. > :40:36.the stunned crew that the expedition would carry on.
:40:36. > :40:41.Shackleton's body was supposed to be sent back to England and the
:40:41. > :40:45.Quest continued its voyage. It was decided that Shackleton's remains
:40:45. > :40:49.should be buried on South Georgia. It was only one month later when
:40:49. > :40:55.they could get back to the island so that Frank could say goodbye to
:40:55. > :41:00.his dear friend and mentor. Without Shackleton, he was bereft. After
:41:00. > :41:04.two draining decade in the Antarctic, Frank's career on the
:41:04. > :41:08.ice was over. He had been awarded the Polar Medal five times and had
:41:08. > :41:12.even received a gong from the King. With the death of Shackleton, he
:41:12. > :41:22.had lost his best friend so he turned his back on the cold and
:41:22. > :41:24.
:41:24. > :41:30.Frank's head had been turned by what South Africa offered. It was
:41:30. > :41:40.much warmer for a start. With his new wife into, he landed in the
:41:40. > :41:44.bush land in the shadow of these mountains. Andrew -- Andy Butler
:41:44. > :41:51.knows about the law of this landscape. She lived here for 20
:41:51. > :41:56.years. What was it that made him want to come to Africa to be a
:41:56. > :42:01.farmer, of all things? At that time, Africa offered so many prospects,
:42:01. > :42:05.it was an opportunity for adventure. He felt that he could find his
:42:05. > :42:10.fortune in Africa. I think really he wanted to just get away and
:42:10. > :42:13.start a new life. There was not much going on in Europe at the time.
:42:13. > :42:17.The Great Depression was coming. was the Great Depression and the
:42:17. > :42:20.end of the war and things were very difficult. There was very little
:42:20. > :42:29.work. He was that actually qualified to do anything other than
:42:29. > :42:39.go down into frozen wastelands. Frank had big plans. He sent �6,000
:42:39. > :42:45.into his cotton farm, clearing and setting up his farm and setting up
:42:45. > :42:48.home. We are actually on Frank Wild's land. This is it. This is
:42:48. > :42:55.exactly it and we know this because I have a small photograph here.
:42:55. > :42:58.There he is, sitting in front of the House that he built with this
:42:58. > :43:05.wonderful background of the mountain. Funnily enough, he has
:43:05. > :43:11.some chickens on his lap. Peggy looking on. He is a good dog man,
:43:11. > :43:18.isn't he? We must be at his front door. Look at that. I can tell you
:43:18. > :43:21.that we are not far away. It is a magical feeling. Ghost mountain
:43:21. > :43:27.looks idyllic, but it was tough out here for Frank and things were
:43:27. > :43:32.about to get harder. The union is the land of eternal sunshine. This
:43:32. > :43:41.time the sun has over done good. The searing, scorching drought,
:43:41. > :43:45.sweeping across the North West Cape. Once again, nature makes war on man.
:43:45. > :43:49.Not for the first time, Frank was battling against the elements and
:43:49. > :43:54.after the drought came the floods. He stuck it out for six years and
:43:54. > :43:59.in the end, all his money was gone. He literally had to walk away.
:43:59. > :44:07.must have been heartbreaking. worked so hard to try and make it
:44:07. > :44:14.work. It was tragic for all the farmers in this area. If that was
:44:14. > :44:19.not bad enough, his marriage was also over. The irony of the story
:44:19. > :44:25.is that Frank had made this little bit of Africa after the ship on his
:44:25. > :44:31.last expedition. -- name to this bit of Africa. He called it Quest.
:44:31. > :44:35.He had found something but it was not the paradise he had hoped for.
:44:35. > :44:39.Frank made ends meet working on the railway and even took a job in a
:44:39. > :44:48.bar. When a South Africa reporter tracked him down, it was headline
:44:48. > :44:54.A picture was painted of Frank as broke and neglected. A hero of The
:44:54. > :44:59.Empire who had fallen on hard times. For a proud, private man this
:44:59. > :45:03.national exposure was deeply hurtful and embarrassing.
:45:03. > :45:10.But an alternative view of the man emerges from someone who met him
:45:10. > :45:14.during his time in South Africa. Bjorn's father was Frank's friend,
:45:14. > :45:21.he was a boy when he shared a photo session with a real life Antarctic
:45:21. > :45:23.hero. My father wanted a decent photograph of Frank and when this
:45:23. > :45:28.troubling photographer came around he arranged for him to take his
:45:28. > :45:32.photograph. So he came out to our house and against the side wall of
:45:33. > :45:36.the garage set up his back cloth and took the photographs. Even
:45:36. > :45:41.though this is a beautiful photograph, and it tells us a lot
:45:41. > :45:44.about the man Frank, particularly those beautiful eyes. Piercing. No
:45:44. > :45:49.doubt about that. Those eyes have seen things. He photographed bloody
:45:49. > :45:53.well, didn't he? Can you help fill in the sort of three-dimensional
:45:53. > :45:59.part, your memories of Frank. What did it feel like to be around him?
:45:59. > :46:03.He stood out as being exotic. He was a man of presence. He was a
:46:03. > :46:08.leader. He was a nice man. It's great to get an impression of Frank
:46:08. > :46:12.but in the early 1930s he was still struggling, a maul man lust --
:46:13. > :46:17.small man lost in a big country. He followed the money and headed for
:46:17. > :46:21.Johannesburg. The city had sprung up almost
:46:21. > :46:26.overnight 50 years earlier. A by- product of the gold rush. But when
:46:26. > :46:30.Frank arrived the depression was biting. And mining jobs were hard
:46:30. > :46:35.to come by. But he knew that if he was to salvage anything out of his
:46:35. > :46:45.South African adventure he would have have to get out there and dig
:46:45. > :46:49.
:46:49. > :46:53.And this is where Frank found a new life in the gold mines near
:46:53. > :46:58.Johannesburg. Only the most resourceful could take it out here.
:46:58. > :47:02.With the blistering heat and the tough Africans and frank was one of
:47:02. > :47:07.many men working these quarries sifting through tonnes of rock
:47:07. > :47:11.hoping to find enough gold for a fresh start.
:47:11. > :47:15.Frank never did strike gold. The shine of Africa was losing its
:47:15. > :47:23.gloss. He wrote home that the country was
:47:23. > :47:28.overboasted and overrun by pests, droughts, floods, locusts, hail,
:47:28. > :47:32.army worm, ants, mosquitoes and politicians, the last named being
:47:32. > :47:37.the worst. His life was poles apart from his glory days in the
:47:37. > :47:40.Antarctic. So he went back to the city, a place of refuge where his
:47:40. > :47:50.former accomplishments were recognised and his courage
:47:50. > :47:56.
:47:57. > :48:05.Even today the gentleman's clubs of Johannesburg feel like they're
:48:05. > :48:15.holding on to a forgotten era. But for Frank it was a home from
:48:15. > :48:24.
:48:24. > :48:28.home, where he could reflect on the Here was a place where the ideals
:48:28. > :48:34.of The Empire and being British were as important as the comfort
:48:34. > :48:38.provided by the leather chairs, the whisky, and the cigars.
:48:38. > :48:47.But even this was a short-lived glance into a disappearing world.
:48:48. > :48:50.The club subs were too expensive for Frank and he moved on again.
:48:50. > :49:00.But finally, after years of disappointment, there was a light
:49:00. > :49:07.in his life. His redemption came in the form of
:49:07. > :49:13.Beatrix, known as Trix, and they got married in 1933 and it was a
:49:13. > :49:19.great union. She was this rather small woman, I think quite plain.
:49:19. > :49:22.She smoked as much as Frank Wild did and she would roll her own
:49:22. > :49:28.cigarettes. She didn't seem to mind the fact that they had very little
:49:28. > :49:33.money. She just adored him and he adored her. It was really a time of
:49:33. > :49:37.great happiness. Frank had found his soul mate. But he still had
:49:37. > :49:41.money troubles. Despite his small polar pension from the British
:49:41. > :49:46.Government, he often relied on the support of family and friends. He
:49:46. > :49:51.couldn't retire just yet. Now in his mid-60s he was working as a
:49:51. > :49:59.store keeper in a mine 150 miles south of Johannesburg but the Frank
:49:59. > :50:02.Wild of old was beginning to fade away. All those expeditions had
:50:03. > :50:08.taken their toll. He was suffering with diabetes and his haeult
:50:08. > :50:13.failing -- health failing. In suggest 1939, five days after being
:50:14. > :50:18.taken ill, Frank Wild, the unsung hero of the great age of Antarctic
:50:18. > :50:22.exploration died peacefully in his bed from pneumonia.
:50:22. > :50:27.Frank was 66 years old, he had spent much of his time in South
:50:27. > :50:32.Africa struggling. It appeared to be a life lost. 16 years of bumping
:50:32. > :50:36.along the bottom, unable to make his fortune in farming or mining.
:50:36. > :50:43.He must have wondered whether he had made an impression in this land.
:50:43. > :50:47.The answer to that became clear at his funeral.
:50:47. > :50:52.They pay their last tribute to a great explorer, this simple cortege
:50:52. > :50:57.passing through a Johannesburg cemetery is the last seen in the
:50:57. > :51:01.vivid last story of commander Frank Wild, late comrade of Captain Scott
:51:01. > :51:06.and Sir Shackleton. He was a member of five expeditions to the South
:51:06. > :51:10.Pole and ended his days on a gold mine, small of stature, he
:51:10. > :51:15.possessed the courage of a lion and his keen eyes were ever set towards
:51:15. > :51:19.what is right amongst men. And so, a British hero embarks on his last
:51:19. > :51:22.voyage of discovery. The packed chapel and the news reel
:51:22. > :51:26.cameras were sure signs that Frank's achievements had been
:51:26. > :51:30.recognised. And as the great and good of The Empire paid their
:51:30. > :51:35.respects, plans were made to give Frank a fitting send-off. His ashes
:51:35. > :51:40.would be buried in the the one place many felt they really
:51:40. > :51:44.belonged, in South Georgia, next to Shackleton. But a week after his
:51:44. > :51:49.funeral, the Second World War started and the plans were shelfed.
:51:50. > :51:55.The years became decades, and with the death of his wife Trix, the
:51:55. > :51:59.casket containing his ashes was lost. There was only one clue to
:51:59. > :52:04.their whereabouts which proved vital in the search for Frank. How
:52:04. > :52:08.did you pick this apart? Well, really with great difficulty, but I
:52:08. > :52:14.did have a small paper cutting and in this cutting they said his
:52:14. > :52:18.remains are in a chapel. That was the clue. It was a vague clue. But
:52:18. > :52:24.it was just still something to keep me going. How many chapels are
:52:24. > :52:28.there in Johannesburg? Exactly but I was drawn to this chapel here.
:52:28. > :52:34.Instinct? Pure instinct. I really like that. It's a great detective
:52:34. > :52:40.story. Yeah. These handwriten ledgers detail the tens of
:52:40. > :52:44.thousands who have passed through Braamfontein cemetery but they also
:52:44. > :52:49.reveal Frank's ashes hadn't been scattered, they had been taken.
:52:49. > :52:54.that really gave me hope that they were still physically kept
:52:54. > :52:59.somewhere. Still contained in something. The breakthrough came
:52:59. > :53:07.when Angie discovered there was a chamber underneath the crematorium
:53:07. > :53:11.which contained unmarked or unclaimed remains. This is a first
:53:11. > :53:15.for me, Alan Alan... She asked the manager to check it shelf by shelf.
:53:15. > :53:22.He discovered there were Wilds in here, but they weren't the right
:53:22. > :53:27.ones. Another Wild. Unbelievable. Two Wilds here in opposite corners.
:53:27. > :53:33.Both the wrong ones. On a wild goose chase here. I placed it back
:53:33. > :53:38.and I pushed it back and heard a sound. Catching of another casket.
:53:38. > :53:48.It was a crucial moment. Behind this casket were Frank Wild's
:53:48. > :53:53.
:53:53. > :53:57.remains. After a seven-year search, Frank Wild's return to south
:53:57. > :54:02.Georgia has been a long time coming. It's 90 years since he was last
:54:02. > :54:08.here, paying his respects to his beloved Shackleton.
:54:08. > :54:14.Now he's about to be buried next to his great friend and frank, a true
:54:14. > :54:20.wanderer, can finally find peace in his spiritual home.
:54:20. > :54:25.What are are your thoughts? I am feeling anxious. And I do feel
:54:25. > :54:30.quite emotional about it. Also, I have a sense of relief, because
:54:30. > :54:35.this is the end of the journey and I feel we are now reaching some
:54:35. > :54:42.closure on this extraordinary story. Shackleton's funeral took place at
:54:42. > :54:47.the old whalers Church in Grytviken so it's fitting Frank is being
:54:47. > :54:54.honoured here too. Here, in South Georgia we honour the memory of
:54:54. > :55:00.John Robert Francis, Frank Wild. And prepare to fulfil the wish of
:55:00. > :55:06.his wife, his family, and other loved ones by laying his mortal
:55:06. > :55:16.remains to rest, close by to those of his dear and trusted friend, Sir
:55:16. > :55:18.
:55:18. > :55:27.I must go down to the seas again, to the gypsy life, to the gulls way
:55:27. > :55:36.and the whales way, where the winds like a knife and all I ask is a
:55:36. > :55:46.merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover. And quiet sleep and a sweet
:55:46. > :55:50.
:55:50. > :55:54.dream when the long trip's over. He has showed wonderful qualities
:55:54. > :56:03.of leadership, Shackleton wrote, and more than justified the
:56:03. > :56:09.absolute confidence I placed in him. Later, Shackleton would add: It is
:56:09. > :56:16.hardly necessary to write about him, he is my second self. I love him.
:56:16. > :56:20.He has been a tower of strength to There aren't many many people who
:56:20. > :56:30.have two funeral processions and there are few places in the world
:56:30. > :56:31.
:56:31. > :56:36.where a cortege has to weave its None of us know where life's
:56:36. > :56:41.journey will take us, and as an explorer, I know that with more
:56:42. > :56:46.certainty than most. But who would have thought that the mischiefous
:56:46. > :56:50.little boy who once swung on the Church bells would finally be laid
:56:50. > :56:57.to rest 8,000 miles away from Yorkshire, in this quiet corner of
:56:57. > :57:05.a lonely island outpost. We claim your love today as we
:57:05. > :57:08.return these ashes of Frank Wild to the ground. In life, Shackleton and
:57:08. > :57:13.Wild were remarkable men, so it feels right that their graves are
:57:13. > :57:23.the only ones here pointing south, to the icy land that brought them
:57:23. > :57:24.
:57:24. > :57:30.Frank always found it hard to resist the little white voices that
:57:30. > :57:37.would bring him back to Antarctica time and time again. He loved this
:57:37. > :57:43.place, finding joy in its savage beauty. He understood that
:57:43. > :57:47.companionship and loyalty were paramount, that in the wilderness
:57:47. > :57:53.the expedition was the greatest cause of all.
:57:53. > :57:58.I have been asked about my polar heroes and I have them all there,
:57:58. > :58:05.Scott, Shackleton. The whole lot. It's hard to put one in front of
:58:05. > :58:10.the other. They each had special talents. But Frank Wild only knew a
:58:10. > :58:14.little bit about him, just a couple of sentences, but I feel that by
:58:14. > :58:17.learning about Frank I have actually been part of rewriting the