Against All Odds

Written Written by Lloyd Davis Against Against All Odds

Against All Odds Springboard 6

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Trapped in the Trapped Tube I Survived a Shark Attack Other Survival Stories in Springboard 6: environment on Earth. crew crew of adventures in the most hostile found themselves found in a struggle This survival storysurvival. for tells the incredible story of the Antarctica. Antarctica. He and his men they never Instead, got there. In 1914, ErnestIn 1914, Shackleton led an expedition to walk across For inspection teachers' Against All Odds

Written by Lloyd Davis Cover images of Ernest Shackleton, the ship Endurance and crew, the lifeboat James Caird, and Antarctica (background) Against All Odds Photography by Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales (cover Endurance crew, p1); Corbis/Tranz (cover Shackleton, pp6–7, pp15–17, p26, pp28–29, pp34–35); Getty Images/Hulton ONLY Archive (p9, pp18–19); National Library of Australia (an24039592-v cover Endurance, an23998521 cover Antarctica, an23478495 p10, an23478585 p12, an23478074 p13, an23998521 p14, an24039590 p23, an23478563 p24, an23998564 p25, an24039592 pp30–31, an23478557 p32, an24039596 p36, an24039585 p38); Photolibrary (p21); Corbis (p10, p22, p28); Photodisc (pp4–5)

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Edited by Adrian Bell Designed by Kevin Currie Introduction...... 4 Printed in Hong Kong 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The Expedition Sets Out...... 8 ISBN: 978-1-4202-6196-7 Carried by the Ice...... 14 Into the Sea...... 20 Elephant Island...... 24 The Drake Passage...... 26 Crossing the Mountains...... 33 Rescue...... 36 Glossary...... 39 Index...... 40 For inspection teachers' Introduction One such place was the great southern continent of snow and ice, Antarctica. In the early 1900s, no country had yet charted or claimed it. But many explorers planned to Less than 100 years ago, there were still parts of the ONLY try. They hoped to go further south than anyone had ever world that no one had ever seen. These places been before. A number of adventurers went to Antarctica drew explorers from many countries. They during the early 1900s. They entered into a landscape went because of their thirst for adventure. that was little understood, and that was savagely hostile to They hoped to expand scientific knowledge. human life. They took equipment that would be laughable And they hoped to be the first to go to the by today’s standards. In light of the challenges they faced, undiscovered land. To be the first was a the achievements of these explorers were astounding. victory for oneself and for one’s country.

Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth.

For inspection teachers' In August 1914, British explorer Ernest Shackleton Expeditions to Antarctica had almost finished preparing for an organized journey, or expedition, to Antarctica. Two and a half years earlier, Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen leads an 1819–1821 expedition from Russia. It records the first ONLY Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had reached the sighting of Antarctica. furthest point south, the South Pole. He had beaten British Henryk Bull, a Norwegian-Australian, leads a explorer Robert Falcon Scott by just over a month. This 1893–1895 whaling expedition that is the first to set foot journey cost Scott and the other members of his party their on Antarctica. lives. Shackleton had known Carsten Borchgrevink, a Norwegian-Australian, Scott well. He had gone with 1898–1900 leads the Southern Cross expedition. It is the first to spend the winter on Antarctica. Scott on an earlier expedition. Later he had returned, Robert Falcon Scott leads the Discovery 1901–1904 expedition. His purpose is to look for routes to the leading his own expedition, South Pole. One of his men is Ernest Shackleton. and tried, but failed, to reach Otto Nordenskiöld leads a Swedish expedition to the South Pole. Now he had a 1901–1904 Antarctica. Ice crushes his ship, forcing him to new plan. The purpose of his stay on Paulet Island for almost a year. new expedition was to walk Shackleton leads the Nimrod expedition. from one side of Antarctica to 1907–1909 His purpose is to try to reach the South Pole. He comes within 156 km of it. the other. It was a distance of Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian expedition is the around 3,000 km. 1910–1912 Shackleton was a good first to reach the South Pole. leader. He was well-liked Scott reaches the Pole one month later and dies 1910–1912 and respected by his men. while trying to return. He had much experience of Ernest Shackleton, famous Robert Scott and his team explorer of Antarctica Antarctica. But he could never reached the South Pole only to have imagined just how much find a tent left by Amundsen. this journey would test him. By the time it was over, it would rank as one of the greatest survival stories of all time.

For inspection teachers' The Expedition Sets Out

Shackleton and his team set out from ONLY London in their ship, Endurance, on August 1, 1914. Shackleton had been preparing for this trip for four years. But when the time finally came, he faced a hard decision. The political situation in Europe had worsened. Even as Shackleton prepared to leave, World War I was beginning. Shackleton desperately wanted to leave for Antarctica. However, he also felt he should do his part in the war. He offered to put his ship at the service of the government. The government told him instead to proceed with his plans. Shackleton immediately set out, heading for the remote island of South Georgia. From there, he and his crew would have to follow a course, or navigate, through the huge mass of floating ice, or pack ice, that spreads over the Antarctic sea.

Endurance departs from London for Antarctica.