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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Captain Scott
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(Robert Falcon Scott, 1868–1912) Explorer whose expedition was the second to reach the South Pole. A serving officer in the navy, he was chosen to lead an Antarctic expedition (1901–4) in the Discovery (preserved now in *Dundee). He set off south again in 1910, this time in the Terra Nova. With four companions (H.R. Bowers, Edgar Evans, Lawrence Oates and Edward Wilson) he reached the pole on 17 January 1912, to find a tent pitched by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen. In it was a note for Scott, dated the previous month.
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The tragic drama of the British party's return journey became known after their final camp was found in November 1912. They were just 18km/11m short of safety. Scott's diary, ending with the words 'I do not think I can write any more', gave a graphic account of their sufferings, including the heroic suicide of Captain *Oates. His comment on the pole itself was unromantic: 'Great God! this is an awful place.'
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