Henry Robertson Bowers

Lieutenant Henry Robertson (Birdie) Bowers (July 29, 1883 - March 29, 1912) was one of Robert Falcon Scott's polar party on the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition (1910-1913) who all died during their return from the South Pole.

Early life

Bowers was born on 29 July 1883 in Greenock, of Scottish descent, and was raised alone by his mother after his father died in Rangoon when he was three years old. He went to sea first as a cadet in the merchant service, training on HMS "Worcester" and sailing around the world five times on the "Loch Torridon". [Apsley Cherry-Garrard, "The Worst Journey in the World", Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1922, p. 213] He then enlisted in the Royal Indian Marine Service in 1905, appointed sub-lieutenant serving in Ceylon and Burma, and commanding a river gunboat on the Irrawaddy. He later served on HMS "Fox", preventing gun-running in the Persian Gulf. [Apsley Cherry-Garrard, "ibid", p. 213]

The British Antarctic "Terra Nova" Expedition 1910-1913

Bowers joined Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition in 1910 after having read the accounts of Scott's earlier "Discovery" expedition, and of Ernest Shackleton's expedition in "Nimrod". He had no previous polar experience but he was recommended to Scott by the ex-President of the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Clements Markham who had been the main organisor of Scott's earlier Discovery expedition. Markham had met Bowers aboard HMS Worcester and had been so impressed with him that Scott invited Bowers to join the expedition without even an interview. On meeting him for the first time though Scott was not so impressed by the short, stout young man. "Well, we're landed with him now, and must make the best of it" said Scott.

Originally intended to be just a member of the ship's party in his role as storekeeper, Bowers quickly distinguished himself as a highly skilled organizer. By the time the Terra Nova left New Zealand, Scott had promoted him to be a member of the shore party in charge of landing, stores, navigation and the arrangement of sledging rations, a role in which his extraordinary powers of memory served Scott well.

Six months after arriving in Antarctica, Bowers made a trip to the Emperor penguin breeding grounds at Cape Crozier in July 1911 during the austral winter with Dr. Edward Adrian "Bill" Wilson and Apsley Cherry-Garrard in order to secure an unhatched egg for scientific study. In almost total darkness, and with temperatures ranging from −40 °F (−40.0 °C) to −70 °F (−56.7 °C), they man-hauled their sledge 60 miles (97 km) from Scott's base at Cape Evans to the far side of Ross Island. Frozen and exhausted, they reached their goal only to be pinned down by a blizzard. Their tent was ripped away and carried off by the wind, leaving the men in their sleeping bags under a thickening drift of snow. When the winds subsided, by great fortune they found their tent lodged about half a mile away in rocks. Having successfully collected three eggs and desperately exhausted they eventually arrived back at Cape Evans on 1st August 1911, five weeks after setting off. Cherry-Gerrard later referred to this trip as The Worst Journey in the World which became the title of his book published in 1922 recounting the fate of the 1910-13 expedition.

On 1st November 1911, the long trek to the South Pole began. Scott had not originally planned to include "Birdie" Bowers in his polar party. He had been a member of the sledge team led by Scott's second-in-command, Lieutenant E.R.G.R. Evans, which was the last support party to accompany Scott and his team southward. But on January 4, 1912, when Evans turned back, Bowers was assigned to the polar party. Some have argued that this seems to have been an impulsive decision by Scott. However, others, such as Antarctic explorer Ranulph Fiennes, have indicated that this is a logical decision - particularly when one intends to increase the speed of a polar land-crossing (in an effort to reduce the consumption of resources).

Only a few days earlier, he had ordered Evans' men to depot their skis, so that Bowers had to travel on foot to the pole while the others were still on skis. In addition, adding a fifth man to the party meant squeezing another person into a tent made for four, and having to split up rations that were packed in units for four men. The most likely motivation for Scott to add Bowers to the polar party was a realization that he needed another experienced navigator to confirm their position at the South Pole to avoid controversy such as that surrounding the claims of Frederick Cook and Robert Peary at the North Pole.

On January 16, 1912, as Scott's party neared the Pole, it was Bowers who first spotted a black flag left at a camp made by Roald Amundsen's polar party over a month previously. They knew then that they must have been beaten in the race to be first to the South Pole. On January 18, they arrived at the South Pole to find a tent left behind by Amundsen's party at their Polheim camp and inside a dated note informing them that Amundsen had reached the Pole on December 14, 1911, beating Scott's party by 35 days. Their return journey soon became a desperate affair due to the exceptionally adverse weather. First P.O. Edgar Evans died on February 17, suspected to be of a brain injury after a fall, and then, in a vain attempt to save his companions, Lawrence "Titus" Oates deliberately walked out of their tent to his death on March 16 [ [http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=52372&pageno=309 Online Reader - Project Gutenberg ] ] after succumbing to the effects of terribly frostbitten and gangrenous feet. Scott, Bowers, and Dr. Edward Adrian "Bill" Wilson continued on for 3 more days, progressing 20 more miles, but were stopped 11 miles short of the next food depot by a blizzard on March 20. The blizzard continued for days, longer than they had fuel and food for. Too weak, cold and hungry to continue, they died in their tent on or soon after March 29 (Scott's last diary entry), 148 miles from their base camp. Their bodies were found by a search party the following spring on November 12, 1912. The tent was collapsed over them by the search party who then buried them where they lay, under a snow cairn, topped by a cross made from a pair of skis.

Character and nickname

Bowers was short, at five foot four inches. He had red hair and a distinctive beak-like nose that quickly earned him the nickname of "Birdie" among his fellow explorers. He was known for his toughness, dependability, and cheerfulness. Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a fellow expedition member, remarked that his "capacity for work was prodigious", and that "There was nothing subtle about him. He was transparently simple, straightforward, and unselfish". [Apsley Cherry-Garrard, "ibid", p. 214] In his diary, Scott wrote of Bowers that "he is the hardest traveller that ever undertook a Polar journey as well as one of the most undaunted". In a letter to Bower's mother retrieved from the tent containing their bodies, Scott wrote "I write when we are very near the end of our journey, and I am finishing it in company with two gallant, noble gentlemen. One of these is your son. He had come be one of my closest and soundest friends, and I appreciate his wonderful upright nature, his ability and energy. As the troubles have thickened his dauntless spirit ever shone brighter and he has remained cheerful, hopeful, and indomitable to the end."

Archives

Bowers' life is celebrated with a small display at Rothesay Museum on the Isle of Bute; he spent much of his early life at Ardbeg on the edge of the town.

Footnotes

References

*Huntford, Roland: "The Last Place on Earth". ISBN 0-689-70701-0
*Fiennes, Ranulph (2003). "Captain Scott". Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-82697-5.
*Preston, Diana: "A First Rate Tragedy". ISBN 0-618-00201-4
*Scott, Robert Falcon: "Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals". ISBN 0-413-52230-X

ee also

* [http://www.greenock-town.co.uk/henry_bowers.html Greenock]
* Bowers Mountains