- William Lashly
William Lashly (1867 - 1940) was a
Royal Navy seaman who was a member of both ofRobert Falcon Scott 'sAntarctic expeditions.Early life
Lashly was born in
Hambledon, Hampshire , a village nearPortsmouth . At the time he joined Scott's "Discovery" expedition in 1901, he was a 33-year-old stoker in theRoyal Navy , serving onHMS Duke of Wellington . On this expedition, Lashly was a member of Scott's "Farthest West" party exploringVictoria Land in 1903. Before joining theTerra Nova expedition in 1910, he served as an instructor at the Royal Naval College, Osborne on theIsle of Wight .cott's second Antarctic expedition (1910-13)
On Scott's second expedition in "Terra Nova" in 1911-1913, Lashly was initially in charge of one of the expedition's two motor sledges which were to haul supplies southward in support of the polar party. However, the sledges quickly broke down, and the motor party had to switch to man-hauling the supplies.
On 4 January 1912, along with Lieutenant E.R.G.R. "Teddy" Evans and Tom Crean, he was a member of the last support party to be sent back by Scott on his way to the pole. During the 730 mile return journey, Evans became seriously ill with
scurvy and on 11 February collapsed, unable to walk any further. Still 100 miles fromHut Point camp and safety, he tried to persuade Lashly and Crean to leave him to save themselves, but they refused. Strapping him onto the sledge, they pulled him for days until with only 1-2 days food rations left but still 4 or 5 days sledge pulling to do, they had to stop. Lashly then stayed with Evans in the tent to nurse him while Crean walked the remaining 35 miles alone in 18 hours to reachHut Point camp where he was able to fetch help. Extracts from Lashly's polar journals, chronicling his tribulations with the motor sledges and the return journey with Evans, were included inApsley Cherry-Garrard 's book "The Worst Journey in the World".Both Lashly and Crean received the Albert Medal for saving Evans' life.Post-Antarctic
After returning from the Antarctic, Lashly retired from the Royal Navy with a pension, but promptly joined the reserves and served in
World War I in HMS "Irresistible" and HMS "Amethyst". Later he served as a customs officer inCardiff . Upon his retirement in 1932, he returned to Hambledon where he lived in a house he called "Minna Bluff", after one of the landmarks on the road to theSouth Pole . Lashly died in 1940.Lashly's Antarctic Diaries
In 1969, William Lashly's diaries were edited and published by Commander A R Ellis. "Under Scott's Command - Lashly's Antarctic Diaries" provides a fascinating insight into both the Discovery and the Terra Nova expeditions from the perspective of one of the men rather than the more common accounts published by officers.
References
*Preston, Diana: "A First Rate Tragedy". ISBN 0-618-00201-4
*Huntford, Roland: "The Last Place on Earth". ISBN 0-689-70701-0
*Cherry-Garrard, Apsley: "The Worst Journey in the World". ISBN 0-88184-478-0
*Ellis, A.R: "Under Scott's Command: Lashly's Antarctic Diaries. Gollancz, 1969
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