South Pole Expeditions
Scott and Amundsen
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On 17th January 1912, the British Antarctic Expedition led by
Captain Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole. The expedition led by the
Norwegian Captain Roald
Amundsen had reached it on 14th December 1911.
Below are some key web sites and Virtual Library online resources on the British Antarctic Expedition 1910-13 led by Scott until his death in 1912 and Amundsen's 1910-12 Expedition, where you can easily find overviews, photographs, diary entries and biographies
There is a useful introduction to the two expeditions, Different approaches to Antarctic exploration, by Sian Flynn, on theBBC History web site
Scott's 1910-13 Expedition
- The Scott Polar Research Institute has a detailed index to resources on all polar expeditions (Index of Polar Expeditions). For a summary of the 1910-13 expedition the index links you to The TERRA NOVA Expedition 1910-13 on the South-Pole.com web site
Scott - photographs
- Scott Polar Research Institute: British Antarctic Expedition 1910-13 - Thousands of photos of the expedition in the Institute's picture library
- Royal Geographical Society:Collections - Search 'British Antarctic Expedition 1910-13' and tick the 'photograph' box and click 'Search' to view the results in the Society's image collection
- Mary Evans Picture Library: Scott of the Antarctic - Photos and magazine covers
Scott - biography
- BBC History: Scott of the Antarctic (1868 - 1912) - A concise biography
- Royal Naval Museum: Captain Robert Scott - A longer biography
Diaries of Scott and of other expedition members
- Final entries - Scott's diary entries from 17th January 1911 to his final entry on 29th March 1912 are at Doomed expedition to the South Pole 1912 on Eyewitnesstohistory.com
- Full published book - you can read or download free the full published version of the book "Scott's last expedition ..." at Internet Archive. Volume I gives his journals while volume II gives the reports by Wilson and surviving members of the expedition. Volume I is also available at Manybooks.net
- Manuscript - you can view digitised extracts of the original diary, using 'Turning the pages' software, at British Library's Virtual Books
Scott - original newspaper reports
- The Times - Log in to the Times Digital Archive with your library number and PIN (see log in notes below) to read the newspaper reports of Scott's expedition, including extracts from his diary
- At the Times Digital Archive, enter the search term scott diary and limit your search to between 11th February 1913 and 13th February 1913 to see reports of Scott's last days and lengthy final extracts from his diary
- or for more Times newspaper reports, do a second search. Enter the search term scott expedition, and limit your search to between 1st January 1910 and 31st December 1913 (or later)
- The result headed 'Index (Index)' in The Times of 11th February 1913 reports the news that the death of Scott and his party had been discovered
Amundsen's 1910-12 Expedition
- The Scott Polar Research Institute has a detailed index to resources on all polar expeditions (Index of Polar Expeditions). For a summary of Amundsen's 1910-12 expedition, the index links you to the Roald Amundsen page on the South-Pole.com web site
- You can find another useful summary at Fram Museum: The Third Fram Expedition (1910 - 1914). The Museum houses 'The Fram', the ship used in Amundsen's and other Norwegian polar expeditions
Amundsen - photographs
- Official Norwegian anniversary web site: The 1911 Expedition to the South Pole - Click each image to enlarge it
Amundsen - biography
- Official Norwegian anniversary web site: Amundsen - A concise biography
- Fram Museum: Polar Explorers - A rather longer biography
Amundsen's journal and book
- Extracts - journal extracts from 15th November to 14th December 1911 are at Roald Amundsens journal: November/December 1911 on 'The Antarctic Book of Cooking and Cleaning' web site
- Complete book - you can read or download free Amundsen's book 'The South Pole', his account of his expedition, at Internet Archive and at Manybooks.net
Amundsen - original reports in The Times newspaper
- Log in to the Times Digital Archive with your library number and PIN (see log in notes below) to read online the 1912 newspaper reports of Amundsen's arrival at the South Pole, including an extract from his own journal describing the last stage of his journey
- The news reports appeared in newspapers of March 1912, as Amundsen's news was not known until then, when he reached Hobart, Tasmania and sent a telegram to the King of Norway
- At the Times Digital Archive, enter the search term Amundsen, and limit your search to between 1st March 1912 and 31st March 1912
- You'll see several news items about Amundsen's arrival at the Pole, his return to Hobart and the reactions to his news in Norway and Britain. The item that reproduces Amundsen's journal extract is the one dated 11th March 1912 headed 'Captain Amundsen's success'
Log in notes for the Times Digital Archive
- If you are a Virtual Library member you may need to find out how to become eligible to use Times Digital Archive
- Don't have a library card? You can join the library now. Don't have a PIN? You can request a PIN now
Page last updated: 17th May 2021