Sir, – During the Antarctic winter of 1915, a crew of 28 men were marooned on their ship on the ice as part of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917. From mid February to the end of October of 1915, the crew lived together in cold, cramped conditions without any prospect of rescue.
When the ship was finally crushed by the ice, the crew had various travails before reaching Elephant Island, South Georgia, and the final rescue of the entire company in August 1916.
There were not many distractions during that long, dark year – no television, no social media, no food deliveries, no takeaways.
For those that do not know the story, this may be the time to become acquainted with the crew of that heroic expedition, including its Irish members: Ernest Shackleton (Co Kildare), Tom Crean (Co Kerry), James McIlroy (Co Antrim) and Tim McCarthy (Co Cork). The name of the ship was Endurance. – Yours, etc,
JOAN O’FLYNN,
Kimmage,
Dublin 12.