NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Lawrence Oates

Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates (March 17, 1880 – March 16, 1912^[1]) was an English Antarctic explorer. He was often referred to by the nickname "Titus Oates" after the historical figure. is the 76th day of the year (77th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Putney is a district of south-west London in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Ross Ice Shelf in 1997. ... Please see Captain for other versions of this rank Captain is a rank in the British armed forces that is used in the Army, Royal Navy, and the Royal Marines. ... is the 76th day of the year (77th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Greek ἀνταρκτικός, opposite the arctic) is a continent surrounding the Earths South Pole. ... This list of explorers is sorted by surname. ... Titus Oates. ...

1 Background
2 Terra Nova Expedition
- 2.1 South polar journey
- 2.2 The return journey
3 In the media
4 References
5 Sources
6 External links
7 See also

Background

Oates was born in Putney, London, England in 1880, and educated at Eton College. In 1898 Oates joined the 3rd West Yorkshire (Militia) Regiment. He saw military service during the Second Boer War as a junior cavalry officer in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, having joined in 1900 and been promoted to Lieutenant in 1902, then to Captain in 1906. In March 1901, during the Boer war, he suffered a bullet wound to his thigh which left it shattered and his left leg an inch shorter than his right leg when it eventually healed. His uncle was the naturalist and African explorer, Frank Oates. Putney is a district of south-west London in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and... Combatants British Empire Orange Free State South African Republic Commanders Sir Redvers Buller Lord Kitchener Lord Roberts Paul Kruger Louis Botha Koos de la Rey Martinus Steyn Christiaan de Wet Casualties 6,000 - 7,000 (A further ~14,000 from disease) 6,000 - 8,000 (Unknown number from disease) Civilians... The 6th (Iniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689. ... Frank Oates (1840-1875), naturalist, explorer and uncle to Antarctic explorer Lawrence Oates. ...

Terra Nova Expedition

Main article: Terra Nova Expedition

In 1910, he applied to join Scott's expedition to the South Pole, and was accepted mainly on the strength of his experience with horses and to a lesser extent, his ability to make a financial contribution of £1,000 towards the expedition. His role was to look after the ponies that Scott intended to use for sledge hauling during the initial food depot-laying stage and the first half of the trip to the South Pole. Scott eventually selected him as one of the five-man party who would travel the final distance to the Pole. The Terra Nova Expedition (1910â€“1913) was a British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott with the purpose of undertaking scientific research and exploration along the coast and interior of Antarctica. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Scott of the Antarctic redirects here. ... For other uses, see South Pole (disambiguation). ...

Oates disagreed with Scott many times on issues of management of the expedition. 'Their natures jarred on one another,' a fellow expedition member recalled. He once wrote in his diary "Myself, I dislike Scott intensely and would chuck the whole thing if it were not that we are a British expedition.... [Scott] is not straight, it is himself first, the rest nowhere...". However, he also wrote that his harsh words were often a product of the hard conditions.

South polar journey

Captain Robert F. Scott, Captain Oates and 14 other members of the expedition set off from their Cape Evans base camp for the South Pole on 1 November 1911. At various pre-determined latitude points during the 895 mile journey, the support members of the expedition were sent back by Scott in teams until on 4 January 1912, only the five-man polar party of Scott, Edward A. Wilson, Henry R. Bowers, Edgar Evans and Oates remained to walk the last 167 miles to the Pole. On 18 January 1912, 79 days after starting their journey, they finally reached the Pole only to discover a tent that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his four-man team had left behind after beating them in the race to be first to the Pole. Inside the tent was a note from Amundsen informing them that his party had reached the South Pole on 14 December 1911, beating Scott's party by 35 days. Captain Sir Robert Falcon Scott (June 6, 1868 - March 29, 1912) was a British Naval officer and Antarctic explorer. ... Cape Evans, with the half-buried hut of Scotts expedition Cape Evans () is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay. ... Lieutenant Henry Robertson (Birdie) Bowers (July 29, 1883 - March 29, 1912) was one of Robert Falcon Scotts polar party on the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition in 1910-1912 who all died during their return from the South Pole. ... Petty Officer Edgar Evans (1876 - February 17, 1912) was one of Robert Falcon Scotts companions on his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1911-1912. ... Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (July 16, 1872 â€“ c. ... Amundsen may refer to: Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian polar explorer, or his namesakes: in the Antarctic: Amundsen Glacier, descending from the Queen Maud Mountains to the Ross Ice Shelf. ...

The return journey

Scott's party faced extremely difficult conditions on the return journey, mainly due to the exceptionally adverse weather, injuries sustained from regular falls and the effects of frostbite all slowing their progress. On 17 February 1912, Edgar Evans died. Oates feet had become severely frostbitten and with his war wound re-opened by the side-effects of scurvy, he was weakening faster than the others. His slower progress, coupled with the unwillingness of his three remaining companions to leave him, was causing the party to fall behind schedule. On 15 March, he told his companions that he couldn't go on and proposed that they leave him in his sleeping-bag which they refused to do. He managed a few more miles that day but his condition worsened that night. Waking on the morning of 16 March and recognising the need to sacrifice himself in order to give the others a chance of survival, Oates told them "I am just going outside and may be some time."^[2]. Without his boots on, he walked out of the tent into a blizzard and -40 °F temperatures to his death. Oates' noble sacrifice however made no difference to the eventual outcome. Scott, Wilson and Bowers continued onwards for a further 20 miles towards the 'One Ton' food depot that could save them but were halted by a fierce blizzard on 20 March. Trapped in their tent by the weather and too weak, cold and malnourished to continue, they eventually died nine days later, only eleven miles short of their objective. Their frozen bodies were discovered by a search party on 12 November 1912. Oates' body was never found. Near where he was presumed to have died, the search party erected a cairn and cross bearing the inscription, ‘Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain L. E. G. Oates, of the Inniskilling Dragoons. In March 1912, returning from the Pole, he walked willingly to his death in a blizzard, to try and save his comrades, beset by hardships.’ Petty Officer Edgar Evans (1876 - February 17, 1912) was one of Robert Falcon Scotts companions on his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1911-1912. ... Scurvy (N.Lat. ... For other uses, see Cairn (disambiguation). ...

Oates' reindeer-skin sleeping bag was recovered and is now displayed in the museum of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge with other items from the expedition. The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is centre for research into both polar regions. ... This article is about the city in England. ...

In the media

A biography (I am Just Going Outside: Captain Oates - Antarctic Tragedy, Spellmount Publishers 2002) has confidently alleged that Lawrence Oates fathered a daughter as the result of a brief affair with an 11-year-old Scots girl named Ettie McKendrick. See Guardian article and BBC website.

Brenda Clough's 2001 fish-out-of-water science fiction novella May Be Some Time has "Titus" Oates transported to the year 2045 where he is healed via advanced medicine.

On TV series The O.C., Seth Cohen names his imaginary friend and toy horse "Captain Oates".

In the episode entitled "White Hole" of the British TV series Red Dwarf, the characters plead with the hologram Rimmer to sacrifice himself by agreeing to be turned off, comparing the act to that of Oates. Rimmer simply dismisses him as a "prat", suggesting instead that Oates should have eaten Scott, saying he himself would have eaten Scott after he "whacked him over the head with a frozen husky" had he had been there.

British comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring made frequent references to "Captain Oates" both in their 1990s television series "Fist of Fun" and BBC Radio 1 shows. An initial sketch parody implied that Oates only announced his departure in the hope that his colleagues would stop him leaving. Subsequent sketches depicted Oates in other social situations where he would announce his actions in the hope that others would understand the subtext. One such example depicted Oates offering the last potato to someone else at the dinner table when he clearly wanted it for himself. Following these sketches Lee and Herring occasionally referred to people displaying similar behaviour as being "Captain Oates-type figures".

In Geraldine McCaughrean's 2005 book The White Darkness a teenage girl, Sym, finds herself on an Antarctic adventure during which she is aided by her soul mate Captain Titus Oates (who happens to live only in her head).

Spanish Metal band CryWar has a song called "Capitan Lawrence", that tells the decision he had to make, leaving his team so he was not anymore a burden to carry around.

In T R Pearson's novel, Polar, Virginian pornography-enthusiast Clayton spends the last few months of his life channelling the final days of Titus Oates, thereby achieving in death the dignity and selflessness he never achieved in life.

In Frank Capra's movie Dirigible, depicting an American expedition to the South Pole in the 1930s, a fictional character played by Roscoe Karns incurs injuries similar to those of the real-life Oates, and chooses to sacrifice himself in a manner clearly inspired by Oates's real death.

Brenda W. Clough is a science fiction and fantasy writer. ... The O.C. was an American teen drama television series that originally aired on FOX in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. ... Information Gender Male Age 24 (flashforward) 19 (last appearance) 15 (first appearance) Date of birth 1988 Occupation Comic Book Artist Spouse(s) Summer Roberts (wife) Anna Stern (ex-girlfriend) Alex Kelly (ex-girlfriend) Episode count 92 Portrayed by Adam Brody, Tristan Price (Flashbacks) Created by Josh Schwartz Seth Ezekiel Cohen... Red dwarfs constitute the majority of all stars According to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M spectral type. ... Arnold Judas Rimmer BSc, SSc (Bronze Swimming certificate, Silver Swimming certificate), who sometimes goes by Arnold Jonathan Rimmer, is a fictional character in the television series Red Dwarf, played by Chris Barrie. ... Stewart Graham Lee (born April 5, 1968 in Shropshire, raised in Solihull) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director probably best known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically-acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry... Richard Herring performing his show Someone Likes Yoghurt at the Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh, during the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Richard Keith Herring (born July 12, 1967) is a British comedian and writer formerly best known as part of Lee and Herring, a double act with Stewart Lee. ... Fist of Fun was a popular British comedy television and radio programme, written by and starring Lee and Herring (the comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring). ... TR Pearson (Thomas Reid) was born in 1956 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina,where he later attended University at North Carolina State, where he gained a BA and then and MA in English. ... This article is about the film director. ...

References

Sources

Smith, Michael I Am Just Going Outside. ISBN 1-903464-12-9
Scott's Last Expedition Vols I and II Smith, Elder & Co 1913 (Vol I is Scott's diary)
Preston, Diana: A First Rate Tragedy. ISBN 0-618-00201-4
Huntford, Roland: The Last Place on Earth. ISBN 0-689-70701-0
Scott, Robert Falcon: Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals. ISBN 0-413-52230-X
McCaughrean, Geraldine: The White Darkness. ISBN 0-19-271983-1
Limb, Sue & Cordingley, Patrick: Captain Oates: Soldier and Explorer. ISBN 0-7134-2693-4
Goldsmith, Jeremy: British Army officers' records; Career Soldiers in the Family Tree Magazine (London) of June 2007, which shows Oates' Record of Service (with a birth date of 16th March 1880).

Encyclopedia > Lawrence Oates

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