Ushuaia, Argentina
20 November 2011

Polar Legend gets his wish 70 years late

Next week renowned Antarctic explorer, Frank Wild CBE will have his last wish granted 72 years after his death when his ashes are laid to rest alongside Sir Ernest Shackleton in a tiny graveyard in one of the remotest places on earth.

Wild died and was cremated in 1939 in South Africa but his ashes, which were lost to the world for many years, were found only this year by British historian and author Angie Butler. His last wish that he be buried on South Georgia Island, next to Shackleton, was never granted due to the outbreak of WW11 two weeks later.

Belatedly, Wild will be buried on November 27 2011 on South Georgia Island in the whalers’ graveyard by the ruins of Grytviken whaling station.

Antarctic expedition leader and historian David McGonigal said It’s likely to be the closing event of Antarctica’s Heroic Age. “The Heroic Age was marked by the truly remarkable feats of the great explorers like Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, Douglas Mawson and Roald Amundsen and this event is even more significant as it takes place just two weeks before the centenary of Amundsen and his Norwegian compatriots achieving the South Pole for the first time.”

Wild was Shackleton’s trusted second-in-command during the ill-fated Trans-Antarctic Expedition aboard the Endurance (1914-1916). He and 21 crew mates remained on desolate Elephant island for over four months after the Endurance was lost while Shackleton, Wild and four others sailed a seven metre lifeboat to South Georgia to organise a rescue.

Frank Wild CBE is one of the great Antarctic explorers. In 1901 both he and Ernest Shackleton were members of Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition on the Discovery. In 1908-09 he was with Shackleton on the Nimrod expedition and in 1911 he joined Douglas Mawson’s Aurora expedition before being reunited with Shackleton aboard The Endurance From 1914-1916

McGonigal, Angie Butler, and several relatives of Frank Wild as well as the Hon. Alexandra Shackleton, the grand daughter of Sir Ernest Shackleton, will accompany Wild’s ashes to South Georgia onboard Antarctic operator One Ocean’s expedition vessel the Akademik Ioffe.

“The significance of the event will be recognized by the South Georgia Government at an official reception at Government House, Stanley, as well as the issuing of a set of commemorative stamps. A minister will sail from the Falkland Islands to conduct the service and the funeral proceedings at Grytviken that will be overseen by South Georgia’s Government Officer, Mr Pat Lurcock” said McGonigal. “With favourable sailing conditions, the burial ceremony is expected to be conducted on Sunday 27 November 2011. “

Ongoing reports of the voyage and ceremonies will be posted on www.antarcticguide.dev from November 20. For more information, contact Antarctic David McGonigal through info@antarcticguide.com

Background :
Sir Ernest Shackleton died aboard the Quest in Grytviken Harbour at 2.50am, January 5, 1922. He was buried there and his grave is a place of pilgrimage.

This year, the long search by Angie Butler, a British journalist and polar historian, finally ended when she found Wild’s ashes in Johannesburg. Her search is recounted in her book The Quest for Frank Wild, that was released in the UK on 1 August 2011. The South Georgia government gave permission for Wild’s wish to be carried out and his ashes to be reburied next to The Boss. Antarctic tour operator One Ocean Expeditions is carrying them on a regular 18-night voyage departing Ushuaia, Argentina on November 20. Antarctic Guide

Comments are closed.