14/06/2026
As everyone that has toured with us know, we are huge admirers of the man Tom Crean and his heroic feats.
It is worthy of note that on this day in 1913, the expedition ship Terra Nova returned to Cardiff after the ill fated Terra Nova Expedition. Thousands gathered at the docks to welcome her home, but it was a sombre occasion marked by the loss of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and the four men who accompanied him on the final journey to the South Pole.
Contemporary reports described the poignant moment when Tom Crean, holding Scott’s young son Peter after he boarded with his mother Kathleen, turned away with tears in his eyes as the child innocently asked, “Where’s my daddy?” It was a deeply moving scene that revealed the compassionate nature of a man renowned for his courage and resilience.
The remarkable life of Tom Crean is explored in the biography Crean – The Extraordinary Life of an Irish Hero, which uncovers many previously overlooked chapters of his story, from his early naval career through to his later years. Published by Merrion Press, the book is available through bookshops, libraries and online retailers worldwide. The ISBN is 978-1785374562.
The team’s decline on their 800 mile return trek is one of exploration's most famous tragedies.
Petty Officer Edgar “Taff” Evans was the first to die, succumbing to a severe head injury and exhaustion after a fall on February 17, 1912.
Captain Lawrence “Titus” Oates suffered terribly from frostbite and gangrene. In a desperate bid to save his comrades, he walked out of their tent into a blinding blizzard on March 17, 1912, with the famous last words: "I am just going outside and may be some time."
Scott, Chief Scientist Dr. Edward Wilson, and Henry Bowers made it to within just 11 miles of their food cache (One Ton Depot) but were trapped by a severe blizzard. They all died in their tent around March 29, 1912, which is when Scott made his final diary entry.
The search party which included Tom Crean collapsed the tent over them, thus burying them where they lay under a snow cairn topped by a cross made from a pair of skis. Among the items they found and brought back with them were the Kodak film rolls with the photographs taken at the South Pole and geological specimens which later proved the Gondwana theory.
