The Hen saves the situation - The Gap 1929

I read the following in Sondergeld and Sondergeld's (2021) history of the St Mark's Anglican Church at the Gap.

[A]n early boost to settlement at The Gap came from service personnel of the First World War taking up land following the proclamation of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act of 1917. Some of the ex-soldiers needed to recover from their physical and mental wounds. Many were impaired by injuries or suffered with respiratory disease and failing eyesight following exposure to chemical weapons. Many were diagnosed with the signature injury of World War One Shell Shock (At the time of this publication Shell Shock is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Poultry production was identified as a suitable occupation for the soldier settlers as it was thought to require less exertion than other forms of animal husbandry or crop cultivation and the returns would be sufficient for novice farmers. At the time Queensland's chicken flock was inadequate and eggs for consumption were in short supply. Hence, poultry farming was the focus of the Soldier Settlements around Brisbane including at The Gap.

It is well documented that the surge in chicken meat production was the result of poultry developments in the USA after WWII. I was also aware that egg production started as a small holder (backyard) businesses, but I was unaware of the link to returned soldiers. This has become a new curiosity path, perhaps a start of a longer thread in this blog, but no guarantees. 

It also provides a narrow window into the Gap in 1929, a Gap without electricity, a reliable water supply, or good access roads.

This post reproduces an article printed in The Telegraph of 3 Jan 1929, and The Week of 11 Jan 1929. (I have used the words and images from The Week). Reading the article left me with some questions. Some of which I answer after the article.

SOLDIERS' SETTLEMENTS - Struggles of "The Gap" Group 

THE HEN SAVES THE SITUATION

Spread about the foothills of one of the ranges which form what is called "The Gap," in the vicinity of Enoggera Reservoir, is situated one of the Soldiers' Settlements constituted shortly after the conclusion of the Great War to enable men who had done their bit in that titanic struggle and who felt so inclined to settle down in a rural occupation.

The situation of The Gap Settlement is a picturesque one. The Gap itself is perhaps the finest example of a valley to be found anywhere around Brisbane. Commencing at Ashgrove, where the Taylor's range commences and Gray's Range converges, it stretches all the way up to the reservoir mentioned, a distance of several miles, the two ranges running an almost equidistant parallel until Gray's Range suddenly gives up the contest, leaving Taylor's chain to continue its triumphant way northward.

BEAUTY AND BREAD

After generous rains such as have fallen lately the Gap looks particularly beautiful. While much of it still is in its pristine, thickly wooded condition, the area in which the settlement is located is fairly well cleared, and the numerous symmetrical convolutions of the foothills, bearing their rich green grassy mantle, and studded here and there with little holdings, make a strong appeal not only to the lover of nature, but also to the more prosaic who see only the economic side of the picture. The soldier settlers themselves are enthusiastic about the picturesqueness of the situation, and as to the economic aspect—well, they are used to struggling against untoward circumstances. The beauty of the place appeals to them, and the bread is sure for those who earn it.

The Gap Settlement was founded in 1919, with some 40 soldier settlers. The total population of the settlement then was about 130 persons, including children. At present [1929] there are only about 20 families remaining, with a total of fewer than 100 individuals, for while many have left the place the families of those who remain have been increased in the intervening years. Of the original settlers only eight have stuck it out, and they are determined to hold out so long as a crust can be made there. The pioneers who opened up and firmly established various country districts in this State have not shown more grit in hanging on to a forlorn hope than some of these original settlers at the Gap, and they have been well reinforced by those who joined forces with them at a later stage.

POULTRY FOR PAY-ROLL.

It was to poultry that the designers of the Gap Settlement and those who took up their abode there looked mainly for a living at the outset, and it is to that same source they turn their attention to-day. Indeed, some of these soldier settlers who were not too keen on formal salutations at the front feel like touching their hats every time they see a white Leghorn or a black Orpington as they jog along the road. Their little holdings, are easily distinguished by the sight of many of these fowls dotting the landscape.

Formerly the residence of the superintendent of The Gap settlement,
now occupied by the secretary of the co-operative hatchery.

But the poultry business has had its ups and downs in the last few years. The Egg Pool was formed to put the industry on a systematic basis. Opinions regarding its effectiveness at first were not at all unanimous. After a while, however, the egg producer found himself on a better foundation. But the success of the system induced so many to come into it that the old economic law of supply and demand still operates in spite of the efforts at effective regulation, and the same old struggle goes on. 

Certainly in the last year or two the export trade has increased enormously, but this holds good, it is said, only for that period of the year in which shipments are dispatchable for the Christmas market in Europe.

"What we need most of all," said one of the settlers to the representative of "The Telegraph," who visited the settlement the other day, "is a better home market. If we could only dispose of our eggs or our chicks on the Australian market most of the year round we would have nothing to complain of." 

But before such a happy condition of affairs could rule in Australia it would be necessary for the people of this country to take to "chicken" like their American cousins have done, for it is not unusual in the United States to find several kinds of poultry on the one menu.

Built as a community store, this place now is unoccupied,
but negotiations, it is said, are pending for its transfer to a co-operative

CAPONlSATION'S THE THING. 

Replying to the objection that much of the Australian prejudice against (poultry for the table arises from the uncertainty of its tenderness. Mr. A. Cousner, secretary of the Gap Soldier Settlers’ Organisation, who also is vice-president of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers’ League, declares his conviction that capons eventually will win the day, but he admits the process will be a slow one, and that probably the pioneers will not be privileged to enjoy a very large share of it. Mr. Cousner, who has specialised in caponisation, showed the pressman pens of capons in various mature phases and they certainly looked promising in so far as size and plumpness were concerned. The birds thus treated were black Orpingtons. 

It is amusing to see how changed becomes the nature of the cockerels after caponisation. No broody old hen will mother young chicks, better than a gallant young capon.

Great as are his qualities for table purposes, however, the capon, Mr. Cousner says, does not catch on in Brisbane. Sydney, on the other hand welcomes him with open arms. But freight and other charges rather take the gilt off the capon gingerbread. If a brisk local demand could be cultivated, of course, the profits would be much greater, for all intermediate charges could be eliminated; the capons could be delivered right into the backyards of the hotels or residentials requiring them, dressed or otherwise as might be desired. 

No doubt some publicity propaganda is needed to boom the capon, which seems to meet a real need in the community by providing a tender and toothsome white meat, especially suited to invalids and persons who do not take kindly to the strong red meats of the bovine type.

20,000 Egg Incubator

A HUGE INCUBATOR.

A prominent industrial feature of the Gap Settlement is a huge Incubator, of 20,000 eggs capacity. This was built by the Government when the group was more or less a communal one. Experience showed, however, that some private incentive was required to make the incubating scheme a real success. Some of the soldier settlers lately, therefore, formed a co-operative company which is called the Soldier Settlers Co-operative Hatchery Association, Ltd. Mr. R. A. Chapman is chairman of the company, Mr. R. Marshall also is a director, and Mr. D. Carnegie is the secretary. The company has leased the incubator from the Government. The first season's operations proved a success, and the directorate is confident that still greater success will be achieved. 

"We have done specially well in the country'' said Mr. Carnegie to the visiting Pressman, and reaching down a pile of correspondence he took several typical examples of the letters of appreciation which he allowed the interviewer to peruse. One of these was from a lady at Eton, in the Mackay district, another was from a client at Yelarbon, in the Goondiwindi district, and a third from a customer at Cooyar, on the Downs. They all spoke appreciatively of the condition in which the chicks arrived, and of the type of chick they found them to be. “No wonder that this is the general verdict, for," said Mr. Carnegie, "the Government got us a particularly good strain to work on." 

In reply to a further query, the secretary of the company admitted that! there might be a patriotic element in the partiality of many country customers for soldiers' settlement chicks. Anyway, if that were so it showed how empty was the jibe that after the war the soldier was neglected.  

CHICKS ON THE RAILWAY 

"But how are day-old chicks sent by rail as far north as Mackay, or even perhaps farther? Do the railway officials feed and water them?' asked the unsophisticated newspaper man.

"No," replied Mr. Carnegie with a scarcely suppressed smile. "Chicks must not be fed or watered for the first three days of their chickenhood. One would almost think that Dame Nature had designed them for travelling long distances if necessary. They carry sufficient nutriment over from their hatching period to last them for at least three days." 

The enthusiastic secretary showed the Pressman what looked like a small cardboard hatbox, with several apertures, in which the chicks were sent by rail. He also gave the railway department great credit for its generally careful handling of this delicate freight

The incubator building is about 40 feet long by about 24 feet wide. It was hot enough within it without the heating apparatus in operation, but when it is in full swing, Mr. Carnegie says, the heat is overpowering. However, the chicks survive it, although the human attendant at times is almost overcome by the great temperature of the place. It was this hatchery which was described by 4QG a little while ago, when even the cheeping of the chicks was heard in New Zealand and Western Australia. 

Mr. Cousner predicts that the poultry men will experience pretty hard times for the next 12 months. “No doubt," he says, “a number of us will have to quit the business meantime, but it will be pretty plain sailing for those who weather the storm." 

A VETERAN PIONEER. 

As showing what can be accomplished by a man who is on the retired list, and whose active days are officially regarded as over, mention may be made of the success of Mr. J. K. Carnegie, father of Mr. D. Carnegie, who has thrown in his lot with "the boys." Mr. Carnegie was 66 years old when he came to Queensland. He was retired from the Imperial service at 65 years of age. He spent 22 years in the Imperial forces, and over 20 years in the Civil Service, in the Royal Small Arms Factory. At the outbreak of the Great War he was called up for service as a musketry instructor, but his special knowledge of small arms made him too useful a man to lose from the department which supplies the rifles for use at the front. As an expert he was employed in inspecting these arms during the war, and states that he rejected considerable numbers of rifles made on the other side of the Atlantic because of various defects. Desiring to settle down near his son, Mr. Carnegie, senior, secured a block of land. He knew nothing of life on the land, and the sight of a patch of steep hillside, thickly covered with trees, interspersed with lantana which, when cleared, revealed the still further unwelcome presence of numerous boulders, was not calculated to inspire him with enthusiasm. Nevertheless, the veteran ex-military man set to work with a will, and with a little assistance he cleared a patch sufficiently large enough to enable him to establish a home and poultry runs there. Looking at those runs, with their neat and well-constructed fowl houses, one would imagine that if Mr. Carnegie had not been in the poultry business all his life he certainly had been a skilful carpenter, for not only has he followed orthodox lines, but also he has introduced improvements here and there. Like the muskets amongst which he spent so much of his life, everything must be capable of working with machine-like precision. The old gentleman's success should be an inspiring example to many younger men. Indeed, his son, on his little patch nearby, takes off his hat to his father, not only out of filial respect, but also in acknowledgment of the old gentle man's superior ability, of which he is naturally proud. 

ESSENTIAL SERVICES WANTED. 

The Gap Settlement is fortunate in that it had a well-established State School to commence with. There also was a Methodist church near at hand. A hall was built at the settlement which does duty for-services of the Church of England as well as for the holding of meetings and social gatherings. But the settlement has two or three other needs which its inhabitants hope someday in the near future will be satisfied. The first of these is a water service. The main from Enoggera reservoir passes close by, but it is a case of "so near and yet so far." The majority of the houses are too high up the range, it is said, to gravitate the water to them, but with a plant at the dip this could be accomplished. If you ask the housewife there what is the greatest need of the settlement she will tell you that it is a water service. Then again in these days when the electric light is everywhere it is thought by some of the Gap residents that it is time it made its appearance there. It is as far as St. John's Wood at the entrance to the valley. The most pressing need, from the standpoint of the visitor, is a good road, a statement which the- man who runs the motor bus which is the only public means of conveyance between the settlement and the city no doubt would heartily endorse. 

A "SHELLING" MEMORY. 

The Gap settlers have a military distinction not "enjoyed" by any other similar community in Australia, or in the rest of the world, it is safe to say. Some three years ago they suffered from a shelling by field pieces practising on the other side of Taylor's range. The big gun practice was discontinued at the Enoggera. range as a consequence. Fortunately there was no human casualties, but the situation was a very ugly one for the time being. A horse was bowled over, a portion of one of the cottages was blown away, several of the men who had been shell-shocked suffered a recurrence of that condition, and women who had been in air raids in England were amazed to find reproduced in that peaceful little settlement, like bolts from the blue, conditions which they thought they had left behind them forever.

The questions that emerged:

Q: What is a capon or caponisation?

A: A capon is a de-sexed male chicken. Caponisation is the castration of male chickens, this can be performed surgically or chemically. Castration in chickens like many other animals will lead to weight gain. The practice is not a standard part of chicken production in Australia.

Q: Is the statement about no food or water for three days consistent with current animal welfare rules?

A: The Model Code of Practice for Poultry (CSIRO, 2002) states that both food and water should be provided within 60 hours of hatching. This is somewhat consistent with the three day advice provided here.

Q: Do I want to chase the story about the artillery practice wrecking a cottage?

A: Absolutely

Sources:

CSIRO (2002). Primary Industries Standing Committee Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals. Domestic Poultry 4th Edition SCARM Report 83. 

https://www.publish.csiro.au/ebook/download/pdf/3451 

SOLDIERS' SETTLEMENTS (1929, January 11). The Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), p. 36. Retrieved May 31, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187914036 

SOLDIERS' SETTLEMENTS (1929, January 3). The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), p. 11. Retrieved May 31, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article179703719

Sondergeld, J.S. & Sondergeld, L. (2021) St Mark's Anglican Church The Gap: The parish's journey from 1920, 2nd Ed. St Mark's Anglican Church The Gap.

Because of thee, Gallipoli - poem by Ethel L. Newcombe - 1915

ANZAC BEACH, GALLIPOLI. 1915. PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING TROOPS AND STORES ON THE BEACH WITH BOATS IN THE BACKGROUND AND SOME MEN BATHING.
Source: Australian War Memorial.

There is something of a tradition in posting something ANZAC related on this blog during the ANZAC period. This year I am publishing a poem which found its way into a significant number of newspapers in 1915 (see list after the poem).  

Ethel L. Newcombe contributed a number of other poems to newspapers over the years. I have also listed these after the poem, of the 35 articles that the search term "Ethel L. Newcombe" yields on Trove, all of them are related to poetry, either publishing a work or referencing collections of poetry that include her verse. 13 of them reprint the work presented here. There is nothing biographical on Trove with the name she used for her poetry. Ethel released a book in 1941 entitled 'A Southern voice verses by Ethel L Newcombe', followed by "Songs of Australian Trees" in 1945, from which the poem "White Gum" is taken (links take you to a digitised copy of the books at the State Library of Victoria.  The Herald quotes Dr. F. W. Boreham with regard to Songs of Australian Trees "[she] has set to music feelings that, at some time or other, have surged through our hearts." As a person who has attempted a couple of poems about trees, I like how Boreham appreciated her work.

The poem consists of four verses, each of 12 lines with and AABB structure. The opening words of each verse being the emphasised "Gallipoli, Gallipoli" and the final line, always ending with "Gallipoli" ... the repetition speaks of sacredness. For at least the first three verses, the closing couplet uses the word 'alone'. It is a grief signal, men who have died in places where their bodies are far from family. The youth of these men is hinted at with the 'beardless lip', 'the radiant face', 'the stalwart arm'. They die in Gallipoli, and in the process the land becomes the mother to them, holding them as a mother would. This is an early sign of the sacredness with which Australia reveres this Turkish soil.

Pay attention to the timeline. The key moment in the Gallipoli campaign is the landing of the allied forces on 25 April 1915, and the order to extract the forces is not enacted until December of that year. But here is Ethel L. Newcombe chronicling the narrative we know today - sons who participate in a  noble quest, being made men in a land made sacred because of their sacrifice - as early as October of 1915.

Her poem is almost a prefiguring for the words attributed to Ataturk, the Ottoman commander at the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign, from 1934. 

When You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”

BECAUSE OF THEE, GALLIPOLI

Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
I dare not take mine eyes from thee;
Thou hold'st the darling of my race,
The beardless lip, the radiant face,
The stalwart arm, no swift to do,
The eyes and heart, that follow, too.
There—lay them, mother, deep to rest,
Yes, rock them to thy heaving breast,
No mothers' arms, with soft caress;
No mothers' lips are near to bless;
    Alone they lie, beside the sea,
    Because of thee, Gallipoli!

Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
How can we show our love to thee?
Who took us from our baby's place,
And made a king—a new-old race,
Content to live and love and fight.
For God and duty, home and right;
We drop them, mother, at thy feet,
This wreath of manhood, crushed but sweet;
The mothers' prayers blow round to bless,
The lovers waft a mute caress,
    Alone—but happy let them be
    Within thine arms, Gallipoli.

Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
It means that Christ will come to thee
And walk upon thy waters blue.
To raise a Cross, where crescent flew,
That He will sit with Greek and Turk,
When these, who sleep, have done their work.
Accept them, mother, let them lie;
The Christ, Himself, could choose to die—
The mothers all will pause and bless
The Angels stoop, in deep caress,
    With God and glory, let them be,
    Alone with thee, Gallipoli!

Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
How can we keep our best from thee?
These sleeping sons, whose smiles of light,
Beckon each brother to the fight,
These mothers, pouring heart-blood free,
Have lost—and won—for you and me.
Strange mother of our wondrous dead;
Cast forth thy halo, o'er each head;
That women all will rise and bless,
And say, "We cannot give thee less."
    Triumphant shall Australia be,
    Because of thee, Gallipoli!

—Ethel L. Newcombe.

List of Newspapers in which this poem was published.

Link will take you to the Trove record in the appropriate newspaper.

Port Fairy Gazette (18 October 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94720936 

Malvern News (6 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154358203

The Ballan Times (11 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119549731

Snowy River Mail (12 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89264551

The Lilydale Express (12 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74596263

Ringwood and Croydon Chronicle  (12 November 1915) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92086118

Mortlake Dispatch  (13 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130001103

Colac Reformer (13 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154236372

Cressy and Lismore Pioneer and Western Plains Representative  (17 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132677918

The Yackandandah Times (18 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144936428

Omeo Standard and Mining Gazette  (23 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130131210

Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser (24 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93796543

Clunes Guardian and Gazette (4 January 1916) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119484027

Other poems by the author

Below is a list of more poems by the same author that appear in newspapers. I suspect some were written prior to the newspaper publication, as the later mentions have a sense of someone bringing forward a well loved poem for consideration by others. 

The Doctor (1911)

Because of Thee, Gallipoli (1915)

Memory (1929)

The Baby (1929)

Springs Venite (1936)

The Old and the New (1938)

Pansy Face (1938)

Peace (1938)

Daffodils (1941)

A seasonal Message (1943)

White Ships of Fancy (1945)

A Rainy Day (1945)

The White Gum (1945)

The Endurance Dogs

 

Ernest Shackleton with a dog, being photographed by Frank Hurley.
Minifigs and camera from the James Caird Lifeboat Lego set.

This post looks at the role of the sled dogs described in Ernest Shackleton’s account of the ‘failed’ expedition to transverse Antarctica as told in his book South (1919). I am focusing on the Wendell Sea (Endurance) component of the expedition, as this was also the main focus of Shackleton’s book.

First I will show the anecdotes in Shackleton's book that caught my attention, and made me realise there was  more to know about these animals.

Anecdotes

The dogs and especially the pups clearly held a special place in the hearts of the men aboard and probably made considerable contribution to mental well being.

Crean had started to take the pups out for runs, and it was very amusing to see them with their rolling canter just managing to keep abreast by the sledge and occasionally cocking an eye with an appealing look in the hope of being taken aboard for a ride. As an addition to their foster-father, Crean, the pups had adopted Amundsen. They tyrannized over him most unmercifully. It was a common sight to see him, the biggest dog in the pack, sitting out in the cold with an air of philosophic resignation while a corpulent pup occupied the entrance to his “dogloo.” The intruder was generally the pup Nelson, who just showed his forepaws and face, and one was fairly sure to find Nelly, Roger, and Toby coiled up comfortably behind him. At hoosh-time Crean had to stand by Amundsen’s food, since otherwise the pups would eat the big dog’s ration while he stood back to give them fair play. Sometimes their consciences would smite them and they would drag round a seal’s head, half a penguin, or a large lump of frozen meat or blubber to Amundsen’s kennel for rent. It was interesting to watch the big dog play with them, seizing them by throat or neck in what appeared to be a fierce fashion, while really quite gentle with them, and all the time teaching them how to hold their own in the world and putting them up to all the tricks of dog life.

A colourized version of a Frank Hurley photograph of Samson in a 'dogloo'.
Source: secretcarshalton

Dogloos

Worsley took a party to the floe on the 26th and started building a line of igloos and “dogloos” round the ship. These little buildings were constructed, Esquimaux fashion, of big blocks of ice, with thin sheets for the roofs. Boards or frozen sealskins were placed over all, snow was piled on top and pressed into the joints, and then water was thrown over the structures to make everything firm. The ice was packed down flat inside and covered with snow for the dogs, which preferred, however, to sleep outside except when the weather was extraordinarily severe. The tethering of the dogs was a simple matter. The end of a chain was buried about eight inches in the snow, some fragments of ice were pressed around it, and a little water poured over all. The icy breath of the Antarctic cemented it in a few moments.

Derby 

The conditioning and training of the dogs seemed essential, whatever fate might be in store for us, and the teams were taken out by their drivers whenever the weather permitted. Rivalries arose, as might have been ex- pected, and on the 15th of the month a great race, the "Antarctic Derby," took place. It was a notable event. The betting had been heavy, and every man aboard the ship stood to win or lose on the result of the contest. Some money had been staked, but the wagers that thrilled were those involving stores of chocolate and cigarettes. The course had been laid off from Khyber Pass, at the eastern end of the old lead ahead of the ship, to a point clear of the jibboom, a distance of about 700 yds. Five teams went out in the dim noon twilight, with a zero temperature and an aurora flickering faintly to the southward. The starting signal was to be given by the flashing of a light on the meteorological station. I was appointed starter, Worsley was judge, and James was timekeeper. The bos'n, with a straw hat added to his usual Antarctic attire, stood on a box near the winning-post, and was assisted by a couple of shady characters to shout the odds, which were displayed on a board hung around his neck-6 to 4 on Wild, "evens" on Crean, 2 to 1 against Hurley, 6 to 1 against Macklin, and 8 to 1 against McIlroy. Canvas handkerchiefs fluttered from an improvised grand stand, and the pups, which had never seen such strange happenings before, sat round and howled with excitement. The spectators could not see far in the dim light, but they heard the shouts of the drivers as the teams approached and greeted the victory of the favourite with a roar of cheering that must have sounded strange indeed to any seals or penguins that happened to be in our neighbourhood.

 Songsters

"Hercules for the last fortnight or more has constituted himself leader of the orchestra. Two or three times in the twenty-four hours he starts a howl—a deep, melodious howl—and in about thirty seconds he has the whole pack in full song, the great deep, booming, harmonious song of the half-wolf pack.” (7 Sep 1915)

Sourcing the dogs

In 1914, 100 dogs were sourced  from Canada for the expedition. Due to concerns about rabies the dogs were quarantined at Battersea Dogs Home for six months. The Home has now been demolished to make way for new developments (secretcarshalton).

The dogs appear strongly in Shackleton's narrative, with some having such distinct personalities that they are named individually. There was also a male cat that belonged to the carpenter and thus called ‘Mrs Chippy'.

In the preface to South, Shackleton notes there were 100 dogs on the expedition. In Chapter 1 he writes “Most of the Public Schools of England and Scotland helped the Expedition to purchase the dog teams, and I named a dog after each school that helped.” I expect these named dogs were Rugby, Upton, Bristol, and Millhill. In this context, Public School means an elite fee paying school with a boarding facility. They were public in the sense that they accepted students without regard to creed or location. There were seven such schools in the UK at the time of Shackleton's writing (Wikipedia).

Naming the dogs

Shackleton listed 61 dog names for the Endurance with a notation that there were also eight unnamed dogs. He does not list the names of the dogs on the Aurora, of which I assume there were 31. Some are mentioned in the chapter covering the Aurora. Shackleton when presenting his list notes - “I do not know who had been responsible for some of the names, which seemed to represent a variety of tastes,” and “Some of the names, it will be noticed, had a descriptive flavour.”

I could not detect an order in Shackleton's list so I have organised it alphabetically. Most of the dogs will not be named again in his account, but there is a handful that get special mention. I have included some guesses as to the origin of the names. I note two themes; strongmen and singers.

Amundsen - probably named after the Norwegian explorer - Roald Amundsen

Bob

Bosun

Bristol - a public school.

Bummer

Caruso - perhaps named after the Italian opera singer - Enrico Caruso

Chips

Chirgwin - perhaps named after a British music hall singer - G. H. Chirgwin

Elliott

Fluffy

Hackenschmidt - probably named after strongman - George Hackenschmidt

Hercules - a strongman in Greek Mythology

Jamie

Jasper

Jerry

Judge

Luke

Lupoid

Mack

Martin

Mercury

Millhill - a public school.

Noel

Painful

Peter - noted for stealing bannocks when supplies were low.

Roy

Rufus

Rugby - a public school.

Sadie

Sailor

Saint - Died on 2nd March, appendicitis

Sally 

Sammy

Samson - a strongman in the Old Testament.

Sandy

Satan

Shakespeare

Sidelights

Simeon

Skipper

Slippery

Slobbers

Smuts

Snapper

Snowball

Songster - the singer theme

Sooty

Spider

Splitlip

Spotty

Steamer

Steward

Stumps

Sue - not mentioned in the original list of 61, so I am assuming this is a name applied later.

Sub

Sut

Swanker

Sweep

Tim

Ulysses 

Upton - a public school.

Wolf

Names of pups, born on the expedition - 

Nelly

Nelson

Roger 

Sirius (Sue)

Toby

Bitch in brackets where known. 

Only Sally and Sue are noted as producing pups. But there are more pups than there are names. In chapter 3, Shackleton notes ... "[W]e had fifty-four dogs and eight pups early in April, but several were ailing, and the number of mature dogs was reduced to fifty by the end of the month."

Responsibility for the dogs

The dogs had been divided into six teams of nine dogs each. Wild, Crean, Macklin, McIlroy, Marston, and Hurley each had charge of a team, and were fully responsible for the exercising, training, and feeding of their own dogs. They called in one of the surgeons when an animal was sick. We were still losing some dogs through worms, and it was unfortunate that the doctors had not the proper remedies. Worm-powders were to have been provided by the expert Canadian dog-driver I had engaged before sailing for the south, and when this man did not join the Expedition the matter was overlooked. We had fifty-four dogs and eight pups early in April, but several were ailing, and the number of mature dogs was reduced to fifty by the end of the month. Our store of seal meat amounted now to about 5000 lbs., and I calculated that we had enough meat and blubber to feed the dogs for ninety days without trenching upon the sledging rations. The teams were working well, often with heavy loads. The biggest dog was Hercules, who tipped the beam at 86 lbs. Samson was 11 lbs. lighter, but he justified his name one day by starting off at a smart pace with a sledge carrying 200 lbs. of blubber and a driver.

The dog handler who accompanied the Endurance on its voyage from London was Sir Daniel Gooch, a well-to-do member of the English gentry and a greyhound breeder. But he departed the expedition before Antarctica.

The following excerpt from the Scott Polar Research Institute explains the absence of a dedicated dog handler on the expedition.

Shackleton had originally intended to have an expert dog driver named George Ross accompany the expedition, but when Ross arrived in London from Canada, Shackleton was put off by his drinking and his insistence on a life insurance policy, and the arrangement fell through. Shackleton next considered Hjalmar Gjertsen, who had been first mate on Fram during Amundsen's Norwegian Antarctic Expedition 1910-12 (Fram). But Fridtjof Nansen, the sage of polar exploration, was dubious about Gjertsen's dog-driving experience, so that too fell through. At the last minute, Sir Daniel, an ardent supporter of Shackleton, agreed to fill the position.

Gooch, nicknamed 'Curly' by the other expedition members, enlisted as an able seaman and sailed with the dogs to Buenos Aires. 'There never was a better disciplined AB afloat than Sir Daniel Gooch,' Wild wrote. 'He obeyed all orders promptly & … was possessed of a keen sense of humour.' Unfortunately, by the time Endurance reached Grytviken, Gooch had learned that the government was requisitioning Hylands House as a military hospital. Sir Daniel insisted that the most modern medical equipment be installed (at his own expense), and he felt it necessary to return to England to oversee the work. So he sailed back from South Georgia.

None returned

The importance of the dogs can be seen in that their passing was noted.

• One dog had to be shot on the 12th. (12 Feb 1915).
• Four dogs which had been ailing were shot. Some of the dogs were suffering badly from worms, and the remedies at our disposal, unfortunately, were not effective (26 Feb 1915).
• Four of the poorest dogs were shot this day. They were suffering severely from worms, and we could not afford to keep sick dogs under the changed conditions. (3 Aug 1915).
• “This afternoon Sallie’s three youngest pups, Sue’s Sirius, and Mrs. Chippy, the carpenter’s cat, have to be shot. We could not undertake the maintenance of weaklings under the new conditions. Macklin, Crean, and the carpenter seemed to feel the loss of their friends rather badly." (19 Oct 1915)
• Owing to this shortage of food and the fact that we needed all that we could get for ourselves, I had to order all the dogs except two teams to be shot. It was the worst job that we had had throughout the Expedition, and we felt their loss keenly. (Jan 1916)
• “The last two teams of dogs were shot today... the carcasses being dressed for food. We had some of the dog-meat cooked, and it was not at all bad—just like beef, but, of course, very tough.” (2 April 1916)

The men took to the lifeboats on 9 April 1916.

 

A Shackleton Scrapbook

This 'scrapbook' is a way for me to provide an annotated list of resources I have discovered while reading about Shackleton and his polar exploration. It is not, and will not be, a complete document. In conversation with others I realised that these notes may have some value.  In the interest of transparency I will admit that I started on this journey after purchasing a Lego model of the Endurance, along with the life boat model of the James Caird.

LEGO model of the Ship Endurance

Blog Posts (my own blog)

Shackleton's Proposal of the Third Expedition -1914.  A copy of a proposal for the expedition with appeared in at least two newspapers.

Shackleton's Ship Endurance. An article in the Queenslander which documents the arrival of the Endurance in the Thames. It describes the boat and its design, and provided a plan of the vessel. Also includes a partial list of the expedition participants.

The Endurance Dogs. (pending)

Blog posts (not my own)

What books did Shackleton take with him on the Endurance
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35633374 

Shackleton Online - a collection from the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University.

Lego models by Benedek Lampert

Books

South. Ernest Shackleton (1919). Available at Project Gutenberg. This is Shackleton's account of the Endurance Expedition, along with his derived accounts for the components he was not present for, namely the story of the Ross Sea party. It also includes a number of appendices on various topics related to the expedition. I enjoyed this read, there is an optimism in the hardship which is very appealing.

Book recommendations from the ErnestShackleton.net
http://www.ernestshackleton.net/recommendedreading 

Rare books from the Era of Polar Exploration
https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/catalogsearch/result/?q=shackleton

Book recommendations from Viking Tours an Antarctic tour company
https://www.vikingcruises.com.au/expeditions/cruise-destinations/antarctica/antarctic-explorer/reading-list.html

Frank Hurley

I realised that many of the images of the Endurance I already recognised from seeing Hurley's photography on other contexts. To place these images into the context of Shackleton's writing has transformed my appreciation of what Hurley achieved with his camera.

National Library of Scotland

State Library New South Wales

Podcasts

What would Shackleton Do? This is the question asked in the midst of the Covid19 Pandemic. It is a series of five episodes of approximately 20 minutes each which cover the theme words, Optimism, Patience, Idealism, Courage the four words chosen by Shackleton as essential qualities of polar explorers, and it adds a fifth which they argue is implied but not stated by Shackleton, Kindness.

Visual Media

Endurance. Disney+ has this great National Geographic documentary, which uses colourised versions of Frank Hurley's footage from the Endurance Expedition. Its runs a parallel narrative about an expedition in 2022 to discover the wreck of the Endurance, the juxtaposition of the two levels of technology shows starkly how much change 100 years has made.

Postage Stamps

Series Great Britain (2016) 

Version history.

6 Jan 2025 - First hit of the publish button.

15 Apr 2025 - Some additions, to blog posts by others, Frank Hurley and postage stamps.

Shackleton's Ship Endurance

The following article from The Queenslander of Saturday 19 September 1914 is a physical description of the ship Endurance, used by Ernest Shackleton for his trans-Antarctic expedition along with a summary of the crews for both the Endurance and the 'pick up' vessel the Aurora. 

The article starts with announcing the arrival of the Endurance in the Thames, however by the time of publication in The Queenslander, Shackleton and his team had departed  both London and subsequently Plymouth (on 8th August) bound for Buenos Aires. The gap between the event and the reportage is probably a result of how long news took to travel around the world in 1914, even though telegram was available in many parts of the world.

The article names sixteen people for the Endurance party, but in reality there were twenty-eight persons who travelled to Antarctica aboard the Endurance. Wikipedia has a list of 28, but this does not align with this published list. Some departed the expedition prior to leaving England, or at Buenos Aires in order to answer a call to war. Shackleton offered the whole expedition to the war effort but was instructed to proceed with the endeavour. The people who departed the expedition and do not appear in the Wikipedia list are F. Dobbs, C. Brocklehurst, V. Studd, and Mr Jeffreys. Another Wikipedia article also lists Sir Daniel Gooch, who joined the expedition at Buenos Aires and departed at South Georgia. Gooch was a dog handler and his absence is one of the few absences who absence is recorded as having a negative effect on the expedition.

ANTARCTIC EXPLORATION.

SHACKLETON'S SHIP ENDURANCE. 

The ship Endurance in which Sir Ernest Shackleton is going to make his voyage to the Antarctic recently arrived in the Thames from Norway. The Endurance is a new vessel. She was built under the name of the Polaris by a syndicate of Polar explorers, who proposed to utilise her for pleasure cruising in Polar seas by wealthy people. 

 Mr. Frank Wild, second in command to Sir Ernest Shackleton, who is in charge of the refitting of the ship, has provided additional accommodation for the members of the expedition by erecting a deck house from the main mast aft to the stern for officers, and one from amidships to the foremast containing the mess room for sixteen people, kitchen, and pantry. The roofs of these superstructures, connected by gangways, form a comfortable promenade and bridge deck, which is a novelty in such vessels. A large cabin in the fore part of the main deck forms the men's quarters. Heating throughout by means of steam radiators will prevent the air from becoming vitiated by foul gases, and do away with the collection of dust and dirt inseparable from coal fires. All the internal arrangements have been made with a view to making the "'tween decks" cosy and warm without in any way interfering with a due amount of ventilation. A better designed and stauncher vessel, says Mr. Wild, never left the shipwrights' hands, or one more suited to the purpose for which she is intended. On June 5 the Endurance made a three hours' trip to try her engines and adjust her com passes. She then proved to be an unusually handy craft. 

Her dimensions (builder's measurement) are as follows : Length over all, 144 ft. ; length on water line, 125 ft. ; extreme breadth. 25ft. ; depth moulded, 15ft. 9in. ; gross tonnage. 384 ; net tonnage, 171 ; mean draught loaded, 13ft. ; corresponding displacement 658 tons ; coal consumption per diem, when steaming seven and a half knots, about three tons. 

 

The following list of members of the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition has been officially announced :

— Weddell Sea Party Sir Ernest H. Shackleton, leader of the expedition; Mr. Frank Wild, second in command ; Mr. G. Marston, Mr. T. Crean, Captain Orde Lees, Lieut. F. Dobbs, Lieut. Courtney Brocklehurst, Mr. J. Wordie. geologist ; Mr. R. W. James, physicist and magnetician ; Mr. L. H. Hussey, assistant magnetician and meteorologist ; Mr. F. Hurley, photographer and kinematographer, Mr. V. Studd, geologist ; Lieut. F. A. Worsley, in navigating command of the Endurance on the voyage from London to Buenos Aires and the Weddell Sea, and afterwards to take part in the surveying and exploring of the coast ; Mr. Jeffreys, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. A. Cheetham. 

— Ross Sea Party : Lieut. Aeneas Mackintosh, leader and meteorologist ; Mr. E. Joyce, zoologist ; Mr. H. Ninnis ; Mr. H. Wild ; and Dr. Macklin, surgeon. There only remain two vacancies, and these are to be filled, by another doctor and a biologist. The Ross Sea party will sail in the Aurora.