The Three Homecomings

Abstract

This chapter documents three homecomings that take place during February 1913—each one diametrically different from the other. The first is the desperate return of Douglas Mawson from his disastrous sledging journey to his Main Base at Commonwealth Bay a mere several hours after his ship Aurora has already departed, leaving six men who had volunteered to stay behind with him, and 21 dogs who had been gifted from Amundsen to him. Forced to stay another winter, the Australian expedition members make a fateful decision regarding the 21 sled dogs. The second is the arrival of the three surviving sled dogs from Buenos Aires in Kristiania, Norway, where they step off the transport steamship Helvig and are given a heroes’ welcome. The third is the sad return of the British ship Terra Nova from Antarctica to New Zealand with the devastating news that Robert Falcon Scott and his men had died during their return trek from the South Pole. Included is an analysis of contemporary accounts of the time comparing Scott’s non-use of dogs with Amundsen’s use of dogs, and focusing on dogs as the key factor of Antarctic expeditions.

Notes on Original Material and Unpublished Sources

All Roald Amundsen letters of correspondence quoted in this chapter, written from and to Roald Amundsen and Leon Amundsen, are in the Manuscripts Collection at the National Library of Norway (NB) in Oslo. (The excerpts quoted were translated from the original Norwegian for the author by Anne Melgård during the author’s research at the National Library of Norway.)

• 1. Per Gisle Galåen, Norsk Maritimt Museum (Norwegian Maritime Museum), Oslo, personal communication to Anne Melgård, National Library of Norway, for the author, sent to the author on 26 September 2012.