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Commentary on Could Captain Scott have been saved? Cecil Meares and the ‘second journey’ that failed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2018

Bill Alp
Bill Alp*
Affiliation:
Wellington, New Zealand (bill.alp@xtra.co.nz)
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Extract

The article Could Captain Scott have been saved? Cecil Meares and the second journey that failed, by Karen May and Sarah Airriess, first published in Polar Record in 2014 (May & Airriess, 2015), builds a case against Cecil Meares for a failure to restock One Ton Depot in accordance with Scott's instructions. The authors claim that Meares was guilty of disobedience, neglect of duty and ‘obfuscation’. However, their case is diminished – in my view – by three significant mistakes that undermine their charges against Meares. In the three sections below, I identify those mistakes and consider whether the strong claims May and Airriess make about Meares are justified.

Type
Commentary
Information
Polar Record , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 181 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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