Wilson of the Antarctic

New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 664, 28 March 1952, Page 16

Wilson of the Antarctic

STATUE was erected about a generation ago on the Promenade at Cheltenham. No doubt it is still there; but there or not, the name of the man it honoured is not forgotten. This Sunday, March 30, 2YA will present, at 9.30 a.m., the BBC feature Wilson of the Antarctic, and on Wednesday, April 2, the* same programme will be heard from 4YZ at 9.30 p.m. Of Edward Adrian Wilson it is recorded that he "was regarded by all his comrades, both those who died and those who survived, as the most knightly spirit that ever entered the Antarctic wastes." This was no idle comment on a man in the company of such great explorers as Ross, Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen and Byrd, and such men of Scott’s last expedition as Oates, Bowers, Evans, Cherry- Garrard and others. Scott, in his.

diaries, speaks with warm praise of Wilson’s courage and steadfastness in the face of all difficulties, and points out that he was one of the most valued ‘and best-loved members of that expedition. Although Wilson’s sketches of birds, animals and natural phenomena in the Antarctic, were of great help to scientists studying the southern ice area, and although Wilson did other important research work in England, these facts alone do not explain his’ high standing among other men. Perhaps a clearer impression of the man’s character, and a more ,precise reason for his greatness, is found in what Cherry-Garrard, one of the members of the last Scott expedition, said of Wilson: "He had immense _§self-con-trol and patience. Behind that calmness and gentleness was a strong and decided personality. A humble man before God; not so humble before men. He did not say things because his feelings ran away with him, but because after due thought it was better to speak than to be silent: and when he expressed an opinion no one had any doubt he meant itz The two expeditions to ‘the Antarctic which Scott led, and of which Wilson was a member, stopped at Lyttelton, in New Zealand, for final preparations before setting* out towards the South Pole. On each of these occasions a New Zealand journalist, S. D. Waters, made the acquaintance of Scott and his companions. They were all, according to Mr. Waters, most remarkable men, but one could not help -noticing that among them Dr. Wilson held a special place of respect. To them he was "Uncle Bill," not merely a junior surgeon, as on the first voyage, nor the head of the scientific staff, as on the second, but rather an elder guide to all, When The Listenyr asked Mr. Waters, now resident in Wellington, for his personal impressions of

Wilson, Mr. Waters turned to the words of Lieutenant Bowers, who died in the tent with Scott and Wilson. Said Bowers, in a letter to his mother: "He is the soundest man we have, a chap whom I would trust with anything. I am sure he is a real Christian-it comes out in everything. Of course, he has more presence than anybody in the mess, being the oldest and certainly the wisest. I think him the pre-eminent chap, the perfect gentleman and the finest character that I have ever had the privilege to meet." Dr. Wilson would not have considered himself a man to be reckoned with in history, but to those who knew him he. was, as Mr. Waters put it, "one of those people who take far less from the world than they give to it."