The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911
Abstract This paper discusses an unsourced anecdote in Roland Huntford’s dual biography of Scott and Amundsen and their race for the South Pole; the first edition of the book was published in 1979. During a meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova in the Bay of Whales on 4 February 1911, Lieutenant V...
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2020
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247420000303 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247420000303 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0032247420000303 2024-03-03T08:48:03+00:00 The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911 Lantz, Björn 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247420000303 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247420000303 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Polar Record volume 56 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development journal-article 2020 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247420000303 2024-02-08T08:31:37Z Abstract This paper discusses an unsourced anecdote in Roland Huntford’s dual biography of Scott and Amundsen and their race for the South Pole; the first edition of the book was published in 1979. During a meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova in the Bay of Whales on 4 February 1911, Lieutenant Victor Campbell allegedly told Roald Amundsen—in order to deceive him—that one of the British motor sledges was “already on terra firma ”. In a recent article in Polar Record , Huntford received criticism for (seemingly) having imagined the episode. However, a description of this incident, though with a slight variation compared to Huntford’s version, can be found in Tryggve Gran’s book, Kampen om Sydpolen [The Battle for the South Pole], published in 1961. Hence, one must conclude that Campbell really did try to mislead Amundsen regarding the motor sledges. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the attempted deception had an impact on Amundsen’s plan for his south polar journey. Article in Journal/Newspaper Polar Record South pole Cambridge University Press South Pole Roland ENVELOPE(-64.050,-64.050,-65.067,-65.067) Terra Firma ENVELOPE(-67.533,-67.533,-68.700,-68.700) Bay of Whales ENVELOPE(-170.000,-170.000,-77.833,-77.833) Polar Record 56 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development Lantz, Björn The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911 |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Ecology Geography, Planning and Development |
description |
Abstract This paper discusses an unsourced anecdote in Roland Huntford’s dual biography of Scott and Amundsen and their race for the South Pole; the first edition of the book was published in 1979. During a meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova in the Bay of Whales on 4 February 1911, Lieutenant Victor Campbell allegedly told Roald Amundsen—in order to deceive him—that one of the British motor sledges was “already on terra firma ”. In a recent article in Polar Record , Huntford received criticism for (seemingly) having imagined the episode. However, a description of this incident, though with a slight variation compared to Huntford’s version, can be found in Tryggve Gran’s book, Kampen om Sydpolen [The Battle for the South Pole], published in 1961. Hence, one must conclude that Campbell really did try to mislead Amundsen regarding the motor sledges. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the attempted deception had an impact on Amundsen’s plan for his south polar journey. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lantz, Björn |
author_facet |
Lantz, Björn |
author_sort |
Lantz, Björn |
title |
The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911 |
title_short |
The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911 |
title_full |
The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911 |
title_fullStr |
The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The “ terra firma ” anecdote: On the attempt to deceive Roald Amundsen during the meeting between the Fram and Terra Nova expeditions in 1911 |
title_sort |
“ terra firma ” anecdote: on the attempt to deceive roald amundsen during the meeting between the fram and terra nova expeditions in 1911 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247420000303 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247420000303 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-64.050,-64.050,-65.067,-65.067) ENVELOPE(-67.533,-67.533,-68.700,-68.700) ENVELOPE(-170.000,-170.000,-77.833,-77.833) |
geographic |
South Pole Roland Terra Firma Bay of Whales |
geographic_facet |
South Pole Roland Terra Firma Bay of Whales |
genre |
Polar Record South pole |
genre_facet |
Polar Record South pole |
op_source |
Polar Record volume 56 ISSN 0032-2474 1475-3057 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0032247420000303 |
container_title |
Polar Record |
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56 |
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1792504385439268864 |