Biography

Evans brought so much Cardiff and Welsh sponsorship in Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated "Terra Nova" expedition that Scott named Cardiff the home port of the expedition ship, Terra Nova and made Evans Captain. Despite this partnership, the two were never close. The expedition landed on the west side of Ross Island on 4 January 1911, at a site Scott named Cape Evans in Evans' honor.

Not to be confused with Petty Officer Edgar Evans (7 March 1876 - 17 February 1912), the first one to die in Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated "Terra Nova" expedition to the South Pole. The Welsh Royal Navy petty officer had been one of just five in Captain Scott's British Antarctic Party to reach the South Pole in 1912, only to discover Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's group had beaten them by 33 days. Allof them would die on their return from the Pole.

Evans was given command of the Motor Party in Robert Falcon Scotts ill-fated "Terra Nova" expedition (1910-1913), which was to leave first, taking four men and two tracked motor sledges south onto the Barrier with supplies for the main expedition, which would follow with dogs and ponies. The motor sledges failed to work as planned; the engines proved unreliable, frequently refusing to start until heated, or stopping after a short distance. The first broke down permanently on 30 October, five days after starting, and the second followed a day later. The four men reorganized their loads and pushed south pulling a single sledge with 740 pounds (340 kg) of equipment and supplies. They managed about the same speed as before the breakdown, and made the rendezvous six days ahead of the main party, who caught up with them on 21 November. Two of Evans' party (the motor mechanic and an assistant) returned north, and the Motor Party was reorganized as the "Man-hauling Party". with Evans leading Chief Stoker William Lashly, Surgeon-Lieutenant Edward Leicester Atkinson and Charles Seymour Wright, a Canadian physicist.

On their return to the base, Evans began to suffer severe physical problems (first snow-blindness, and later began to develop the early signs of scurvy). He was weakened and constantly in severe pain, and within a couple of weeks he had deteriorated to the point that he was being pulled on the sledge by William Lashly and Tom Crean. On 13 February, Evans attempted to order them to abandon him, but they refused, in what Evans later called "the first and last time my orders as a naval officer were disobeyed". They were finally forced to halt by a blizzard on 17 February, thirty-five miles from the base camp at Hut Point, when it became clear that the two men would no longer be able to pull the sledge. Lashly remained to look after Evans while Crean headed north; after walking for eighteen hours, he arrived at the hut where he met Atkinson with an assistant and a dog team. They headed south as soon as the weather cleared, finding Evans near to death, and carefully brought him back to the camp. He arrived there a few days before the Terra Nova returned, and he was returned to the ship to be nursed back to health. He remained bedridden until April, when he arrived in New Zealand.

Admiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, KCB, DSO, SGM was a Royal Navy officer and Antarctic explorer. He was seconded from the navy to the "Discovery" expedition to Antarctica in 1901-1904, when he served on the crew of the relief ship. He was offered the post of second-in-command on Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated "Terra Nova" expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1913, as captain of the expedition ship Terra Nova. He accompanied Scott to within 150 miles of the Pole, but was sent back in command of the last supporting party. On the return he became seriously ill with scurvy and only narrowly survived.