‘Do it’ wife’s plea to Captain Scott revealed in letter
ByJack McKeown
Captain Robert Falcon Scott
A letter from Captain Scott’s wife urging him to reach the South Pole or die trying was found on the explorer’s corpse.
In the handwritten note Kathleen Scott tells her husband he could sacrifice his life in the pursuit of his goal.
She writes: “Because man dear, we can do without you please know for sure we can.”
She goes on to advise him: “If there is a danger for you or another man to face, it will be you who face it.”
Today, The Courier is the first newspaper to publish a transcript of the letter in full.
The letter concludes by saying: “If there’s anything you think worth doing at the cost of your life Do it. We shall only be glad. Do you understand me? How awful if you don’t.”
The letter was discovered by Kari Herbert (42), the daughter of Wally Herbert, who in 1969 became the first man to walk to the North Pole.
Captain Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole on January 17 1912, only to discover the Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten him.
He died with Edward Wilson and Henry Bowers on the return journey just 11 miles from a supply cache.
