Lawrence Edward Grace "Titus"Oates (17 March 1880 – 17 March 1912)[2] was a British army officer, and later anAntarctic explorer, who died from hypothermia[1] during theTerra Nova Expedition when he walked from his tent into a freezing blizzard. His death, which occurred on his 32nd birthday, is seen as an act of self-sacrifice when, aware that thegangrene andfrostbite from which he was suffering was compromising his three companions' chances of survival, he chose certain death for himself to relieve them of the burden of caring for him.
Oates was born inPutney, Surrey, in 1880, the elder son of William Edward Oates,FRGS, and Caroline Annie, daughter of Joshua Buckton, of West Lea,Meanwood,Leeds. The Oates family were wealthylanded gentry, having had land atDewsbury and Leeds since the 16th century; William Oates moved the family toGestingthorpe, Essex in 1891[3] after becoming Lord of themanor of Over Hall at Gestingthorpe.[4][5] His sister Lillian, a year older,[6][better source needed] married the Irish baritone and actorFrederick Ranalow.[7] An uncle was the naturalist and African explorerFrank Oates.
Oates lived in Putney from 1885–1891. He was one of the first pupils to attend the nearbyWillington School. He went on toEton College but left after less than two years owing to ill health.[5] He then attended an army "crammer", South Lynn School,Eastbourne.[8] His father died oftyphoid fever inMadeira in 1896.
In 1898, Oates was commissioned into the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of theWest Yorkshire Regiment. He saw active service during theSecond Boer War as a junior officer in the6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, having been transferred to that cavalry regiment as asecond lieutenant in May 1900. He took part in operations in theTransvaal, theOrange River Colony, andCape Colony. In March 1901 a gunshot wound shattered his left thigh bone, leaving it an inch shorter than the right. Twice called upon to surrender in that engagement, he replied, "We came to fight, not to surrender."[5] He was recommended for theVictoria Cross for his actions and was brought to public attention.[9]
"One or two of us went out toWynberg, which Oates knew well, having been invalided there in the South African War with a broken leg, the result of a fight against big odds when, his whole party wounded, he refused to surrender. He told me later how he had thought he would bleed to death, and the man who lay next to him was convinced he had a bullet in the middle of his brain—he could feel it wobbling about there! Just now his recollections only went so far as to tell of a badly wounded Boer who lay in the next bed to him when he was convalescent, and how the Boer insisted on getting up to open the door for him every time he left the ward, much to his own discomfort."
Oates's primary task on the expedition was to attend to its horses.
In 1910, he applied to joinRobert Falcon Scott's expedition to theSouth Pole—theTerra Nova expedition—and was accepted mainly on the strength of his experience with horses and, to a lesser extent, his ability to make a financial contribution of £1,000 towards the expedition. Nicknamed "the soldier"[13] by his fellow expedition members, his role was to look after the 19 ponies that Scott intended to use for sledge hauling during the initial food depot-laying stage and the first half of the trip to the South Pole.Apsley Cherry-Garrard referred to him as "a man who had forgotten as much as most men know about horses." Scott eventually selected him as one of the five-man party who would travel the final distance to the Pole.[14]Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, a fellow polar explorer who accompaniedDouglas Mawson on theAustralasian Antarctic Expedition, described Oates in his diary as "distinguished, simple-minded." Ninnis also expressed concern that Oates was the wrong man for the job.[15]
A sledge flag which was drawn up for Oates prior to theTerra Nova Expedition, but never actually made for him to use. Oates was thus one of the few prominent members of the expedition not to have a sledge flag.[16]
From the beginning of the voyage, Oates was initially not a popular member onboard theTerra Nova. According to Ninnis, testimonials from crew members onboard indicated that during the voyage out "he [Oates] did not, by general affectation, increase his popularity with the fellows on board" and that "....[if] Oates gets unpopular with the other fellows, his life, cooped up with them in the hut on McMurdo Sound, will certainly not be a bed of roses." and that "....unless he pulls himself together a bit, he will find himself "returned, not wanted."[15] Oates also clashed with Scott many times on issues of management of the expedition. "Their natures jarred on one another", expedition member Frank Debenham recalled.[17] When he first saw the ponies that Scott had brought on the expedition, Oates was horrified at the £5 animals, which he said were too old for the job and "a wretched load of crocks."[18] He later said: "Scott's ignorance about marching with animals is colossal."[19] He also wrote in his diary "Myself, I dislike Scott intensely and would chuck the whole thing if it were not that we are a British expedition ... He is not straight, it is himself first, the rest nowhere ..."[19] However, he also wrote that his harsh words were often a product of the hard conditions. Scott, less harshly, called Oates "the cheery old pessimist", adding: "the Soldier takes a gloomy view of everything, but I've come to see that this is a characteristic of him."[13]
Oates (far right) at theSouth Pole on 18 January 1912 as part of theTerra Nova Expedition. From left to right: Wilson, Bowers, Evans, Scott and Oates.
Scott, Oates and 14 other members of the expedition set off from theirCape Evans base camp for the South Pole on 1 November 1911. At various pre-determined latitude points during the 895-mile (1,440 km) journey, the support members of the expedition were sent back by Scott in teams. On 4 January 1912, at latitude 87° 32' S, only the five-man polar party consisting of Scott,Edward Wilson,Henry Bowers,Edgar Evans and Oates remained to march the last 167 miles (269 km) to the Pole.
On 18 January 1912 they finally reached the Pole—only to discover a tent that Norwegian explorerRoald Amundsen and his four-man team had left behind at theirPolheim camp, afterbeating them in the race to the Pole. Inside the tent was a note from Amundsen informing them that his party had reached the South Pole on 14 December 1911, beating Scott's party by 35 days.
Scott's party faced extremely difficult conditions on the return journey, mainly due to the exceptionally adverse weather, poor food supply, injuries sustained from falls, and the effects ofscurvy andfrostbite. On 17 February 1912, near the foot of theBeardmore Glacier,Edgar Evans died, perhaps from a blow to the head suffered in a fall days earlier.[20]
On 15 March, Oates told his companions that he could not go on and proposed that they leave him in his sleeping bag, which they refused to do. He managed a few more miles that day but his condition worsened that night.[21]: 89
According to Scott's diary entry of 16 or 17 March (Scott was unsure of the date but thought 17 March correct), Oates had walked out of the tent the previous day into a −40 °F (−40 °C) blizzard to his death. Scott wrote in his diary: "We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman."[22] According to Scott's diary, as Oates left the tent he said, "I am just going outside and may be some time."[23][24]
Scott, Wilson and Bowers continued onwards for a further 20 miles (32 km) towards the One Ton food depot that could save them but were halted at latitude 79° 40' S by a fierce blizzard on 20 March. Trapped in their tent and too weak and cold to continue, they died nine days later, eleven miles (18 km) short of their objective. Their frozen bodies were discovered by a search party on 12 November; Oates's body was never found. Near where he was presumed to have died, the search party erected acairn and cross bearing the inscription: "Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain L. E. G. Oates, of theInniskilling Dragoons. In March 1912, returning from the Pole, he walked willingly to his death in a blizzard, to try and save his comrades, beset by hardships."[25]
Monument to Oates, close to Holy Trinity Church,Meanwood, LeedsLawrence Oatesblue plaque Meanwood
Oates's act of self-sacrifice is often considered to be one of the most memorable examples of its kind in recent history, and his understated final words are often cited as a veritable example of the traditionalcharacteristic of British people concerning the "stiff upper lip" attitude.[26]
Oates's reindeer-skin sleeping bag was recovered and is now displayed in the museum of theScott Polar Research Institute inCambridge with other items from the expedition.
TheRoyal Dragoon Guards, the successor to the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, have a regimental day on 17 March, his birthday and St Patrick's Day, to remember Oates.[9][28] HisQueen's South Africa Medal with bars andPolar Medal are held by the regimental museum in York.[29] The then Inniskilling Dragoon Guards were reportedly given £20,000 to help purchase the medals bySir Jack Hayward.[30]
In 1913 his brother officers erected a brass memorial plaque to him in the parish church of St Mary the Virgin inGestingthorpe, Essex, which his mother, Caroline, faithfully polished weekly for the rest of her life. The church is opposite his family home of Gestingthorpe Hall.
A painting of Oates walking out to his death,A Very Gallant Gentleman, byJohn Charles Dollman, hangs in theCavalry Club in London.[31][32] It was commissioned by officers of the Inniskilling Dragoons in 1913.[31] It was exhibited at theRoyal Academy in 1914.[33] A preparatory sketch is in theScott Polar Research Institute,[34] at the University of Cambridge, having been sold byChristie's, on behalf of a private owner, for £40,000 in 2014.[35]
In May 1914 a memorial to Oates was placed in the cloister of the newly built School Library atEton College, itself part of the Boer War Memorial Buildings. It was executed byKathleen Scott, the widow of the expedition's leader.[5]
The Lawrence Oates school inMeanwood, Leeds (closed 1992), was named after him. On the 100th anniversary of his death, ablue plaque was unveiled in his honour at Meanwood Park, Leeds.[36]
On 17 March 2007, The Putney Society unveiled a blue plaque at the site of Oates's childhood home of 263 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, London. The current address is 307 Upper Richmond Road.[37]
Mount Oates in the Southern Alps of New Zealand is named after him.[38]
In the 1948 filmScott of the Antarctic, Oates was played byDerek Bond. The film does not accurately portray the interpersonal difficulties in the expedition and concentrates on the heroics of the people involved.
InThe Last Place on Earth, a 1985 Central Television seven-part serial telling of both the Amundsen and Scott treks to the South Pole, the character of Oates is played byRichard Morant.
A biography byMichael Smith,I am Just Going Outside: Captain Oates – Antarctic Tragedy, (Spellmount Publishers 2002) claimed that a 20-year-old Oates fathered a daughter after raping an 11-year-old Scots girl named Ettie McKendrick.[39][40]
Brenda Clough's 2001 science fiction novella "May Be Some Time" has Oates transported to the year 2045, where he is healed via advanced medicine. This novella formed the basis for her later novelRevise the World, which also centred on Oates.[41]
InGeraldine McCaughrean's 2005 bookThe White Darkness, a teenage girl, Symone Wates, has an obsession with Captain Titus Oates; she even creates an imaginary friend of him.
InFrank Capra's 1931 filmDirigible, depicting an American expedition to the South Pole in the 1930s, a fictional character played byRoscoe Karns incurs injuries similar to those of the real-life Oates, and chooses to sacrifice himself in a manner clearly inspired by the circumstances of Oates's death.[citation needed]
The 1985villanelle "Antarctica" byDerek Mahon details the last moments and sacrifice of Oates. It uses the quotation "I am just going outside and may be some time" as the basis of one of the refrains, and modulates it to "He is just going outside and may be some time".
Terry Pratchett uses Captain Oates's last words at least three times in hisDiscworld Series in similar situations. These include #11,Reaper Man, in which the words "I am just going out. I may be some time" are spoken by Windle Poons; #13,Small Gods, in which the line "I'm just going out. I may be some time" is spoken by Brutha; and #16,Soul Music, in which the line "I may be some time" is spoken by the characterDeath.[42][43]
InTom Stoppard's 1972 playJumpers, Stoppard describes two fictional British astronauts named "Oates" and "Captain Scott" whose lunar landing craft is damaged when setting down on the Moon, such that the rockets appear to have only enough lift to carry one of the astronauts off the surface. Stoppard has Scott and Oates fight to be the one to get back in the landing craft. Scott wins the fight and closes the hatch to the craft with the words "I am going up now. I may be gone for some time."[44]
He is a character inBeryl Bainbridge's novelThe Birthday Boys (1991) in which Bainbridge writes about the ill-fated expedition from the point of view of Scott and the four men he took to the Pole.
InMargaret Atwood's 2009 novelThe Year of the Flood the character Adam One makes reference to "Saint Laurence 'Titus' Oates of the Scott Expedition" in a speech made to the followers of the God's Gardeners eco-fanatic religious group. One of the characters is also named after Oates.
Spanish heavy metal bandWarCry song "Capitán Lawrence" ofEl Sello De Los Tiempos album tells of his sacrifice to save his comrades.
InChina Miéville's SF novelEmbassytown (2011), several human characters 'take the Oates Road' when they walk out in the alien city that surrounds them, where they hope to die. Oates-like brave polar explorers are also mentioned earlier in the novel when humans trade with the aliens.[citation needed]
In the 1991 episode ofRed Dwarf, "White Hole", and inRob Grant'sRed Dwarf novelBackwards, Kryten attempts to persuade Rimmer to make a sacrifice (specifically, turning himself, as a hologram, off so that the power-deprived ship will have more energy, allowing the remaining crew to live for an additional four months) in the manner of Captain Oates, to which Rimmer replies, "Captain Oates was a prat! If that'd been me, I'd've stayed in the tent, whacked Scott over the head with a frozenhusky, and then eaten him." Before adding: "How do we know that Oates went out for this legendary walk? From the only surviving document: Scott's diary. And he's hardly likely to have written down, "February the First, bludgeoned Oates to death while he slept, then scoffed him along with the last packet of instant mash." How's that going to look when he gets rescued, eh? No, much better to say, "Oates made the supreme sacrifice", while you're dabbing up his gravy with the last piece of crusty bread."[45]
TheLee and Herring seriesFist of Fun featured a recurring sketch which portrayed Oates's sacrifice not as heroism, but as an act ofpassive-aggression. This behaviour would continue in other situations, such as Oates at a dinner party (in full Antarctic expedition gear) refusing the last roast potato in a way obviously designed to elicit sympathy.
In the original version of the 1999 BBCRobbie the Reindeer holiday specialHooves of Fire, Robbie quotes Oates' last recorded words when telling Blitzen that he's leaving Santa Claus' sleigh team, similarly opting to leave on foot from the North Pole. The line is changed in CBS' American dub of the special.
In the song "Héroes de la Antártida" by the Spanish pop groupMecano on their albumDescanso Dominical.
Australianpost-rock bandWe Lost the Sea has a song titled "A Gallant Gentleman" off their 2015 albumDeparture Songs. The song pays homage to Oates's sacrifice.[46]
In "A Beautiful Mind", the third episode of the seventh series ofPeep Show, Mark likens Jeremy's expedition to readWuthering Heights on their balcony to Oates's death. "There goes the Captain Oates of having to read a relatively short book." Later in "The Love Bunker", Super Hans tells two people he refers to as "Hall and Oates" being sent out from a bunker back into the paintball war, "You're just going for a walk. And it may be some time." They are almost immediately heard being shot repeatedly with paintballs.
InMonty Python’s Flying Circus, Season 2, Episode 10, Terry Jones portrays Oates in the low budget film,Scott of the Sahara, in which he saves the expedition from a giant electric penguin.
In the radio version ofThe Mighty Boosh episode "Tundra", Howard tries to emulate Oates by walking out into a blizzard. However, as Vince notes, he has one leg shorter than the other and keeps walking around in circles.
In the horror video gameProject Zomboid, the description for the Hypothermia icon reads, "You're going out. You may be some time."
^"Colourful life of a British eccentric".Shropshire Star. 14 January 2015.Comment and Analysis article on Sir Jack Hayward by Mark Andrews, which misnumbers the regiment as the "5th".
^Purse, Nigel (2016).Tom Stoppard's Plays: Patterns of Plenitude and Parsimony. Leiden: Brill. p. 155.ISBN9789004318366.The significance of the moon landing for interweaving the vehicle of the play into the ideas it discusses is two-fold. First of all, 'Millions of viewers saw the two astronauts struggling at the foot of the ladder until Oates was knocked to the ground by his commanding officer... Captain Scott has maintained radio silence since pulling up the ladder and closing the hatch with the remark, 'I am going up now. I may be gone for some time.' Apart from being an inverse pun on the famous scene on Scott's Antarctic journey in which Oates sacrifices himself with the words, 'I am just going outside and may be some time', it demonstrates the chaotic world of relativism in which the morality of one's actions depends upon one's point of view.
Limb, Sue & Cordingley, Patrick:Captain Oates: Soldier and Explorer.ISBN0-7134-2693-4
Goldsmith, Jeremy:British Army officers' records; Career Soldiers in the Family Tree Magazine (London) of June 2007, which shows Oates's Record of Service (with a birth date of 16 March 1880).
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