The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2007, Side 13

Vol. 6) #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
the possession of Brad Silvester (J.B.’s great
grandson) of Michigan. He sent the NIHM
several very good pictures of J.B.’s watch,
which were used in the display windows
and the accompanying information
binders.
Sigurjon, J.B. and Jack returned on the
Empress of Britain to Montreal. World
War I was declared on their second or third
day out. Casselman stayed in Eastern
Canada to visit his mother, enlisted in the
war and was killed in action. Sigurjon and
J.B. returned home. They received only
two dollars a day in wages, but with all
expenses paid, they considered the whole
experience well worthwhile.
The Gimli sled dogs began their jour-
ney to the Antarctic. On August 9, 1914,
the 28 men of the Weddell Sea Party board-
ed the Endurance on route to pick up 69 of
the dogs who had been sent on a different
ship to Buenos Aires. On the trip south,
one of the dogs, Sally, had 4 pups, fathered
by Sampson. The ship stopped at South
Georgia Island where two pigs were picked
up to provide food. Also on board was
Mrs. Chippy—a male cat—who belonged
to the ship’s carpenter, Henry “Chippy”
McNish.
Fifteen men of the Ross Sea Party
sailed from England on the Ionic to
Sydney, Australia. They probably picked
up their 24 dogs in Buenos Aires, but we
did not find any written confirmation of
this during our research. In Australia, they
took possession of their ship, Aurora,
added 3 crewmen and sailed to Hobart,
Tasmania.
To the Weddell Sea
The Endurance sailed into the Weddell
Sea in January, 1915 and became trapped in
the ice, where it stayed until it sank in
November of that year. During those 11
months, the dogs helped pass the time, as
the men exercised them and had dog races.
Out on the ice, the men made dogloos,
wooden kennels covered with ice, so the
dogs would be more comfortable. The dogs
were given mattresses of sacks stuffed with
straw, which they soon tore to pieces with
great joy! When the ice under them began
to break, the men got the dogs on board the
ship just in time. On October 27, 1915, the
men, the dogs and the lifeboats left the
Endurance, which sank November 21.
Luckily, the ice flow took them to
Elephant Island and they touched land for
the first time since they left South Georgia.
Shackleton realized, as his men did,
that the dogs would have to be killed. The
alternative was to let them starve, and even-
tually to let the men starve also. On
October 30, Hurley wrote in his diary:
“Sally’s 4 pups, Sue’s Sirius and McNish’s
cat, Mrs. Chippy shot at 2:55 p.m.”
On January 14, 1916, 30 dogs were
shot and buried under the snow. On
January 16, more dogs were shot. On
March 30, the remaining dogs were shot
and a number of them eaten. The men felt
very badly that they had to shoot their
faithful companions, although they did
enjoy the dog steaks. Frank Wild, who had
the shooter’s job, said: “I have known
many men who I would rather have shot,
than these dogs”. There is a very good
account of this sad time in Alfred Lansing’s
book, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible
Voyage, pages 106, 125, 129-30. The jour-
ney of the Weddell Sea Party was well doc-
umented by the excellent photographs of
Frank Hurley.
To the Ross Sea
The Aurora left Hobart, Tasmania on
December 24, 1914 heading for the Ross
Sea. On January 21, 1915, 10 men and 24
GIMLI
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