Petty Officer Edgar Evans was Captain's Scott's 'giant worker' and his 'invaluable assistant'. He went with Scott on both the British Antarctic Expeditions of the early 1900s - the 'Discovery' expedition of 1901 and the 'Terra Nova' expedition in 1910 - distinguishing himself on both. In 1903, with Scott, Edgar made the first long and arduous sortie onto the Plateau of Victoria Land. The journey highlighted Edgar's common sense, strength, courage, wit and unflappability. Thus it came as no surprise when, in 1911, Edgar was chosen by Scott to be one of the five men to go on the final attempt at the South Pole. Tragically the 'Welsh Giant' was the first to die on the ill-fated return, and posthumously Edgar was blamed in some quarters for causing the deaths of the whole party. It was suggested that his failure was due to his relative lack of education, which made him less able to endure the conditions than his well-educated companions. Isobel Williams repudiates this shameful suggestion and redresses the balance of attention paid to the upper and lower-deck members of Scott's famous expeditions.
Edgar Evans was described by Robert Falcon Scott as 'a giant worker…an invaluable assistant'. Having joined the Royal Navy as a boy sailor at the age of 15, he rose rapidly to the rank of chief petty officer, serving with a young Scott on board HMS Majestic along the way. He took part in the Discovery Expedition of 1901-04, and was awarded the Polar Medal on Scott's recommendation. In between expeditions, he trained the Royal Tournament-winning Portsmouth field gun team. He explored more miles of Antartica than any other member of the Terra Nova Expedition, but his contribution has been largely overlooked because of the implication that, as he was the first to die, he slowed up the progress of the return journedy. Isobel Williams's biography of Evans corrects this false impression, as well as redresses the balance of the attention paid to the upper- and lower-deck members of the expedition.
