National Guard

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Lore & Background

Oates was born in Putney, Surrey, in 1880, the elder son of William Edward Oates, FRGS, and Caroline Annie. The Oates family were wealthy landed gentry, having had land at Dewsbury and Leeds since the 16th century. He lived in Putney from 1885–1891, attended Willington School, then Eton College (leaving after less than two years owing to ill health), and later an army "crammer", South Lynn School, Eastbourne. His father died of typhoid fever in Madeira in 1896. In 1898, Oates was commissioned into the 3rd (Militia) Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment. He saw active service during the Second Boer War as a junior officer in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, having been transferred as a second lieutenant in May 1900. In March 1901 a gunshot wound shattered his left thigh bone, leaving it an inch shorter than the right. Twice called upon to surrender, he replied, "We came to fight, not to surrender." He was recommended for the Victoria Cross. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1902, and captain in 1906, serving in Ireland, Egypt, and India. He was often referred to by the nickname "Titus Oates", after the historical figure.

In Their Own Story

In 1910, Oates applied to join Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole—the Terra Nova expedition—and was accepted mainly on the strength of his experience with horses and his ability to make a financial contribution of £1,000. Nicknamed "the soldier" by his fellow expedition members, his role was to look after the 19 ponies. 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. Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis described Oates in his diary as "distinguished, simple-minded." From the beginning of the voyage, Oates was initially not a popular member onboard the Terra Nova. 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. When he first saw the ponies that Scott had brought, Oates was horrified at the £5 animals, which he said were too old for the job and "a wretched load of crocks." He later said: "Scott's ignorance about marching with animals is colossal." 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 ..." 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."

Reader's Guide

Scott, Oates and 14 other members set off from their Cape Evans base camp for the South Pole on 1 November 1911. 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 explorer Roald Amundsen and his four-man team had left behind at their Polheim camp, after beating 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. On the return journey, on 17 February 1912, Edgar Evans died. 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. According to Scott's diary entry of 16 or 17 March, Oates had walked out of the tent the previous day into a −40 °F (−40 °C) blizzard to his death. Scott wrote: "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." According to Scott's diary, as Oates left the tent he said, "I am just going outside and may be some time." Scott, Wilson and Bowers continued onwards for a further 20 miles (32 km) towards the One Ton food depot 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 a cairn and cross bearing the inscription: "Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman, Captain L. E. G. Oates, of the Inniskilling 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."

Did You Know?

• Oates died from hypothermia on his 32nd birthday, 17 March 1912.
• His left thigh bone was shattered by a gunshot wound in the Second Boer War, leaving it an inch shorter than the right.
• He was recommended for the Victoria Cross for refusing to surrender during the Boer War, saying 'We came to fight, not to surrender.'
• His final words as he left the tent were 'I am just going outside and may be some time.'
• Oates's reindeer-skin sleeping bag was recovered and is now displayed in the museum of the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge.