British Polar Explorers [by] Admiral Sir Edward Evans ...
Admiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans (1881-1958)
Category
Books
Date
1943
Materials
Place of origin
England
Collection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 3127932
Summary
Writings on all the most important British Polar Explorers Book gifted by: The author Book Inscription Signature: E.R.G.R. Evans Book Inscription: To The Rt. Hon Winston Churchill C.H., M.P. with great admiration, E.R.G.R. Evans, 1943 Date of Inscription: 1943
Full description
**The Inscribed Books Collection, to which this book belongs, consists of gift inscriptions on third party books given to Sir Winston Churchill from friends, family, and well-wishers, unsolicited presentation copies of books by strangers, as well as presentation copies from authors who were genuine friends and colleagues. After his death in January 1965, Churchill personally bequeathed the collection via his Will as a testament to his national and international achievements. This book, published by William Collins in 1943, entails writings on all of the most important British Polar Explorers of the time. These include Martin Frobisher, John Davis, Henry Hudson, John Franklin, James Cook, James Clark Ross, Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, and Douglas Mawson. It was written by Admiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans (28 October 1880 - 20 August 1957). In 1902 having been promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant in the Navy, Edward R.G.R. Evans was selected, chiefly on account of his superb physical fitness, to be second officer of the 'Morning', the relief ship sent out by the Royal Geographic Society to the first Antartic expedition of R. F. Scott. The Morning located the 'Discovery' fast in the ice; but after resupplying her was obliged to leave her there for a second winter. In January 1904 the Morning returned to the Antartic accompanied by the 'Terra Nova'; the Discovery broke out of the ice in February,a nd the three ships returned home. In 1909 he was selected by Scott himself as second in command of his second expedition and captain of the Terra Nova, which left England in June 1910. He accompanied Scott in January 1912 to within 150 miles of the pole, where he turned back. Struck down by scurvy he was saved only by the devotion of his two companions. After a brief period of convalescence in England, which he devoted to raising money for the expedition, he returned to take command of the Terra Nova in New Zealand and sailed south, only to find on arrival at Cape Evans in January 1913 that Scott had died in an unparalleled period of bad weather when returning from the pole in March of the previous year. Following his Antarctic service, Evans had a successful naval career and by the outbreak of the First World War had attained the rank of commander. On 20 April 1917, while on night patrol he commanded the destroyer HMS 'Broke' in an action against six German destroyers of Kaiserliche Marine that had started to bombard Dover. This became known as the 'Battler of Dover Strait'. Evans' actions gained hime immediate promotion, award of the DSO, and made Evans a hero, feted in the British Press 'Evans of the Broke'. During the Second World War, he participated in the Norweigian Campaign, after which he retired from the Royal Navy in 1941 serving as London Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence.
Bibliographic description
47,[1]p. : ill., ports. ; 23 cm. Provenance: Inscribed by the author: To The Rt. Hon Winston Churchill C.H., M.P. with great admiration, E.R.G.R. Evans, 1943. Binding: blue still paper covers.
Provenance
The book was gifted to Churchill by Evans himself. The author inscribed the copy with his signature as well as a brief message, dated 1943, addressed to Churchill which reads: "To The Rt. Hon Winston Churchill C.H., M.P. with great admiration"
Makers and roles
Admiral Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans (1881-1958)