TheEarl
Occasional visitor
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2002
- Posts
- 9,808
I was waiting around in Waterstones for a friend recently and I started browsing through a couple of the humorous books that sit near the counter. Among them was a thin book of famous stupid last words, stuff like "Of course it's not loaded," "Now you're gonna see baked Appel" (George Appel's last words before going to the electric chair) and Spike Milligan's fantastic epitaph on his gravestone (written in Gaellic) "I told you I was ill."
However amongst these gems was one that really irritated me:
I'm going for a walk. I may be some time. - British Antarctic explorer Captain Oates before leaving his tent.
How dare they! Taken out of context like that, it might raise a snigger. But this was one of the greatest sacrifices in modern history; a man giving up any chance of his own survival so that his crewmates might make it back to civilisation. And now it's reduced to a stupid quote taken out of context. Sorry Captain, you deserved better.
For those who don't know, Captain Oates travelled with Scott of the Antarctic on his ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole. They made it there, but on the return journey they ran out of food, their sled dogs died and their travelling speed slowed to a lethal crawl. Oates had severe frostbite and gangrene and was incapable of travelling unaided. Scott wouldn't leave him behind, even though carrying an invalid was slowing them even further down and exponentially reducing their chances of survival.
One night, Oates said his final words to the expedition, "Gentlemen, I'm going for a walk. I may be some time." He walked out into the blizzard to sacrifice himself so that the others would stand a chance of survival.
[/rage]
The Earl
However amongst these gems was one that really irritated me:
I'm going for a walk. I may be some time. - British Antarctic explorer Captain Oates before leaving his tent.
How dare they! Taken out of context like that, it might raise a snigger. But this was one of the greatest sacrifices in modern history; a man giving up any chance of his own survival so that his crewmates might make it back to civilisation. And now it's reduced to a stupid quote taken out of context. Sorry Captain, you deserved better.
For those who don't know, Captain Oates travelled with Scott of the Antarctic on his ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole. They made it there, but on the return journey they ran out of food, their sled dogs died and their travelling speed slowed to a lethal crawl. Oates had severe frostbite and gangrene and was incapable of travelling unaided. Scott wouldn't leave him behind, even though carrying an invalid was slowing them even further down and exponentially reducing their chances of survival.
One night, Oates said his final words to the expedition, "Gentlemen, I'm going for a walk. I may be some time." He walked out into the blizzard to sacrifice himself so that the others would stand a chance of survival.
[/rage]
The Earl
