Lieutenant Henry Robertson (Birdie) Bowers (July 29, 1883 - March 29, 1912) was one of Robert Falcon Scott's polar party on the ill-fated Terra Nova expedition in 1910-1912 who all died during their return from the South Pole.
Early life
Bowers was born on 29th July 1883 at Greenock of Scottish descent, and was raised alone by his mother after his father died in Rangoon when he was three years old. He went to sea first in the merchant service, and then enlisted in the Royal Indian Marine Service in 1905.
Antarctica
Bowers joined Robert Falcon Scott's expedition after having read the accounts of Scott's earlier Discovery expedition, and of Ernest Shackleton's expedition in Nimrod. He had no previous polar experience.
Bowers distinguished himself as a highly skilled organizer and was given the job of managing the expedition's stores, a task for which his extraordinary powers of memory served Scott well.
Scott had not originally planned to include "Birdie" Bowers in his polar party. He had been a member of the sledge team led by Scott's second-in-command, Lieutenant E.R.G.R. Evans, which was the last support party to accompany Scott and his team southward. But on January 4, 1912, when Evans turned back, Bowers was assigned to the polar party. Some have argued that this seems to have been an impulsive decision by Scott. However, others, such as Antarctic explorer Ranulph Fiennes, have indicated that this is a logical decision - particularly when one intends to increase the speed of a polar land-crossing (in an effort to reduce the consumption of resources).
Only a few days earlier, he had ordered Evans' men to depot their skis, so that Bowers had to travel on foot to the pole while the others were still on skis. In addition, adding a fifth man to the party meant squeezing another person into a tent made for four, and having to split up rations that were packed in units for four men. The most likely motivation for Scott to add Bowers to the polar party was a realization that he needed another experienced navigator to confirm their position at the South Pole to avoid controversy such as that surrounding the claims of Frederick Cook and Robert Peary at the North Pole.
On January 16, 1912, as Scott's party neared the Pole, it was Bowers who first spotted a black flag left by Roald Amundsen a month previously. Their return journey became a desperate affair, with first P.O. Edgar Evans dying, suspected to be of a brain injury after a fall, and then Lawrence "Titus" Oates succumbing to a terribly frostbitten foot. Scott, Bowers, and Dr. Edward Adrian "Bill" Wilson continued on, but died in their tent 148 miles from their base camp. Their bodies were found by a search party the following spring, and were buried where they lay, under a snow cairn.
Character and nickname
Bowers was short, at five foot four inches, and had a distinctive beak-like nose that quickly earned him the nickname of "Birdie" among his fellow explorers. He was known for his toughness, dependability, and cheerfulness. Scott, in his diary, said of Bowers: "As the troubles have thickened about us his dauntless spirit ever shone brighter and he has remained cheerful, hopeful, and indomitable to the end".
Archives
Bowers' life is celebrated with a small display at Rothesay Museum on the Isle of Bute; he spent much of his early life at Ardbeg on the edge of the town.
References
- Huntford, Roland: The Last Place on Earth. ISBN 0-689-70701-0
- Fiennes, Ranulph (2003). Captain Scott. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-82697-5.
- Preston, Diana: A First Rate Tragedy. ISBN 0-618-00201-4
- Scott, Robert Falcon: Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals. ISBN 0-413-52230-X