John Robert Francis Frank Wild

John Robert Francis [Frank] Wild was born at Skelton, Yorkshire in 1874. He joined the Merchant Navy in 1889, and in 1900, transferred to the Royal Navy. Volunteering for the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-1904 (leader Robert Falcon Scott), he served as an able seaman in Discovery . He took part in several sledging expeditions, including an attempt to reach Cape Crozier in March 1902, and he was a member of the main Western party, led by Albert Armitage.

He joined the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909 (leader Ernest Henry Shackleton), and was one of the party chosen by Shackleton to make an attempt on the South Pole. The four men, accompanied by four ponies, crossed the Ross Ice Shelf and discovered a route south up the Beardmore Glacier. On the polar plateau, they continued southward, man hauling on severely reduced rations. On 9 January 1909, they sledged to a farthest south of 88.38°, 180 kilometres from the Pole, where their physical condition forced them to turn back.

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