PREFACE 
immediately agreed, and I sent ofi a telegram in which every- 
thing was placed at the disposal of the Admiralty. We only 
asked that, in the event of the declaration of war, the Expedi- 
tion might be considered as a single unit, so as to preserve its 
homogeneity. There were enough trained and experienced 
men amongst us to man a destroyer. Within an hour I received 
a laconic wire from the Admiralty saying " Proceed." Within 
two hours a longer wire came from Mr. Winston Churchill, in 
which we were thanked for our offer, and sa5dng that the 
authorities desired that the Expedition, which had the full 
sanction and support of the Scientific and Geographical Societies, 
should go on. 
So, according to these definite instructions, the Endurance 
sailed to Plymouth. On Tuesday the King sent for me and 
handed me the Union Jack to carry on the Expedition. That 
night, at midnight, war broke out. On the following Saturday, 
August 8, the Endurance sailed from Plymouth, obeying the 
direct orders of the Admiralty. I make particular reference 
to this phase of the Expedition as I am aware that there was a 
certain amount of criticism of the Expedition having left the 
country, and regarding this I wish further to add that the pre- 
paration of the Expedition had been proceeding for over a 
year, and large sums of money had been spent. We offered to 
give the Expedition up without even consulting the donors of 
this money, and but few thought that the war would last through 
these five years and involve the whole world. The Expedition 
was not going on a peaceful cruise to the South Sea Islands, but 
to a most dangerous, difiicult, and strenuous work that has 
nearly always involved a certain percentage of loss of life. 
Finally, when the Expedition did return, practically the whole 
of those members who had come tmscathed through the dangers 
of the Antarctic took their places in the wider field of battle, 
and the percentage of casualties amongst the members of tliis 
Expedition is high. 
The voyage out to Buenos A3n:es was uneventful, and on 
October 26 we sailed from that port for South Georgia, the most 
southerly outpost of the British Empire. Here, for a month, 
we were engaged in final preparation. The last wo heard of 
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