| Synopsis: |
Irishman Francis Crozier was a major figure in 19th-century polar exploration. His voyages with Parry, Ross and Franklin lifted the veil from the frozen wastes of the Arctic and Antarctic, paving the way for Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton. The Antarctic cape named after him was immortalised in the book, "The Worst Journey in the World". A failed romance drove him back to the ice one fatal last time with Franklin's North-West Passage expedition in 1845. Crozier left his privileged surroundings in Banbridge, County Down, to join the navy aged 13. The Napoleonic wars were raging and he met the last surviving mutineer from the Bounty on Pitcairn Island during an early trip. He sailed on six outstanding expeditions to the ice with the legendary Parry and James Clark Ross. A four-year expedition to the Antarctic with Ross was the 19th-century's greatest feat of navigation. But Crozier could never win the hand of Franklin's beguiling niece, Sophy Cracroft. Desperate to please, he sailed as second-in-command on the fateful North-West Passage expedition. All 129 men perished. Crozier took command after Franklin died, with the ships crushed by the Arctic ice and men dying.He led a courageous battle in the freezing Arctic wilderness trying to bring his men to safety. According to legend, he was last to die - the last man standing. |