In the early hours of March 24 1916 – while the men trapped at Hut Point waited in vain for Shackleton – the wireless station at Awarua, New Zealand received a radio call from the ‘Aurora’. The ship had finally made contact after more than ten months trapped in drifting ice. For the exhausted] crew, rescue was finally within reach.

As the ‘Aurora’ limped into Dunedin, news of the marooned Ross Sea Party flashed back to Britain. In a war-battered world, the reports were touched by nostalgia for a lost golden age of exploration. But the rescue effort didn’t exactly spring into action. The expedition was bankrupt – and with millions dying on battlefields, it seemed almost disrespectful to spend public money rescuing ten men.

Then came another twist. After an epic journey, Shackleton reached the Falkland Islands on 31 May and sent a message that twenty-two members of his own party needed urgent rescue. The Ross Sea Party would have to wait a little longer.

With his own men safe, Shackleton headed for New Zealand to lead the rescue effort. By then, enough money had been found to refit the ‘Aurora’ and disputes about the rescue party were settled. Only three of the original crewmembers remained. Stenhouse was out and the new captain was John King Davis – who had turned down the chance to go to the Weddell Sea in 1915. Shackleton was to go along as supernumerary officer on his own ship, at one shilling a week.