Under Scott's Command

Commander A.R. Ellis published his edited version of William’s diaries from both expeditions, supplemented with material from Scott’s official record, called “Under Scott’s Command: Lashly’s Antarctic Diaries”, in April 1969.

Ellis had served as a schools liaison officer for the South West of England and was always on the lookout for interesting material for his talks. It was William Lashly's daughter, Alice, who introduced him to the diaries. When he was invalided out of the Navy in 1966 because of failing eyesight, he decided to try to make the diaries more widely available and so set about the job of transcribing and editing them. Under Scott’s Command consists primarily of direct quotations from William’s writing with very little editing other than some light grammatical corrections and explanatory observations, together with some link sections in which Ellis often quotes Captain Scott’s own diary entries. He concludes with a short chapter which draws on material from other published accounts to tell the story of the search for the returning polar party and an Epilogue with a brief account of William’s life after returning from the Terra Nova expedition. The introduction was written by Sir Vivian Fuchs.

The book was published in the UK by Victor Gollantz and simultaneously in the USA by Taplinger Publishing Co. The text of the USA edition is identical to the Gollancz edition, apart from the publisher’s details, and was printed in Britain. However, the dustcover blurb was completely re-written for the American audience in order to provide more general contextual information about Antarctica and Scott’s expeditions

Response

The book appears to have been an immediate success. Commander Ellis was brought into the BBC studios on the day of publication, 17th April 1969, for an interview on the Steve Race 16.45 family show, Home this Afternoon. The interview, titled “As seen from the lower deck”, was conducted by Jack Singleton. It was perhaps heard by a particularly large audience because people had tuned in to hear an item in the same programme by Godfrey Talbot describing the scene when Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne, opened the new Terminal One at Heathrow Airport.

Lilian Thomas heard the broadcast at her home in Cardiff. Her parents used to exchange visits with the Lashly family many years before when they also lived in Cardiff. Lilian wrote* to Alice Lashly to renew their acquaintance and to report how she had heard the interview on the radio but explained that when they tried to buy a copy of the book it had already sold out in W H Smiths! This problem must have been experienced by others because before the end of the month Gollanz had produced a second impression. A further impression was then required in August.

The publisher’s introduction on the dustcover of the UK edition of William’s edited diaries observes:

“One suspects that many diaries which form the basis of books were written with publication in mind. Of William Lashly, this suspicion never arises: he was a man of great modesty and was self-effacing in the extreme.”

The Geographical Journal, in a contemporary review of the book, concludes:

“These modest records highlight and complement the well-known story of Scott of the Antarctic, and will inspire admiration for a very brave and gentle man, in the true sense of the word. ”

*The original letter may be seen in the archives of Discovery Point, Dundee