Question 1

True or false: One of Scott's men, Lawrence Oates, famously left the tent to die rather than slow the team down.

Accepted Answer

True. Oates, suffering severe frostbite, walked out into a blizzard with the words 'I am just going outside and may be some time.'

Question 2

True or false: Scott reached the South Pole only to find Roald Amundsen had beaten him by just over a month.

Accepted Answer

True. Amundsen arrived on December 14, 1911; Scott reached the Pole on January 17, 1912, discovering the Norwegian flag.

Question 3

True or false: Scott was a career naval officer who had never led a major polar expedition before the Terra Nova.

Accepted Answer

False. Scott had previously led the Discovery Expedition (1901–1904), which set a southern record and was a major polar venture.

Question 4

True or false: Scott brought ponies and dogs to Antarctica, but the dogs were the primary transport to the Pole.

Accepted Answer

False. Scott relied mainly on ponies and man-hauling; his dog teams were used for support but not the final polar journey.

Question 5

True or false: Scott and his entire polar party died of starvation before reaching their final supply depot.

Accepted Answer

False. They died from a combination of exhaustion, cold, and scurvy, but were only 11 miles from the One Ton Depot.

Question 6

True or false: Scott's team carried motorized sledges to Antarctica, which actually worked well in the cold.

Accepted Answer

False. The motor sledges failed quickly due to mechanical issues in the extreme cold, forcing the team to man-haul supplies instead.

Question 7

True or false: Scott's wife Kathleen was a noted sculptor who later married a wealthy American politician.

Accepted Answer

True. Kathleen Scott was a sculptor, and after Robert's death, she married Lord Kennet, a British politician, not an American.

Question 8

True or false: Scott's final diary entry was written in pencil because his ink had frozen solid.

Accepted Answer

True. In his last days, Scott wrote in pencil due to frozen ink, ending with 'For God's sake look after our people.'

Robert Falcon Scott Trivia Questions