John William Vincent (24 January 1884 – 19 January 1941) was an English seaman and member of

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917 is considered to be the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing ...

. He was one of the five men who accompanied Shackleton on his epic crossing from

Elephant Island Elephant Island is an ice-covered, mountainous island off the coast of Antarctica in the outer reaches of the South Shetland Islands, in the Southern Ocean. The island is situated north-northeast of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, west-so ...

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

and was one of only four of the crew of ''

Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...

'' not to receive the

Polar Medal The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom to individuals who have outstanding achievements in the field of polar research, and particularly for those who have worked over extended periods in harsh climates. It w ...

Early life

Vincent was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

on 24 January 1879. He became a sailor at the age of 13 after running away and later became a trawlerman working in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

fleet out of Hull. At the time, trawling was one of the most dangerous of trades, which bred tough men, and Vincent was no exception, in addition, He was a keen amateur

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sport ...

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was organised by Ernest Shackleton as an attempt to be the first expedition to cross the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

continent. Vincent was originally taken on as the

bosun A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

, but after a row with

Thomas Orde-Lees Major (United Kingdom), Major Thomas Hans Orde-Lees, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Air Force Cross (United Kingdom), AFC (23 May 1877 – 1 December 1958) was a member of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914&n ...

and complaints of bullying from members of the

fo'c'sle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

crew, he was called to Shackleton's cabin and demoted to

Able Seaman An able seaman (AB) is a seaman and member of the deck department of a merchant ship with more than two years' experience at sea and considered "well acquainted with his duty". An AB may work as a watchstander, a day worker, or a combination ...

. He did not cause any further trouble, but Shackleton kept a watchful eye on him: after the ''Endurance'' was crushed by the ice and the men were forced to use the three small

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

s to reach Elephant Island, Shackleton made sure that Vincent was among the men in his boat. He also chose him as part of the six-man crew of the '' James Caird'' who were to sail to South Georgia to fetch help. Though some sources say Shackleton didn't want to leave him on the island where he could spread dissent, this contradicts Shackleton's own feelings about needing a strong crew to navigate to South Georgia, and Vincent was noted as the fittest man on arriving at Elephant Island. Vincent and

Harry McNish Henry McNish (11 September 187424 September 1930), often referred to as Harry McNish or by the nickname Chippy, was the carpenter on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. He was responsible for much of the ...

were pitched into the water as the boat was launched, and Vincent's refusal to exchange his jersey led to unkind comments among the beach party that he had some of their possessions concealed about his person, though this also has conflicting reports. Although Vincent was the strongest man in the crew, he fared badly during the voyage to South Georgia: he was almost washed overboard, when chipping ice that had accumulated on the Caird, only just grabbing the main mast in time. Shackleton recorded that two of the crew, Vincent and McNish, were very close to death, and although McNish showed "grit and spirit", Vincent ceased to be an active member of the crew, because he had become so ill. When the crew of the ''James Caird'' arrived at South Georgia, they landed on the wrong side of the island. While the rest of the crew busied themselves with preparations for the trip over the mountains which they had to make to reach the

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

station at

Husvik Husvik is a former whaling station on the north-central coast of South Georgia Island. It was one of three such stations in Stromness Bay, the other two being Stromness and Leith Harbour. Husvik initially began as a floating, offshore factory sit ...

, Vincent showed no signs of improvement. McNish recorded in his diary: It was clear that neither McNish nor Vincent could continue, so Shackleton left them in the care of Timothy McCarthy and set out on the trip over the mountains with

Frank Worsley Frank Arthur Worsley (22 February 1872 – 1 February 1943) was a New Zealand sailor and explorer who served on Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916, as captain of ''Endurance''. He also served in the Royal N ...

and

Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) (1877–1938), Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer *Tom Crean (basketball) Thomas Aaron Crean (born Ma ...

. After the three men arrived at the whaling station, Shackleton sent Worsley back on board one of the whaling ships to pick up Vincent, McNish and McCarthy and then arranged passage back to England for them while he, Worsley, and Crean set about organising a rescue of the men on Elephant Island. Shackleton was later to deny Vincent the Polar Medal, awarded to everybody in the crew except McNish, who had rebelled on the ice, and the three trawlermen:

William Stephenson Sir William Samuel Stephenson (23 January 1897 – 31 January 1989), born William Samuel Clouston Stanger, was a Canadian soldier, fighter pilot, businessman and spymaster who served as the senior representative of the British Security Coo ...

Ernest Holness Albert Ernest Holness (7 December 1892 – 20 September 1924) was an English marine engine stoker. He is best known for his service in the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1916. Biography Holness was born on 7 December 1892 in Kin ...

and Vincent.

Alexander Macklin Alexander Hepburne Macklin (1889 – 21 March 1967) was a British physician who served as one of the two surgeons on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914–1917. In 1921–1922, he joined the Shackleton–Row ...

, one of the ship's surgeons, thought the withholding of the medal a bit hard: "They were perhaps not very endearing characters but they never let the expedition down".

After the expedition

In 1918 Vincent joined the crew of a vessel chartered by the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

which was torpedoed while on service in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. He survived, and after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

again took up work as a trawlerman. He worked for a time in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, but although he was offered a permanent position as a fishing instructor with the Finnish government, his wife did not wish to move. Instead, he settled in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

where he and his wife raised a family of five sons and four daughters. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...

and was given command of the

armed trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to ...

HM Trawler ''Alfredian'' which worked off the North and East coasts. While on board the ''Alfredian'' he developed

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Grimsby. He died on 19 January 1941 and was buried in Grimsby's Scartho Road Cemetery.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, John 1884 births 1941 deaths Military personnel from Birmingham, West Midlands Royal Marines ranks English explorers Explorers of Antarctica Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Royal Navy officers of World War II People from Birmingham, West Midlands British fishers Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Deaths from pneumonia in England Royal Navy personnel killed in World War II Royal Naval Reserve personnel