The outstanding Polar Medal group of four awarded to Captain A. B. Armitage, Royal Naval Reserve, who was Scott’s second-in-command and Navigator of the Discovery in the British National Antarctic Expedition 1901-04, and later Commodore of the P. & O. Steam Navigation Company

A pugnacious sort of character – who once decked an opponent with a single blow – he led the first team to reach the Polar Plateau, a pioneering breakthrough recounted in the pages of his Two Years in the Antarctic

But his achievement was somewhat undermined by a bitter bust-up with Scott over contractual arrangements, in the wake of which he pronounced his friend Shackleton as the real hero of the Golden Age of Exploration

British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (Albert B. Armitage); Polar Medal 1904, silver, 1 clasp, Antarctic 1902-04 (Lieut. A. B. Armitage, R.N.R. “Discovery”); Royal Naval Reserve Decoration, E.VII.R., reverse hallmarked 1909; together with the recipient’s Royal Geographical Society Scott Medal 1904, silver (Lieut. Albert B. Armitage, R.N.R.) good very fine (5) £30,000-£40,000

Albert Borlase Armitage was born at Balquhidder in the Perthshire Highlands on 2 July 1864, where his father - a doctor - had taken a house for the summer. Shortly afterwards the family settled in Scarborough where Armitage grew up with his six brothers and attended Clifton Villa School as a boarder from the age of six.

In his autobiography Cadet to Commodore, he relates how he fell out with one of his brothers, and later his father, and of his prowess as a boxer. By his own account he was a quick-tempered man and once, during a boxing bout on a P. & O. vessel, he went ‘berserk’ and felled a man with a massive blow to his heart.

His career in the merchant service commenced with his appointment as a cadet in the training ship Worcester in 1878 and he passed out at the end of the following year with a First-class Extra in Navigation and a First-class in Seamanship. Duly qualified, he undertook his first voyage in the cargo sailing ship Plassey, bound for Calcutta. On the return leg of his second voyage Plassey ran ashore in a storm near Sandgate, where she eventually broke up, still with some of the crew aboard.

Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition 1894-97

Armitage subsequently joined the P. & O. Company, his first trip being in the cargo-passenger ship Bokhara to the Far East. And it was through company channels that he was recommended for employment in the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition to Franz Joseph Land in the Arctic Ocean in 1894.

Having undertaken training at Kew Observatory, he was appointed second-in-command of the expedition, in which, over a period of three years, he took charge of the magnetic, meteorological and astronomical work and gained valuable experience in ice navigation and sledge travel.

Memorable and trail-blazing these three years in the wilds of the Arctic may have been, but they resulted in the loss of his seniority and promotion within the ranks of the P. & O. By way of compensation, however, he received the Murchison Grant of the Royal Geographical Society in 1898. Moreover, it was on account of knowledge accrued during the expedition that he was selected for the British National Antarctic Expedition 1901-04.

Scott’s First Expedition 1901-04

Sir Clements Markham and Scott both wanted the expedition to be manned entirely by members of the Royal Navy but Sir Alfred Harmsworth, who donated the large sum of £5,000 towards the expedition, made the condition that Armitage and Koettlitz - also of the Jackson-Harmworth Expedition - be included. Armitage got on very well with Scott during the preparations for the voyage and his R.N.R. rank of Lieutenant ensured that he was made second-in-command and Navigator of the Discovery. Cadet to Commodore takes up the story:

‘I went to see Scott, and dined with his mother and sister and him. I was charmed by him from the first. He said to me, “You will come with me, won’t you? I cannot do without you.”

I felt that we would be friends; I wanted to see the Antarctic; I consented to go, even though it was against my better reasoning. Scott had no experience of the work he was undertaking; I had three years’ knowledge of it. I was to be his adviser, a sort of dry-nurse, and knew enough of human nature to fear the result. I threw my reasoning aside. I will say at once that I never met a more delightful man than Scott to work with during our collaboration in the preparation of all matters in connection with the expedition.

We were the greatest of friends during those six months and for many months afterwards, until, indeed, the relief ship Morning left us after her first visit, in spite of the fact that I could not see eye to eye with him in regard to many things in the conduct of affairs. Athletic, brainy, with a keen, quick intelligence, great courage and charming manners, he had not to my mind that magnetic quality which could have made me follow him in all things. This I recognized from the beginning, and put forward certain suggestions for both Sir Clements Markham and Scott to consider before I signed the agreement. These they consented to. Had they been kept, all would have been well. They were apart from the official agreement signed by all members of the expedition, and were as follows:

My appointment was independent of Scott, although of course I was under his command. I was to be landed, if possible, with a hut and equipment sufficient for two years; eight men, including one of the surgeons, and a team of dogs. There was to be no restriction put on my sledging. My expedition was not to be more than fifty pounds per annum less than Scott’s. It was to commence when I left my P. & O. ship, and continue until I rejoined a P. & O. ship.

With the exception of the expedition pay, not one of these conditions was fulfilled.’

Here, then, the causes for Armitage’s falling out with Scott, not least his deep disappointment at having his sledging ambitions curtailed to just one major outing:

‘As I said, I went south. I was told off to find a pass between the lofty peaks of South Victoria Land, to the west, and gain the inland plateau if it existed. I did so, although he [Scott] did not believe I would find it … But he would not allow me to carry on my work: he did it himself, and refused to allow me or anyone else to attempt a further southern journey, saying that there was no use in it.’

His notable achievement in being the first to lead a team onto the Polar Plateau over the Western Mountains was later eclipsed by Scott, who sledged beyond Armitage’s furthest west, thereby creating further angst, since the latter wanted a second shot at it. Yet Armitage’s contribution to the overall aims of the expedition shone through:

‘I did what was in me to do. As Navigator I took the Discovery further east into the ice than any other craft had been in such a high latitude and determined the Barrier’s boundary in that direction – one of the principal objects of the expedition – as well as discovering King Edward’s Land. As Magnetic Observer at sea I helped in carrying out another of the main objects for which Discovery was built, and the chief reason for the Government grant. On shore, I made the pioneer journey to the summit of the ice-caps, obtaining practical proof of a continental area.’

On his return to the U.K., Armitage was paid off by the expedition but it took him nearly nine months to find an appointment with P. & O. Nor would the Admiralty sanction his promotion from Lieutenant in the R.N.R., claiming that he was not yet qualified for higher rank.

Facing financial difficulties, he commenced a flurry of ‘Discovery’ lectures around the country, in addition to working towards the publication of his Two Years in Antarctica, which title appeared in print in 1905. A row then ensued with Scott’s publishers because it had pre-empted the publication of his Discovery Expedition. According to Armitage, he and Scott later met up for lunch “and all was sunshine.” If so, they never met again.

As for Shackleton, whom Armitage much admired, there was a final, poignant meeting on the eve of his Quest expedition:

‘My brother went with me to visit the Quest, Shackleton’s little ship, then lying in the Thames. My old shipmate received us and personally conducted us over his small vessel with a world-renown. He was not the same old “Shackles”; he was jumpy and nervy and very ill-looking. When we drove away, we both agreed that Shackleton would probably never return. He not only looked ill; he looked “fey.” It was a great blow to me when I heard that he, that “Joyous Adventurer” of explorers, had gone under. He has left a record of pluck, determination and cheerfulness in all circumstances that is of priceless value to others. Dauntless, staunch, he was the knight-errant of Polar explorers.’

Subsequent career

Armitage was eventually given his own command, the Royal Mail Steamer Isis, carrying mails between Brindisi and Port Said, and such work made up for much of his remaining career at sea.

By the outbreak of the Great War, he was in command of the Salsette on the Bombay to Aden run, but her war work took her elsewhere. On 20 July 1917, she was torpedoed by the UB-40 south-west of Portland Bill, with a loss of 15 of her crew. Armitage was the last man to abandon ship, which went down bow first about 50 minutes after being hit. His next command was the Karmala, which was used to transport cargo and troops across the Atlantic and, later, for repatriating Australian soldiers.

Armitage’s final appointment was as captain of the mail steamer Mantua on the Bombay to China run and, after a career spanning over 40 years, he was appointed Commodore of the P. & O. Fleet in 1923. He retired a year later, aged 60, and died in October 1943.

Note: Armitage’s diaries of his time in the Antarctic were sold at auction for £36,000 in 2004.

Sold with original editions of Armitage’s Two Years in the Antarctic (Edward Arnold, London 1905), and Cadet to Commodore (Cassell and Company, 1925).