Lashly was one of the last person to see Captain Robert Scott and his companions alive. He was a member of the last three-man support party to be sent back to base camp on January 4, 1912 during the final push to the South Pole. He and his colleague Petty Officer Tom Crean both received the Albert Medal following a heroic 730-mile return journey during which they pulled Lieutenant ‘Teddy’ Evans, stricken by scurvy, on a sled for days.
Lashly's medals were sold around 20 years ago by the vendor’s father, forgetting at the time he had these extra pieces. They comprised an embossed silvered copper memorial plaque in an ebonised frame headed Antarctic Expedition, a copy of the book South with Scott written by Evans and dedicated to Lashly and Crean plus the probate of the Lashy’s will.
Plaques of this type, made c.1913, do occasionally come to market. The four scenes (based on photos that appeared in the Daily Mirror) show the Terra Nova at sail, the polar party with a sled; the five-man party at the Pole; plus the burial place of Scott, Wilson and Bowers. They are quartered by a central ‘boss’ depicting the ship’s cat and corner medallions of Scott, his wife Kathleen, their son Peter, and another view of the Scott monument.
Two of these were included in the Scott and Amundsen Centenary sale at Bonhams in March 2012. One made in silver for Kathleen Scott sold at £5000 while another in electroplate made £500.
The example at Lockdales’ sale on September 24 was not in great condition but, including its other elements, sold well above the guide of £150-200 to bring £2700 (£3283 including premium).
