Captain Oates: the Local Boy Who Became a National Hero
Hugh Thompson to give illustrated talk at Putney Library
Laurence “Titus” Oates
September 13, 2024
Ex Times journalist Hugh Thompson is to give an illustrated talk at Putney Library
Most people have heard of Captain Oates but his connections with Putney are less well known.
Ex-Times journalist Hugh Thompson is to give an illustrated talk on the subject at Putney Library on Wednesday 25 September.
Hugh says, “On his 32nd birthday, 17 March 1912, his sacrifice in going out to die so Robert Falcon Scott’s Antarctic expedition would have a better chance of success was seen as the gesture a true Englishman with the Right Stuff would make. It is a gesture which still brings a tear to some eyes; a gesture as pointless as it was noble and an example to the million others who would in 1914-18 also lay down their lives for honour, glory and Empire. Here we look at his story. Sixty years after Oates died, the astronauts going to the moon also had to have the Right Stuff. Did Oates?”
Hugh looks at his links with the Putney area as well as how this calvary man ended up in the race to the South Pole. He considers what kind of man was Laurence “Titus” Oates and why is his death and the failure to win this race still so controversial
The talk, which has been organised by The Friends of Putney Library begins at 6.30pm with refreshments from 6.00 pm.
Local historian Phil Evison has converted some of his most popular Putney Library talks into illustrated articles, in PDF form:
- Putney’s Burial Grounds,
- The Roehampton Mounting Block
- Notable Graves in Putney Vale Cemetery
- The Story of Putney's Cinemas
- Putney's 'Great Houses'
If you’d like a copy of any of them, email Phil at: philipevison0@gmail.com
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