Jon Rae / Franklin

 I,ve just watched Ray mears in the Canadion arctic,an excellent documentry as usual.It,s about time somebody spoke out about the Franklin farce if only to make the point of how many good men were lost by his lack of leadership. He was already a failed Govenor of Australia. Then statues are erected to his "achievments. Again it was a Scot who did the business without recognition.Cheers.

I always think that some explorers or pioneers get overlooked while others get hyped. Until recent interest it was something similar to Scott and Shakleton.By this I mean Scott Died on his last expedition but Shackleton, although his expedition was a disaster, he got everyone out alive. Rae only had one death on his expeditions. The difference was Shackleton did not survive off the land in the local way because the Antartic has no locals to learn from of course. Plus he was more of the come prepared type. Although he had the adaptability of the pioneers that Ray Mears so admires. I wonder what Ray Mears thinks of Shackleton and that expedition. Although it is not bushcrafty expeditions I think he would admire the attitude of Shackleton and his men. I mean they had the right attitude for survival. Plus there were some really skilled people on the trip, experts in Antarctic exploration. In past programmes it is their kind of attitude that Mr Mears seems to admire.

Good programme and will be repeated shortly on BBC two I think.

I've watched it from the beginning of the series and it has been brilliant so far.  Some really interesting information coming out to show how the british people of the day helped to establish large companies in foreign countries and also how our history just does not do them the justice they deserve.

History from those days is down to the people writtenabout in those days. If you follow me. That means the society's whims. Hence Franklin not Rae was the hero of the time. It is only down to a few carefully researched programmes or books that other heroes come to the fore of our imaginations. I prefer Shackleton to Scott and Rae to FRanklin. It is the quiet person who just gets on with it that often gets ignored and Rae just got on with it, whatever his masters at the Bay company dictate.

If you liked the series may I recommend:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Mariner-Ken-McGoogan/dp/055381642X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258701658&sr=1-5

superb book, got it as a pressie a few years back.

if john rae had been a bit more diplomatic and hushed up the 'cannibalism' at least for a while after the discovery maybe victorian england would have treated him differently and history wouldn't have ignored his achievements

I can understand why his bluntness didn't go down well with franklin's widow and victorian genteel society 

bad enough to learn that her husband was dead yet alone that he and his companions had resorted to eating each other in an attempt to survive

enjoyed the programme

good on ray mears for telling the 'true' story and reviving john rae's memory