Charles Green (cook)
| Charles Green | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
November 24, 1888 Richmond, Surrey |
| Died |
September 26, 1974 (aged 85) Hull, England |
| Occupation | Ship's Cook |
Charles Green (also known as Charlie) (24 November 1888 – 26 September 1974) was a British Ship's cook, who took part in Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition as the cook for the Weddell sea party on board the Endurance. The son of a master baker, Charles learnt to bake, but ran away at the age of 22 to join the Merchant Navy.[1] Whilst in Buenos Aires onboard the Andes in October 1914, he heard word that Shackleton had fired the expedition's cook, for drunkenness, and was subsequently hired.
During the expedition, Green was assisted by Able Seaman Perce Blackborow, who had come onboard as a stowaway. When the ship sank after being trapped in the Antarctic ice, he continued to cook for the crew during their camps on the Antarctic ice, with much more limited equipment and the use of a blubber stove. A few days after the crew arrived on Elephant Island, Green collapsed from exhaustion, and was ordered to rest until he recovered.
After the crew were rescued, Green returned to England, where he joined the Royal Navy as a cook, taking part in the war. He was wounded in August 1918 whilst serving on the Destroyer H.M.S. Wakeful, and re-joined the Merchant Navy in 1919.
Green was invited to re-join Shackleton on another expedition to Antarctica, the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition, along with many other crew members from Endurance. During this trip, Shackleton gave Green a set of lantern-slides, before his death shortly after arrival at South Georgia. The expedition continued without Shackleton, but was not a great success.
After returning to England in 1922, Green once again rejoined the Merchant Navy, working onboard a variety of ships. Using his lantern slides, he gave many talks about the Endurance mission at ports around the World, and continued to give these lectures after retiring from the Navy in 1931.
He became a Fire Watcher during World War II within the city of Hull.
Green was one of the last surviving members of the Endurance crew, and attended the 50th Anniversary reunion in 1964 with the two remaining survivors.[2]
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