Lieutenant Colonel Eric Marshall (29 May 1879 – 26 February 1963) was a British

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

doctor and

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

explorer with the Nimrod Expedition led by

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarcti ...

in 1907–09, and was one of the party of four men (Marshall, Shackleton,

Jameson Adams Sir Jameson Boyd Adams (6 March 1880 – 30 April 1962) was a British Antarctic explorer and Royal Naval Reserve officer. He participated in the Nimrod expedition, ''Nimrod'' expedition, the first expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in an ...

and Frank Wild) who reached Furthest South at on 9 January 1909.

Biography

Born in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, on 29 May 1879, he was educated at Monkton Combe School,

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and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, before qualifying as a surgeon from St Bartholomew's Hospital. Marshall met Shackleton in 1906 at a house party in London. Shackleton told him about the proposed expedition to the South Pole and suggested Marshall go on a training course on surveying and then he could become the expedition's surgeon, surveyor and cartographer as well as the principal photographer. According to Leif Mills, who has written about the two men in ''Polar Friction: the relationship between Marshall and Shackleton, 2012'', Marshall was "an indispensable member of Shackleton's expedition; yet on the voyage down from New Zealand to Antarctica, during the long Antarctic winter at their base at Cape Royds and on the actual southern journey, Marshall constantly criticised Shackleton in his diary, sometimes in almost vitriolic language, and seemed to have nothing but contempt for him." Marshall maintained his criticism of Shackleton throughout his life, referring to him as 'the biggest mountebank of the century' in one letter held at the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

dated 30 August 1956. Marshall joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in April 1915. He was mentioned in despatches by Sir

Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...

, Commander in Chief of the British Armies in France and Flanders in April 1916 for service at Ypres and for service at the Somme in May 1917. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in January 1918. By the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he had attained the rank of acting major. In autumn 1918, Marshall was posted to Archangel in northern Russia as a member of the British North Russian Expeditionary Force, serving as a senior medical officer at

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

. For his services there he was appointed Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

and awarded the Russian Order of St Stanislaus.Damien Wright. ''Shackleton's men in the Arctic: polar explorers and Arctic warfare in North Russia 1918-19''. Orders & Medals Research Society Journal, September 2017, page 197. Marshall married Enid in 1922. In the 1930s the family moved to Kenya, where he practised farming for a few years before returning to England. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Marshall rejoined the Royal Army Medical Corps and achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After the War ended, Marshall joined the Ministry of Pensions as a medical officer. When he retired he and his wife moved to Yarmouth in the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. He died on 26 February 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Eric 1879 births 1963 deaths British Army personnel of the Russian Civil War British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British explorers of Antarctica People educated at Monkton Combe School Recipients of the Military Cross Royal Army Medical Corps officers Military personnel from Surrey