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60 free Robert Falcon Scott trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Robert Falcon Scott trivia quiz follows Captain Scott from a Plymouth brewer's son and teenage naval cadet to the Discovery Expedition — the 82°S record with Shackleton and Wilson, the Polar Plateau, the ship blasted from the ice — and on through his marriage to Kathleen Bruce, the row with Shackleton and the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910. It covers the motor sledges, Manchurian ponies and dogs, One Ton Depot, Amundsen's telegram and black flag, the five-man polar party, the deaths of Evans and Oates, the final camp 12.5 miles from safety, the diary and Message to the Public, the search party, the fossils, the memorials, John Mills's film, Roland Huntford's attack and the modern rehabilitation. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation. Enjoy this one? Try our Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton and Antarctica quizzes next.
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Q 01What was Robert Falcon Scott's profession before he became an explorer?
Royal Navy officer
He entered HMS Britannia as a 13-year-old cadet in 1881 and rose to captain after the Discovery Expedition.
Q 02How many expeditions to the Antarctic did Scott lead?
Two
The Discovery Expedition of 1901-04 and the Terra Nova Expedition of 1910-13.
Q 03On what date did the five-man polar party arrive at the South Pole?
17 January 1912
They found Amundsen's tent and a letter dated 18 December waiting for them.
Q 04Where was Scott born in 1868?
Near Devonport, Plymouth
His father John was a brewer and magistrate whose later financial ruin left the family dependent on Scott's naval pay.
Q 05Which Royal Geographical Society president backed Scott to lead the Discovery Expedition?
Clements Markham
He had first noticed Scott as an 18-year-old midshipman winning a cutter race in St Kitts in 1887.
Q 06What southern record did Scott, Shackleton and Wilson set on the Discovery Expedition?
Latitude 82°17'S
They were still about 530 miles from the Pole, and Shackleton's physical collapse saw him sent home early.
Q 07What feature did Scott's 'western journey' of the Discovery Expedition discover?
The Polar Plateau
The South Pole itself sits on the plateau; the trek has been called 'one of the great polar journeys'.
Q 08What was needed to free the ship Discovery from the ice at the end of the expedition?
Two relief ships and explosives
Built in Dundee and launched in 1901, Discovery was the last traditional wooden three-master built in Britain.
Q 09Which crew member died in March 1902 after slipping over a precipice in a blizzard?
George Vince
The party had left their tent during the storm; scurvy also plagued the expedition.
Q 10Whom did Scott marry at Hampton Court's Chapel Royal in September 1908?
Kathleen Bruce, a sculptor
She had studied under Rodin and moved in circles including Picasso and Aleister Crowley.
Q 11What did Scott's only son, Peter, go on to found?
The World Wide Fund for Nature
Peter Markham Scott, born in 1909, also designed the WWF's panda logo and set up the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
Q 12Scott insisted the McMurdo Sound area was his own 'field of work' in a dispute with whom?
Ernest Shackleton
Shackleton promised to base himself east of 170°W but, finding nowhere to land, set up at Cape Royds anyway.
Q 13From which port did the Terra Nova sail on 15 June 1910?
Cardiff
Scott joined the old converted whaler later in South Africa after fundraising in Britain.
Q 21What did Scott's written orders of 20 October 1911 instruct the dog teams to do?
Come south to meet the polar party around 1 March
Their rediscovery in the 21st century helped rehabilitate Scott's reputation as a planner.
Q 22On what date did the march south from Cape Evans begin?
1 November 1911
Motors, dogs and ponies moved at different rates, all to support a final dash by a small party.
Q 23How many men did Scott finally choose for the Pole, instead of the planned four?
Five
Teddy Evans, William Lashly and Tom Crean were sent back at 87°34'S on 4 January 1912.
Q 14What did Scott state was the main objective of the Terra Nova Expedition?
To reach the South Pole for the British Empire
Markham said Scott had been 'bitten by the Pole mania'; the RGS had hoped science would come first.
Q 15What telegram did Scott receive from Amundsen in Melbourne in October 1910?
'Beg leave to inform you Fram proceeding Antarctic'
It was the first hint that Scott faced a race to the Pole.
Q 16Which forms of transport did Scott take south besides man-hauling?
Motor sledges, ponies and dogs
One motor sledge broke through the sea ice and sank while being unloaded at Cape Evans.
Q 17Where were the expedition's ponies bought, on Scott's orders?
Manchuria
Dog expert Cecil Meares chose them in Siberia; not being a horse-dealer, he picked mostly poor animals.
Q 18How many days was the Terra Nova trapped in pack ice on the way south?
20
Combined with a near-sinking in a storm, it meant a late arrival and less time to prepare before winter.
Q 19How far short of its planned 80°S position was One Ton Depot laid?
35 miles
Oates urged Scott to kill ponies for food and push on; Scott refused, and Oates warned he would regret it.
Q 20Where had Amundsen made his base, well to the east of Scott's?
The Bay of Whales
It was 69 miles closer to the Pole, and his cold-tolerant dogs could start earlier than Scott's ponies.
Q 24What did the polar party spot in the distance the day before reaching the Pole?
Amundsen's black flag
Scott wrote in his diary: 'The worst has happened... Great God! This is an awful place'.
Q 25Which member of the polar party was the first to die, at the foot of the Beardmore?
Edgar Evans
Falls on 4 and 17 February left him 'dull and incapable'; he died on the second date.
Q 26What were the reported last words of the officer who walked out into the blizzard?
'I am just going outside and may be some time'
He walked to his death in a blizzard on 16 March 1912, his 32nd birthday, to give the others a chance.
Q 27How far short of One Ton Depot was the final camp of Scott, Wilson and Bowers?
About 12.5 miles
A blizzard pinned them down from 20 March; Scott's last diary entry is dated 29 March.
Q 28To what temperature had it unexpectedly dropped by 10 March 1912?
Below -40 °C
Meteorologist Susan Solomon's The Coldest March argues this freak weather, not bungling, doomed the party.
Q 29What were the concluding words of Scott's final diary entry?
'For God's sake look after our people'
He is presumed to have died on 29 March 1912, apparently the last of the three.
Q 30Which document did Scott write to vindicate the expedition's conduct?
The Message to the Public
It blamed weather and misfortune, and ended by asking a 'great rich country' to provide for the dependents.