107 years ago, the ship of legendary Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, the Endurance, was crushed by the ice pack and went down in the Weddell Sea. On the 100th anniversary of the "Boss's" burial, she was found, and surely one of the finest maritime archaeological discoveries in history.
Impeccably preserved at a depth of 10,000 feet on the seabed far below where she went down in 1915. She had been icebound, crushed, and the 28-man crew left stranded on the icepack - it was the start of one of the most incredible and epic tales of human bravery, leadership, loyalty, and survival of all time.
#ColdCOURAGE #ExtraordinaryTIMES tells this amazing story like never before.
Indie author, writer, and storyteller Willy Mitchell captures the imagination as he recalls a meeting with his Grandad, and fellow Glaswegian, Harry McNish portside in New Zealand.
The two become friends, for a time, and the Endurance carpenter, McNish tells his story of he and Mrs. Chippy and makes Mitchell promise to share it with the world one day.
"Seeing the Endurance, immaculately preserved in its icy grave, the memories of the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition come flooding back. She proudly boasts the name, emblazoned and glistening, The Endurance."
Mitchell's book, Cold COURAGE tells the human side of the story - the friendship between Shackleton and Frank Wild to the trials of Shackleton's marriage. The gathering of the crew, their backgrounds, dreams, and aspirations. The stories of fun and camaraderie even in the most hostile of conditions - the dog sleigh Day At The Races, while stranded on the ice.
The epic journey on the James Caird - 800 miles in a lifeboat with just the use of a sextant for navigation across some of the most dangerous oceans on the planet to find a needle in a haystack in the attempt to get rescued.
4 months after James Caird left Elephant Island, Shackleton, Worsley, and big Tom Crean returned to pick up the crew and take them back to England where they all joined in the final months of the war efforts of World War I.
According to legend, in 1913, Shackleton posts a classified ad in the London Times:
MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY, SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS.The advertisement attracts nearly 5,000 applicants - surely a sign of those extraordinary times in the golden age of expeditions and discovery.
"Powerful storytelling, which paints the epic Trans-Antarctic Expedition in the context of historic milestimes. This is a page-turner of note."
Cold COURAGE is available at most online retail stores including Amazon:
Willy Mitchell is an indie author, writer, and storyteller.
Mitchell's first title was Operation ARGUS, and then the sequel Bikini BRAVO where a group of former Special Air Service operatives enter the dark and murky world of maskirovka and discover the lengths that some people will go to for power and greed.
Cold COURAGE tells the epic tale of Shackleton's 1914 Trans-Antarctic Expedition and all that was happening in those extraordinary times.
Book four, Northern ECHO tells the story of two boys growing up during the punk rock revolution in the north of England, and how a dark secret keeps them apart until the end.
Gipsy MOTH is about his Aunt Nikki, her friend, and fellow Aviatrix, Amy Johnson, and Amelia Earhart on the other side of the pond during the golden age of aviation.
SS INDIGO is due to be released by the end of 2021 and tells the story of a group of eclectic guests invited by a mysterious billionaire to a luxury cruise on the Caribbean, they all have one thing in common.
All of Mitchell's books so far are novels, works of fiction, blended with real events. For further information or how to buy his books, visit his author website: