Introduction
In 1845, two ships — HMS Erebus and HMS Terror — set sail with 128 men to chart the Northwest Passage. Most of us know the name Sir John Franklin, but behind him stood carpenters, cooks, marines, and young sailors whose lives were nearly erased by the ice. This podcast episode takes you into their world — not through official reports, but through graves, spoons, scraps of paper, and the voices of Inuit memory.
Key Takeaways from the Episode
Beechey Island Graves
Three sailors — John Torrington, William Braine, and John Hartnell — were buried in the permafrost. Torrington’s body was so well preserved that his blue eyes were still visible a century later.
The Boat of Bones
On King William Island, searchers discovered a lifeboat abandoned on the ice, containing skeletons and personal belongings, including a pocket watch, combs, and chocolate. It told of desperate men clinging to fragments of normal life.
The Peglar Papers
A lone skeleton, likely that of Harry Peglar, was discovered with papers written partly in reverse. Delirium, code, or last attempt at leaving a voice? We may never know.
Inuit Memories
For generations, Inuit stories told of starving men dragging sleds, ships drifting in the ice, and makeshift camps. Those oral histories guided modern archaeologists to the wrecks of Erebus and Terror.
Closing
This is more than Franklin’s story. It is the story of ordinary men — their lives, their fragments, their silence in the snow.
Listen to the full episode above, and let the Arctic’s whispers carry you back into one of history’s most haunting mysteries.
