Posted by Paul Mackness on January 10, 2014 at 03:47:36 user PaulM.
In Reply to: Re: Captain Flint posted by Adam Quinan on January 10, 2014 at 03:23:08:
Shackleton's expedition over-ran due to losing his ship and having to get away and then go back for his crew, all of which took a long time and was overtaken by the war. I don't think an Englishman anywhere in the world could have been totally unaware of WW1 - even an isolated prospector would need to get supplies from somewhere sometimes and word would filter through with old newspapers.
That Flint was qualified (presumably) to captain a schooner and also knowledgeable about mineral prospecting makes me think he might have been in the merchant navy for a while and left it to go off on the first of his 'wild goose chases'.