LAKELAND-based TV adventurer Paul Rose has retraced the footsteps of a ‘forgotten’ Antarctic hero for a moving documentary.

In the BBC programme, to be screened next week, Mr Rose reveals the remarkable life of Frank Wild, Britain’s most decorated polar explorer.

The diminutive Yorkshireman took part in five Antarctic expeditions with Captain Robert Scott, Douglas Mawson, and Sir Ernest Shackleton.

But while the expedition leaders became household names, Wild’s part in their exploits was forgotten.

Now his reputation as a resourceful and courageous right-hand man – he played a crucial part in ensuring the survival of Shackleton’s crew in the ill-fated Endurance expedition of 1914 – is about to be restored.

In Frank Wild: Forgotten Hero, Mr Rose, himself a polar explorer, reveals how Wild never lost his devotion to Shackleton, and always said he wanted to be laid to rest alongside his former leader, who was buried on South Georgia in the southern Atlantic.

Plans were made to send Wild’s ashes to the island after his death in 1939, but the Second World War intervened. As the decades passed his ashes were lost.

However, they were rediscovered last year by writer Angie Butler in a Johannesburg cemetery and, in an emotional climax to Mr Rose’s programme, the remains were finally buried next to Shackleton’s grave.

“It was a very moving experience for me,” Mr Rose told The Westmorland Gazette.

“He was my great hero and it was a real privilege to be part of the ceremony on South Georgia.”

The documentary, made in conjunction with the Royal Geographical Society and due to be screened on BBC2 on April 22, tells how Wild, who was born near Whitby, ran away to sea as a teenager.

He became a polar explorer after answering a newspaper advert for Scott’s first Antarctic expedition, before eventually joining Shackleton.

“He was a true great.

“He stood shoulder to shoulder with Shackleton,” said Mr Rose.

“They were like brothers-in-arms. They made the perfect team. With Shackleton’s great leadership skills, and Frank’s cool head and experience, they were able to handle almost anything that the Antarctic could throw at them.

“When Shackleton rowed off with a few men to get help after the Endurance was crushed by ice, it was Wild who kept the remaining crew going.

“They survived on a diet of raw penguin, seals and sea-weed before they were rescued four months later.”

Wild’s polar career ended in 1922 after Shackleton’s sudden death from a heart attack.

“His leader’s death left him bereft and a broken man,” said Mr Rose.

“He tried to make his fortune in South Africa, but his businesses weren’t successful and he ended up working as a barman.

“It was a sad end to a remarkable life.”