'On 17 March, his 32nd birthday, Oates spoke the unforgettable words: "I am just going outside and may be some time."'

95 years ago this week, Scott of the Antarctic wrote "Great God this an awful place". Andrew Chapman explores the ill-fated history.

Robert Falcon Scott was born in Devon in 1868. He joined the navy when only 13 and after 10 years became an engineering lieutenant specialising in torpedoes.

His first famous voyage was the Discovery expedition of 1901-1904, which explored the Ross Sea and other areas around Antarctica. His third lieutenant was Ernest Shackleton, and some biographers have claimed the voyage was characterised by intense rivalry between them (though this is disputed by Ranulph Fiennes. Whatever the truth, Shackleton was left behind when Scott hit a new record for the furthest south to be reached. This voyage also led to the first ever photographs of emperor penguins.

In 1910, Scott set off on a second expedition to the Antarctic, in the Terra Nova, and this time determined to reach the South Pole. This is of course the southernmost point on the surface of the earth. It's become much less of a challenge now, and there's even a webcam there running all the time, and you can go on a virtual tour on the internet.

After he had left, Scott learnt that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was also heading south, despite having given the impression previously that he was heading for the North Pole. Amundsen met Scott on the way and shared his base with some of Scott's men - but a race was also clearly under way.

Scott's team consisted of Henry Bowers, Dr Edward Wilson, Edgar Evans and Captain Lawrence Oates. They reached the pole on 17 January - to discover Amundsen had been there a month beforehand. At this point, the voyage unravelled and each of them died.

Evans was first, after an injury in a fall. Captain Oates lost a foot to frostbite but the group slowed down for him. On 17 March, his 32nd birthday, Oates spoke the unforgettable words: "I am just going outside and may be some time." His sleeping bag was found later, but never his body.

Six months later, Scott's tent was found containing the bodies of the other three (not to be confused with Scott's hut which is still there to this day). It was only 11 miles from a supply depot. Inside were collections of rock samples, diaries, letters (including a moving one from Scott to his widow, now going on public display) and a 'message to the public' from Scott (later set to music by Vaughan Williams). Scott's journal can be read online, as well as an early account by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, who was among the team that found the tent.

Since then the story has gone down in history as a classic tale of the British underdog. It was immortalised in a 1948 film, Scott of the Antarctic, starring John Mills. Explorers are running out of untouched places, but this month there is a quest by three British men to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility - the very centre of Antarctica. Let's hope they arrive and get home again safely.