“One night I had an absurd dream. I dreamed that Burlington Street was full of ice blocks and that I was navigating a ship along it.

“Next morning I awoke and hurried along to Burlington Street. A sign on a door caught my eye. It bore the words Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

“I turned into the building, Shackleton was there, and after a few minutes’ conversation he announced, You’re Engaged.”

[And so New Zealander Frank Worsley was hired to captain The Endurance. Shackleton’s Expedition offices were at 4, New Burlington Street.]