Images of Captain Scott's 1912 south pole expedition fail to sell at auction

The pictures were taken on Captain Scott's doomed 1910-13 Antarctic expedition

Photographic slides of Captain Scott's doomed 1910-13 Antarctic expedition have failed to sell at auction.

The 38 images, which include Scott's last birthday, killer whales and frost-bitten hands, were taken by expedition photographer Herbert Ponting.

Capt Robert Scott and his five-man team died in 1912 after being beaten to the south pole by a Norwegian team.

Wiltshire auctioneers Henry Aldridge expected the lot to fetch between £400-£600 but said it would be re-auctioned.

Ponting was not part of the team to push to the south pole.

He survived an attack by killer whales that almost cost him his life and returned to civilisation. He died in 1935.

The images were taken by Herbert Ponting, the expedition's main photographer

Along with shots of Capt Lawrence Oates and Scott's last birthday, there are slides of the photographer being attacked by whales, and the Terra Nova - the ship that took the men to their destination

Capt Scott reached the south pole on 17 January 1912, but all five members of the expedition died on the way back

The 38 slides - held in a period wooden box - were expected to fetch between £400 and £600 but failed to sell

Captain Scott equipped for his last journey to the south pole

Scott of the Antarctic

• Born on 8 June 1868 in Plymouth, Robert Falcon Scott became a naval cadet at 13 and served on a number of Royal Navy vessels

• He commanded an Antarctic expedition in 1901 and the crew - including Ernest Shackleton - reached further south than anyone previously

• He returned a national hero and, determined to reach the south pole, spent years raising funds for a return

• Scott's crew set off from base camp in October 1911 but were famously beaten by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian team - by 33 days

• All five died on their return. A search party found Scott's tent, diary and three bodies in late 1912. Scott was thought to be the last to die