A photograph of Captain Oates has sold at Bonhams, Knightsbridge, for £10,625, more than doubling the initial pre-sale estimate of £3,000-£4,000.

The photograph, by Herbert George Ponting, depicts the bleak surroundings faced by the teams which raced to the North Pole.

Captain Oates, who was born in 1880 in south London and lived in Upper Richmond Road, Putney, served in the army before eventually applying to become a part of Robert Falcon Scott’s ‘Terra Nova’ expedition in 1910.

After reaching the pole on the January 18, 1912, second to the Norwegian team, the men began the fatal return journey.

When the first casualty occurred on February 17, Cpt Oates was then the team's main concern as he was suffering from relentless frostbite.

On March 16, he awoke and informed the others that he was going outside and may be some time, aware of his hindrance to the group’s progress.

In an act of self-sacrifice to save his team, he wandered into the snow and was never found.

A blue heritage plaque lies on his former Putney home, opposite the junction with Dryburgh Road.