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42-623: Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 1888 – 30 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins , was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist , pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross after he assumed command of a group of American soldiers who had lost their officers during the Battle of the Hindenburg Line , and became

84-415: A $ 20,000 loan. Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst purchased exclusive rights to the story for $ 61,000. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute contributed a further $ 35,000. Wilkins himself added $ 25,000 of his own money. Since Wilkins was not a U.S. citizen, he was unable to purchase the 1918 submarine scheduled to be decommissioned, but he was permitted to lease the vessel for a period of five years at

126-465: A cost of one dollar annually from Lake & Danenhower, Inc. The submarine was the disarmed O-12 , and was commanded by Sloan Danenhower (former commanding officer of C-4 .) Wilkins renamed her Nautilus , after Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea . The submarine was outfitted with a custom-designed drill that would allow her to bore through ice pack overhead for ventilation. The crew of eighteen men

168-469: A more favorable time, and with a better boat." Wilkins ended the first expedition to the poles in a submarine and headed for England, but was forced to take refuge in the port of Bergen , Norway, because of a fierce storm that they encountered en route. The Nautilus suffered serious damage that made further use of the vessel unfeasible. Wilkins received permission from the United States Navy to sink

210-806: A solemn memorial ceremony conducted by Skate shortly after surfacing, the ashes of Sir Hubert Wilkins were scattered at the North Pole in accordance with his last wishes." The Wilkins Sound , Wilkins Coast , the Wilkins Runway aerodrome and the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica are named after him, as are the airport at Jamestown, South Australia , and Sir Hubert Wilkins Road at Adelaide Airport . The majority of Wilkins's papers and effects are archived at The Ohio State University Byrd Polar Research Center . A species of Australian skink , Lerista wilkinsi ,

252-515: A trans-Arctic crossing from Point Barrow, Alaska , to Spitsbergen , arriving about 20 hours later on 16 April, touching along the way at Grant Land on Ellesmere Island . For this feat and his prior work, Wilkins was knighted, and during the ensuing celebration in New York, he met an Australian actress, Suzanne Bennett , whom he later married. Now financed by William Randolph Hearst , Wilkins continued his polar explorations, flying over Antarctica in

294-478: A trans-Arctic expedition involving a submarine . Wilkins said the expedition was meant to conduct a "comprehensive meteorology study" and collect "data of academic and economic interest". He also anticipated Arctic weather stations and the potential to forecast Arctic weather "several years in advance". Wilkins believed a submarine could take a fully equipped laboratory into the Arctic. Ellsworth contributed $ 70,000, plus

336-485: A traveling cinema , to Sydney as a cinematographer, and thence to England where he became a pioneering aerial photographer whilst working for Gaumont Studios. His photographic skill earned him a place on various Arctic expeditions, including the controversial 1913 Vilhjalmur Stefansson -led Canadian Arctic Expedition. In 1917, Wilkins returned to his native Australia, joining the Australian Flying Corps in

378-715: Is granted in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land" to all members of the British Armed Forces of any rank. In 1979, Queen Elizabeth II approved a proposal that a number of awards, including the Military Cross, could be recommended posthumously. The award was created on 28 December 1914 for commissioned officers of the substantive rank of captain or below and for warrant officers . The first 98 awards were gazetted on 1 January 1915, to 71 officers, and 27 warrant officers. Although posthumous recommendations for

420-523: Is named after him, as is a species of rock wallaby, Petrogale wilkinsi , first described in 2014. He is briefly portrayed by actor John Dease in the film Smithy (1946). Military Cross The Military Cross ( MC ) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces , and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC

462-618: Is named in his honor. A peak in the West-Central Alaska Range is also named in his honor. An elementary school on Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota is named after him as well as Ben Eielson High School on Eielson Air Force Base outside of North Pole, Alaska , and Carl Ben Eielson Middle School in Fargo, North Dakota . The Carl Ben Eielson House in Hatton, North Dakota is listed on

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504-616: The Nanuk , a cargo vessel trapped in the ice at North Cape (now Mys Shmidta ). Their bodies were discovered on February 18, 1930. Carl Benjamin Eielson School and the Liberty ship SS Carl B. Eielson are named in his honor, as is Mount Eielson and the new visitor center at Denali National Park and Preserve . The Carl Ben Eielson Memorial Building on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus

546-604: The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross . The Military Cross was designed by Henry Farnham Burke , while its ribbon was created by Victoria Ponsonby, Baroness Sysonby . In the Medal Yearbook 2015 it is described as follows: Since 1914, over 52,000 Military Crosses and 3,717 bars have been awarded. The dates below reflect the relevant London Gazette entries: In addition, approximately 375 MCs have been awarded since 1979, including awards for Northern Ireland ,

588-744: The Falklands , and the wars in the Persian Gulf , Iraq , and Afghanistan . The above table includes awards to the Dominions: Carl Ben Eielson In 1997 Carl Ben Eielson was inducted into the North Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame. Carl Benjamin Eielson was born in Hatton, North Dakota to Norwegian immigrant parents. His interest in aviation went back to his childhood. Following

630-812: The National Register of Historic Places . In 1929, he was awarded the Harmon Trophy . In 1984, Carl Ben Eielson was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine held each year during Norsk Høstfest Scandinavian festival in Minot, N.D. In 1985, he was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio . In 1997, Carl Ben Eielson

672-543: The San Francisco . He named the island of Hearst Land after his sponsor, and Hearst thanked Wilkins by giving him and his bride a flight aboard Graf Zeppelin . Wilkins was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1930. In 1930 Wilkins and his wife, Suzanne, were vacationing with a wealthy friend and colleague Lincoln Ellsworth . During this outing Wilkins and Ellsworth hammered out plans for

714-771: The University of North Dakota . During the winter of 1919–20, he and others founded the Hatton Aero Club, the first flying club in North Dakota. After graduating from the university in 1921, he enrolled at Georgetown Law School (now Georgetown University ) in Washington, D.C. Working part-time as a police officer at the Capitol, he met the Alaska Territory 's delegate to the Congress , Daniel Sutherland , who persuaded Ben to go to Alaska to teach secondary school. Eielson soon became

756-534: The 1993 review of the honours system , as part of the drive to remove distinctions of rank in awards for bravery the Military Medal , formerly the third-level decoration for other ranks , was discontinued. The MC is now the third-level award for all ranks of the British Armed Forces for "exemplary gallantry" on land, not to the standard required to receive the Victoria Cross (for "the most conspicuous bravery") or

798-478: The Australian war records unit. Wilkins's work frequently led him into the thick of the fighting and during the Battle of the Hindenburg Line he assumed command of a group of American soldiers who had lost their officers in an earlier attack, directing them until support arrived. Wilkins was subsequently awarded a bar to his Military Cross in the 1919 Birthday Honours . When Australian WWI general Sir John Monash

840-614: The Cross were entitled to use the post-nominal letters MC, and bars could be awarded for further acts of gallantry meriting the award, with a silver rosette worn on the ribbon when worn alone to denote the award of each bar. From September 1916, members of the Royal Naval Division , who served alongside the Army on the Western Front , were made eligible for military decorations, including

882-527: The Military Cross were unavailable until 1979, the first awards included seven posthumous awards, with the word 'deceased' after the name of the recipient, from recommendations that had been raised before the recipients died of wounds or died from other causes. Awards are announced in The London Gazette , apart from most honorary awards to allied forces in keeping with the usual practice not to gazette awards to foreigners. From August 1916, recipients of

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924-460: The Military Cross, for the war's duration. Naval officers serving with the division received 140 MCs and eight second award bars. In June 1917, eligibility was extended to temporary majors , not above the substantive rank of captain. Substantive majors were made eligible in 1953. In 1931, the award was extended to equivalent ranks in the Royal Air Force for actions on the ground. After

966-659: The Second World War, most Commonwealth countries created their own honours system and no longer recommended British awards. The last Military Cross awards for the Canadian Army were for Korea. The last four Australian Army Military Cross awards were promulgated in The London Gazette on 1 September 1972 for Vietnam as was the last New Zealand Army Military Cross award, which was promulgated on 25 September 1970. Canada , Australia and New Zealand have now created their own gallantry awards under their own honours systems. Since

1008-454: The bird life of Northern Australia. This ornithology project occupied his life until 1925. His work was greatly acclaimed by the museum but derided by Australian authorities because of the sympathetic treatment afforded to Indigenous Australians and criticisms of the ongoing environmental damage in the country. In March 1927, Wilkins and pilot Carl Ben Eielson explored the drift ice north of Alaska, touching down upon it in Eielson's airplane in

1050-601: The book's publication in 1955, he 'carried the massive work on his long travels, even to the Antarctic' and told associates that it was his religion. On 16 March 1958, Wilkins appeared as a guest on the TV panel show What's My Line? Wilkins died in Framingham, Massachusetts , on 30 November 1958. The US Navy later took his ashes to the North Pole aboard the submarine USS Skate on 17 March 1959. The Navy confirmed on 27 March that, "In

1092-561: The drift ice north of Alaska. They touched down in Eielson's airplane in the first land-plane descent onto drift ice. In April 1928, Eielson and Wilkins flew across the Arctic Ocean in the first flight from North America over the North Pole to Europe . The flight, from Point Barrow to Spitsbergen , covered 3,540 km (2,200 mi) and took 20 hours. When Eielson accompanied Wilkins on an Antarctic expedition later in 1928, they became

1134-460: The entry of the United States into World War I , Eielson found his chance to become an aviator. Eielson learned to fly in the U.S. Army Air Service in 1917. In January 1918 he enlisted in the newly formed aviation section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps . World War I ended while Eielson was in flight training. Eielson returned to North Dakota to help in his father's store and finish his degree at

1176-401: The first land-plane descent onto drift ice. Soundings taken at the landing site indicated a water depth of 16,000 feet, and Wilkins hypothesized from the experience that future Arctic expeditions would take advantage of the wide expanses of open ice to use aircraft in exploration. In December 1928, Wilkins and Eielson took off from Deception Island, one of Antarctic's most remote islands, and made

1218-684: The first men to fly over both polar regions of the world in the same year. During the Antarctic summer of 1928–1929, Eielson and Wilkins made air explorations of the Antarctic , charting several islands which were previously unknown. After his return from the Arctic flight, Eielson was asked to establish Alaskan Airways, a subsidiary of the Aviation Corporation of America . In 1929, Eielson died alongside his mechanic Earl Borland in an air crash in Siberia while attempting to evacuate furs and personnel from

1260-666: The first successful airplane flight over the continent. Wilkins was the first recipient of the Samuel Finley Breese Morse Medal , which was awarded to him by the American Geographical Society in 1928. He was also awarded the Royal Geographical Society 's Patron's Medal the same year. On 15 April 1928, a year after Charles Lindbergh 's flight across the Atlantic, Wilkins and Eielson made

1302-486: The harbor. Wilkins was undaunted and drove on with preparations for a series of test cruises and dives before they were to undertake their trans-Arctic voyage. Wilkins and his crew made their way up the Hudson River to Yonkers, eventually reaching New London, Connecticut , where additional modifications and test dives were performed. Satisfied with the performance of both the machinery and the crew, Wilkins and his men left

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1344-447: The only official Australian photographer from any war to receive a combat medal. He narrowly failed in an attempt to be the first to cross under the North Pole in a submarine, but was able to prove that submarines were capable of operating beneath the polar ice cap, thereby paving the way for future successful missions. The US Navy later took his ashes to the North Pole aboard the submarine USS Skate on 17 March 1959. Hubert Wilkins

1386-542: The rank of second lieutenant . Wilkins later transferred to the general list and in 1918 was appointed as an official war photographer. In June 1918 Wilkins was awarded the Military Cross for his efforts to rescue wounded soldiers during the Third Battle of Ypres . He remains the only Australian official photographer from any war to have received a combat medal. The following month Wilkins was promoted to captain and became officer commanding No.3 (Photographic) Sub-section of

1428-535: The relative safety of coastal waterways for the uncertainty of the North Atlantic on 4 June 1931. Soon after the commencement of the expedition the starboard engine broke down, and soon after that the port engine followed suit. On 14 June 1931 without a means of propulsion Wilkins was forced to send out an SOS and was rescued later that day by the USS Wyoming . The Nautilus was towed to Ireland on 22 June 1931, and

1470-533: The sole pilot for the Farthest North Aviation Company which was formed in 1923. In 1924, he flew the first air mail in Alaska from Fairbanks to McGrath, Alaska in under 3 hours, a distance dog sleds took up to 30 days to cover. He also flew the first air mail from Atlanta to Jacksonville, Florida in 1926. In March 1927, Australian polar explorer George Hubert Wilkins and Eielson explored

1512-505: The vessel off shore in a Norwegian fjord on 20 November 1931. Despite the failure to meet his intended objective, he was able to prove that submarines were capable of operating beneath the polar ice cap, thereby paving the way for future successful missions. Wilkins became a student of The Urantia Book and supporter of the Urantia movement after joining the '70' group in Chicago in 1942. After

1554-640: The wounded, at other times he supplied vital intelligence of enemy activity he observed. At one point he even rallied troops as a combat officer ... His record was unique." After the war, Wilkins served in 1921–22 as an ornithologist aboard the Quest on the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition to the Southern Ocean and adjacent islands. Wilkins in 1923 began a two-year study for the British Museum of

1596-490: Was a native of Mount Bryan East, South Australia , the last of 13 children in a family of pioneer settlers and sheep farmers. He was born at Mount Bryan East, South Australia, 177 kilometres (110 mi) north of Adelaide by road. The original homestead has been restored by generous donation. He was educated at Mount Bryan East and the Adelaide School of Mines . As a teenager, he moved to Adelaide where he found work with

1638-480: Was asked by the visiting American journalist Lowell Thomas (who had written With Lawrence in Arabia and made T. E. Lawrence an international hero) if Australia had a similar hero, Monash spoke of Wilkins: "Yes, there was one. He was a highly accomplished and absolutely fearless combat photographer. What happened to him is a story of epic proportions. Wounded many times ... he always came through. At times he brought in

1680-407: Was chosen with great care. Among their ranks were U.S. Naval Academy graduates as well as navy veterans of WWI. Wilkins described the planned expedition in his 1931 book Under The North Pole , which Wonder Stories praised as "[as] exciting as it is epochal". The expedition suffered losses before they even left New York Harbor. Quartermaster Willard Grimmer was knocked overboard and drowned in

1722-502: Was determined to do what he could without the diving planes. For the most part Wilkins was thwarted from discovery under the ice floes. The crew was able to take core samples of the ice, as well as testing the salinity of the water and gravity near the pole. Wilkins had to acknowledge that his adventure into the Arctic was becoming too foolhardy when he received a wireless plea from Hearst which said, "I most urgently beg of you to return promptly to safety and to defer any further adventure to

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1764-485: Was taken to England for repairs. On 28 June the Nautilus was up and running and on her way to Norway to pick up the scientific contingent of their crew. By 23 August they had left Norway and were only 600 miles from the North Pole. It was at this time that Wilkins uncovered another setback. His submarine was missing its diving planes. Without diving planes he would be unable to control the Nautilus while submerged. Wilkins

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