Captain Henry Kirkwood (9 August 1910 – 25 September 1977) was one of the most experienced British ice captains. He was "loaned" from the Royal Navy to command

HMNZS Endeavour (1956) HMNZS ''Endeavour'' was a Royal New Zealand Navy Antarctic support vessel. She was the first of three ships in the Royal New Zealand Navy to bear that name. The ship was built in the United States in 1944 as ''Satinwood'' (YN-89) as a net tende ...

on the

Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South ...

. Kirkwood served on the Royal Research Ship ''Discovery II'' for six years before World War II, twice circumnavigating the Antarctic Continent (in Summer and Winter). He was with the rescue party which found

Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was an American polar explorer, engineer, surveyor, and author. He led the first Arctic and Antarctic air crossings. Early life Linn Ellsworth was born in Chicago, Illinois on May 12, 1880. His ...

and

Herbert Hollick-Kenyon Herbert Hollick-Kenyon (17 April 1897 – 30 July 1975) was a British-Canadian aircraft pilot who made significant contributions towards aviation in Antarctica. Early life Herbert Hollick-Kenyon was born in London on 17 April 1897. His mother, ...

when they crashed on a flight in Antarctica. He was Captain of

, an Antarctic Research support vessel, both as ''HMNZS Endeavour'' and when, as the ''John Biscoe'', the ship belonged to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey. Under the leadership of

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the Timeline of M ...

, Kirkwood landed the New Zealand section of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition along with the material needed to construct

Scott Base Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, RN, leader of two British exp ...

. Hillary said of him "'In the beginning he looked upon us young upstarts, in the Antarctic as promising boys. I hope he believes we have learned a bit since". Reports indicate that the Expedition members found Kirkwood a difficult man to deal with. There were arguments between Captain Kirkwood and the crew, including Sir Edmund Hillary, on the crossing to

Ross Island Ross Island is an island in Antarctica lying on the east side of McMurdo Sound and extending from Cape Bird in the north to Cape Armitage in the south, and a similar distance from Cape Royds in the west to Cape Crozier in the east. The isl ...

.Land of the Long Day
/ref> Fuchs and others have claimed that Kirkwood was nicknamed by those on the Expedition "Harry Plywood". The nickname seems to stem from an altercation with the crew on the voyage out from England, when most of the

sledging ration Sledging rations are a type of meal consumed by members of polar expeditions. These rations are designed for the use of sled, sledging parties travelling long distances without support vehicles. They are meant to be calorically dense and provide a ...

boxes were badly damaged by seawater from the hold. When Captain Kirkwood was challenged about this he replied "What do you expect? They're only made of plywood!" From which point on, he was known as ''Our Captain Plywood'' On 17 March 1958, at the end of the Expedition, Kirkwood was waiting for

Vivian Fuchs Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs ( ; 11 February 1908 – 11 November 1999) was an English scientist-explorer and expedition organizer. He led the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition which reached the South Pole overland in 1958. Biography Fuch ...

, Sir Edmund Hillary and the rest of the Expedition with the ''Endeavour'' to transport them back to Wellington. Fuch's team had travelled from Shackleton to

via the South Pole (a total journey of 2,158 miles in 99 days, or 98 days if it is remembered they crossed the date line at the Pole; against the original estimate of 100 days). Fuchs commented that: :''We knew one man would be particularly happy at our arrival – Captain Henry Kirkwood, RN (known to us all as 'Harry Plywood'), commanding HMNZS Endeavour, and waiting to take us to New Zealand before McMurdo Sound froze over. He told me later that, according to his calculations, we were one day late!''Fuchs, Sir Vivian. 1959 "The Crossing of Antarctica". National Geographic, January 1959.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkwood, Harry British explorers of Antarctica Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1910 births 1977 deaths