Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Percy M. Lemon (1898 – 23 October 1932) was a signal officer and British

polar explorer This list is for recognised pioneering explorers of the polar regions. It does not include subsequent travelers and expeditions. Polar explorers * Jameson Adams * Mark Agnew * Stian Aker * Valerian Albanov * Roald Amundsen * Salomon August ...

who was awarded the

Polar Medal The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom to individuals who have outstanding achievements in the field of polar research, and particularly for those who have worked over extended periods in harsh climates. It w ...

.Obituaries - Cambridge Journals
/ref>

Biography

In 1914, while still a teenager, Lemon was interned in Germany. After being released, he was not allowed to fight in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Later he joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and ended up in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications an ...

, where he reached the rank of captain. He met

Gino Watkins Henry George "Gino" Watkins Royal Geographical Society, FRGS (29 January 1907 – c. 20 August 1932) was a British Arctic exploration, Arctic explorer and nephew of Bolton Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell. Biography Born in London, he was ...

in 1928 in Cambridge and in 1930 he was chosen to be the wireless operator and signal officer of the 1930-1931

British Arctic Air Route Expedition The British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE) was a privately funded expedition to the east coast and interior of the island of Greenland from 1930 to 1931. Led by Gino Watkins, it aimed to improve maps and charts of poorly surveyed sections of ...

(BAARE) led by Watkins. Later in the expedition, he would be in charge of the administration of the headquarters in East Greenland. Captain Lemon would be the first member of the expedition who had an

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

mistress and one of the first who would learn the

Greenlandic language Greenlandic, also known by its Endonym and exonym, endonym Kalaallisut (, ), is an Inuit languages, Inuit language belonging to the Eskaleut languages#Internal classification, Eskimoan branch of the Eskaleut languages, Eskaleut language family. ...

. In the following year Lemon joined Watkins and

Augustine Courtauld Augustine Courtauld (26 August 1904 – 3 March 1959), often called August Courtauld, was a British yachtsman and Arctic explorer, best known for serving as the solo meteorologist of a winter observation post, ''Icecap Station'', located in t ...

in a survey trip of the East Greenland seashore that explored as far north as the head of

Kangerlussuaq Fjord Kangerlussuaq Fjord (old spelling: ''Kangerdlugssuaq'', ) is a long fjord in the Qeqqata municipality in central-western Greenland. The fjord is long and between and wide, flowing from the estuary of Qinnguata Kuussua river to the southwest, ...

. Then the three of them traveled southwards along the little explored

King Frederick VI Coast King Frederick VI Coast () is a major geographic division of Greenland. It comprises the coastal area of Southeastern Greenland in Sermersooq and Kujalleq municipalities fronting the Irminger Sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by King ...

on a gruesome open boat journey of . Braving harsh weather conditions, the three boats managed to go all the way south and round Cape Farewell, reaching finally

Nanortalik Nanortalik (, ), formerly Nennortalik, is a town in Nanortalik Island, Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, municipality, southern Greenland. With 1,072 inhabitants as of 2024, it is the List of cities and towns in Greenland, eleventh-largest ...

on the western side. Watkins, Courtauld and Percy Lemon had made the dangerous trip on two small

whaleboat A whaleboat is a type of open boat that was used for catching whales, or a boat of similar design that retained the name when used for a different purpose. Some whaleboats were used from whaling ships. Other whaleboats would operate from the s ...

s and a kayak, a reckless venture that they were very lucky to survive. Captain Lemon had become seriously ill after the arduous boat journey in Greenland and did not recover even after returning to England in the early fall of 1931. He died at a hospital in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

the following year on 23 October 1932.

Honours

The

Lemon Range The Lemon Range or Lemon Mountains () is a mountain range in King Christian IX Land, eastern Greenland. Administratively this range is part of the Sermersooq Municipality. History The range was named by Gino Watkins after Captain Percy Lemon (1 ...

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, was named after him.Alpine Journal - The Lemon Mountains of East Greenland
/ref> In October 1932, while in his deathbed, Captain Lemon was awarded the

.''Western Daily Press'' - Bristol, England 5 Nov 1932

References

External links

Archives - Riley, British Arctic Air Route Expedition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemon, Percy 1898 births 1932 deaths Royal Corps of Signals officers British polar explorers British explorers of the Arctic

Biography

Honours

Further reading

References

External links