The British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE) was a privately funded expedition to the east coast and interior of the island of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...

from 1930 to 1931. Led by Gino Watkins, it aimed to improve maps and charts of poorly surveyed sections of Greenland's coastline, and to gather climate data from the coast and interior during the north polar winter. This venture was followed by the smaller 1932–1933 East Greenland expedition, led by Watkins until his death.

Expedition

The expedition travelled to Greenland aboard the '' Quest'', a historic sealing vessel previously used by

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age o ...

in 1921–1922. Expedition members included Frederick Chapman,

John Rymill John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, Quintin Riley (meteorologist),

Augustine Courtauld Augustine Courtauld (26 August 1904 – 3 March 1959), often called August Courtauld, was a yachtsman and British Arctic explorer, best known for serving as the solo meteorologist of a winter observation post, ''Icecap Station'', located in the i ...

, J. M. Scott, Captain

Percy Lemon Captain Percy M. Lemon (1898 – 23 October 1932) was a signal officer and British polar explorer who was awarded the Polar Medal. Biography In 1914, while still a teenager, Lemon was interned in Germany. After being released, he was not allowed ...

(wireless operator and signal officer), L. R. Wager (geologist), Alfred Stephenson (chief surveyor), Lt. Martin Lindsay, Flight Lt. N. H. D'Aeth (pilot), W. E. Hampton (second pilot & aircraft engineer), Surg. Lt. E. W. Bingham (doctor) and H. I. Cozens (photographer and assistant pilot).Encyclopedia Arctica 15: Biographies
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Base hut

Upon their arrival in Greenland, the expedition set up their land-based headquarters: the ''base hut'', a winter camp located on a fjord coastline west of

Tasiilaq Tasiilaq, formerly Ammassalik and Angmagssalik, is a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland. With 1,985 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh-largest town in Gree ...

, then known as ''Angmagssalik''. Here most of the members of the expedition's shore party overwintered, made contact with local

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territorie ...

, and sent out light expeditions to chart and survey adjoining areas of coastline.

Icecap Station

Meteorological data was gathered at both the base camp and a satellite base, ''Icecap Station'', a purpose-built post atop the Greenland ice cap, above sea level and west of the expedition's base camp. An expedition member,

, volunteered to serve as a solo observer for a five-month tour of duty here during the height of the 1930–1931 winter. Watkins and other expedition members relieved him on 5 May 1931, just as Courtauld's food and fuel were running out. Courtauld's observations included some of the first extended data sets ever gathered from the Greenland icecap interior during a polar winter.

Conclusion and honours

The members of the expedition, including Watkins and Courtauld, returned to Denmark and then to England, receiving significant acclaim in both nations. Key members of the expedition were awarded the Polar Medal by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

, the first given for Arctic service in 60 years.

Literature

* Lindsay, Martin: ''Snowed in with Greenland Eskimos'', in: China Journal, Vol. 16 (1932), p.p. 19–24. * Roberts, David: ''Into the Great Emptiness'', Norton, 368 pages (2022)

References

{{reflist

External links

Annals of an Arctic Air-Route
Arctic expeditions 1930s in Greenland Expeditions from the United Kingdom 20th century in the Arctic