Kenneth Victor Blaiklock (6 December 1927 – 20 September 2020) was a British Antarctic surveyor who took part in Sir Vivian Fuchs's

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 ...

that completed the first overland crossing of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

. During this expedition, he reached the South Pole by dog sled for the first time since Amundsen. He was awarded the Polar Medal with three bars.

Personal

Kenneth Victor Blaiklock was born in December 1927."Ken Blaiklock O.B.E." by David Mountfort, ''Polar Post'', Vol. 46, No. 4, December 2014, pp. 92-93.

Career

Blaiklock's Antarctic career began in 1947 at

Stonington Island Stonington Island is a rocky island lying northeast of Neny Island in the eastern part of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of Graham Land, Antarctica. It is long from north-west to south-east and wide, yielding an area of . It was formerly ...

under

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

. From 1952 to 1954 he was employed as a surveyor at Base D, Hope Bay, in the

Falkland Islands Dependencies The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Port Sta ...

. In 1955 he served on the MV ''Norsel'' as a surveyor and helping to set up two bases on the Graham Land Peninsula. From 1956 to 1958, Blaiklock was part of Vivian Fuchs's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition that completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica. He was leader of the advance party which set up Shackleton Base and then he was part of the crossing party during which, with Jon Stephenson, they drove dog teams to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

for the first time since Amundsen. Blaiklock completed the Antarctic crossing by reaching

Scott Base Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctica, 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, Royal Navy, RN, leader ...

aboard the

Sno-Cat The Tucker Sno-Cat is a family of tracked vehicles for snow conditions, manufactured in Medford, Oregon by the company of the same name. Different models have been used for expeditions in the Arctic and the Antarctic during the second half of ...

"County of Kent". From 1959 to 1961, Blaiklock joined the second Belgian Antarctic Expedition with Captain Bastin which failed to reach the South Pole. In 1965 he worked for the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

Adelaide Island Adelaide Island is a large, mainly ice-covered island, long and wide, lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Ginger Islands lie off the southern end. Mount Bodys is the easternmost mount ...

and on the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

. He did more survey work in the Antarctic and for Decca in the North Sea before retiring in 1996.

Honours

Blaiklock 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 ...

with three bars, the

Cuthbert Peek Award Sir Cuthbert Edgar Peek, 2nd Baronet (30 January 1855 – 6 July 1901) was an astronomer and meteorologist, and took part in activities of several learned societies. Life Peek was born at Wimbledon, London on 30 Jan. 1855, the only child of Sir ...

in 1957 by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, the Chevalier de la Couronne medal in 1961 by the Belgian government, the W.S. Bruce Medal in 1962 by the Scottish Geographical Society,W. S. Bruce Medal
Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Retrieved 17 November 2015. and in 1969 the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. Blaiklock Island, the

Blaiklock Glacier Blaiklock Glacier () is a glacier long, flowing north from Turnpike Bluff, then northwest to Mount Provender and Mount Lowe in the western part of the Shackleton Range, Antarctica. It was first mapped in 1957 by the Commonwealth Trans-Antarcti ...

and the Blaiklockfjellet, all three located in Antarctica, were named after him.

Family

Blaiklock's daughter is

Catherine Blaiklock Catherine Blaiklock (born April 1963) is an English financial trader and hotelier who was the founder and first leader of the Brexit Party, a political party established in January 2019 to support a no-deal Brexit. She was forced to resign as le ...

, former leader of the

Brexit Party Reform UK is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was bri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaiklock, Ken 1927 births 2020 deaths British surveyors Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Polar Medal