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

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 * Stian Aker * Valerian Albanov * Roald Amundsen * Salomon August Andrée * Piotr F ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Later he joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

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 or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

, where he reached the rank of captain. He met

Gino Watkins Henry George "Gino" Watkins FRGS (29 January 1907 – c. 20 August 1932) was a British Arctic explorer and nephew of Bolton Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell. Biography Born in London, he was educated at Lancing College and acquired a lo ...

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

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 Territories ...

mistress and one of the first who would learn the

Greenlandic language Greenlandic ( kl, kalaallisut, link=no ; da, grønlandsk ) is an Eskimo–Aleut language with about 56,000 speakers, mostly Greenlandic Inuit in Greenland. It is closely related to the Inuit languages in Canada such as Inuktitut. It is the mos ...

. In the following year Lemon joined Watkins and

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 ...

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'', da, Søndre Strømfjord) 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 r ...

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

King Frederick VI Coast King Frederick VI Coast ( da, Kong Frederik VI Kyst) 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 Oce ...

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 municipality, southern Greenland. With 1,185 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the eleventh-largest town in the country. The name ''Nanortalik'' means "Place of Polar Bears ...

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 sh ...

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 ( da, Lemon Bjerge) 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 Captai ...

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 is t ...

, 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 Explorers of the Arctic

Biography

Honours

Further reading

References

External links