David Haig-Thomas (1 December 1908 – 6 June 1944) was a British ornithologist, wildlife photographer, explorer and

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

who competed for Great Britain in the 1932 Summer Olympics. He was an army commando during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and was killed in action during the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. Haig-Thomas Island in the Canadian Arctic is named after him.

Biography

Haig-Thomas was born in London and educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and St John's College, Cambridge. In 1930, 1931 and 1932 he was bowman of the winning

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

boats in the

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

. He was also the bow of the eight that came fourth

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

for Great Britain at the 1932 Summer Olympics, and rowing correspondent of the '' Daily Mail''. Haig-Thomas married Nancy Catherine Bury, daughter of Major Lindsay Edward Bury. They had two sons. Initially a hunter with catapult and gun, he became an ornithologist and took up bird photography. His articles and photographs were published in '' Country Life'' and '' The Field''.

Expeditions

In 1933 he went on an expedition to

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

with his school contemporary

Wilfred Thesiger Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also known as Mubarak bin Landan ( ar, مُبَارَك بِن لَنْدَن, ''the blessed one of London'') was a British military officer, explorer, and writer. Thesiger's trav ...

to trace the route of the

Awash River The Awash (sometimes spelled Awaash; Oromo: ''Awaash'', Amharic: አዋሽ, Afar: ''We'ayot'', Somali: ''Webiga Dir'') is a major river of Ethiopia. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia and empties into a chain of i ...

. In 1934, he was the ornithologist on the Oxford University Ellesmere Land Expedition which was organised by Edward Shackleton with the main purpose of exploring northern Ellesmere Island and to map its coastline. The expedition was led by

Gordon Noel Humphreys Gordon Noel Humphreys (1883–1966) was a British born surveyor, pilot, botanist, explorer and doctor. Originally trained as a surveyor, Humphreys worked in both Mexico and Uganda. During World War I he served as a pilot with the Royal Flying Corp ...

who was head surveyor. Other members of the expedition were Shackleton, photographer and

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

A. W. Moore (sometimes listed as Morris), H. W. Stallworthy of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

, and geologist R. Bentham. With their

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 i ...

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 ...

guides, Inutuk and Nukapinguaq, they set up camp at Etah, Greenland in 1934. After wintering Greenland in 1934–1935, they sledged across Smith Sound and Ellesmere Island and in spring 1935. By the end of May 1935, the group had returned to Etah and reached England in late September the same year.Freeze Frame
/ref> In 1936, Haig-Thomas led an ornithological expedition to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. From 1937 to 1938, he led a British Arctic Expedition in northwest Greenland and Ellesmere Island, accompanied by John Wright and Richard Hamilton. The expedition arrived at

Qaanaaq Qaanaaq (), formerly known as Thule or New Thule, is the main town in the northern part of the Avannaata municipality in northwestern Greenland. It is one of the northernmost towns in the world. The inhabitants of Qaanaaq speak the local Inukt ...

in northwest Greenland in August 1937. They left Etah in March 1938 and crossed Ellesmere Island where they met up with the MacGregor Arctic Expedition. They then sledged to Amund Ringnes Island, Axel Heiberg Island and Haig-Thomas Island in the Canadian Arctic. They returned to Greenland and spent the summer of 1938 in Qaanaaq. Haig-Thomas's collection of Arctic objects from Greenland and northern Canada was donated in two instalments to the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Second World War

Haig-Thomas purchased

Horsey Island Horsey Island is an island in the parish of Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. It lies in Hamford Water and is part of the Hamford Water National Nature Reserve, managed by Natural England. Permission is required to visit. Geography The western section o ...

in 1939 and lived there until called up to serve in the

. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps on 2 March 1940. He then served in Iceland and East Greenland. In 1942, he was part of Special Commando Boating Group, No. 14 Commando which was made up of Canadians and Norwegians. As well as Haig-Thomas, this included other polar explorers including

Sir Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in ...

Andrew Croft Colonel Noel Andrew Cotton Croft, (30 November 1906 – 26 June 1998) was a member of the Special Operations Executive in World War II, with operations in Norway and Corsica, as well as military attaché to Sweden. He was also an Arctic explo ...

, August Courtauld and others. They specialised in using canoes and kayaks for limpet attacks in arctic waters. In 1944 in Operation Overlord he was in C Troop, No. 4 Commando. He was killed in action on D-Day in Normandy aged 35 and is buried in the churchyard in the village of

Bavent Bavent () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Baventais'' or ''Baventaises''. Geography Bavent is located on the northern edge of the Caen plain ...

.Commando Veterans
/ref>

Publications

*Haig-Thomas, David "I Leap Before I Look", London, William Clowes & Sons, 1936 *Haig-Thomas, David ''Expedition to Ellesmere Island'', 1937–38. Geographical Journal, 1940, 95(4):265–277. *Haig-Thomas, David ''Tracks in the Snow'' London: Hodder & Stoughton 1939

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haig-Thomas, David 1908 births 1944 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English male rowers British male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1932 Summer Olympics Cambridge University Boat Club rowers English ornithologists Explorers of the Arctic English explorers of North America Explorers of Canada Royal Army Service Corps officers British Army Commandos officers British Army personnel killed in World War II 20th-century British zoologists Military personnel from London

Biography

Expeditions

Second World War

Publications

See also

References