Herbert Hollick-Kenyon (17 April 1897 – 30 July 1975) was a British aircraft pilot who made significant contributions towards

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

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 ...

Early life

Herbert Hollick-Kenyon was born in London on 17 April 1897. His mother, Annie Kate Kenyon, was the oldest child of James Harold Kenyon (1841-1891), founder of the prestigious London funeral directors, J.H. Kenyon. His father, Herbert Hollick by birth, was employed by the firm and by 1890 was a director. On his marriage to Annie Kenyon in September 1891 he appended 'Kenyon' to his name, becoming Herbert Hollick Kenyon. From 1892-1910 he was managing director. At an early age, Hollick-Kenyon, with his family, emigrated to Ewing's Landing in the province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He joined the Canadian army in 1914 as a trooper. He joined the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

in 1917. In the spring of 1928 he joined Western Canada Airways in Winnipeg and commenced flying in Western Canada. He helped to pioneer the Prairie Air Mail routes and is credited with several "first flights".

Polar search and rescue

Prior to the start of

World War II 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 opposin ...

, Hollick-Kenyon participated as a pilot during several search-and-rescue missions for polar expeditions which had gone missing. These missions included searching for the MacAlpine Expedition in 1929 and

Sigizmund Levanevsky pl, Zygmunt Lewoniewski , birth_date = , death_date = , birth_place = St. Petersburg, Russian empire , death_place = Arctic Ocean , image_size = , allegiance = , branch = Soviet Army before 1925Soviet Air Force ...

who went missing during a trans-polar flight from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

in 1937.

The Ellsworth Expedition

Hollick-Kenyon is most widely known as a pilot in the trans-Antarctic flight of

Lincoln Ellsworth Lincoln Ellsworth (May 12, 1880 – May 26, 1951) was a polar explorer from the United States and a major benefactor of the American Museum of Natural History. Biography Lincoln Ellsworth was born on May 12, 1880, to James Ellsworth and Eva F ...

in 1935. Ellsworth had made a prior attempt to fly across the south pole in 1934 with a different pilot,

Bernt Balchen Bernt Balchen (23 October 1899 – 17 October 1973) was a Norwegian pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader. A Norwegian native, he later became an American citizen and was a recipient of the Distingu ...

. Poor weather and a dispute over the number of crew members in the expedition (Ellsworth wanted 2, Balchen wanted 3) ended the trip. Hollick-Kenyon (serving as a replacement for Balchen) and Ellsworth left on 23 November 1935 from

Dundee Island Dundee Island is an ice-covered island lying east of the northeastern tip of Antarctic Peninsula and south of Joinville Island. It is named after the city of Dundee in Scotland. The Petrel Base is a scientific station in Antarctica belonging t ...

bound for

Richard E. Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957) was an American naval officer and explorer. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, p ...

's base camp at Little America. They flew 3500 km across the breadth of

, claiming of land for the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. They were forced to land short of their goal due to the lack of fuel. They began walking, but due to the loss of their radio at the outset of the trip, had been assumed lost by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. They arrived at the Little America camp, where they remained for nearly two months. They were eventually spotted by the British research ship ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'' which took them aboard and returned them safely home."Ellsworth and Kenyon Found Safe: Missing Men Located At Byrd's Camp", ''Fairbanks'' (Alaska) ''Daily News-Miner''. 17 January 1936. Page A1. Hollick-Kenyon flew a

Northrop Gamma The Northrop Gamma was a single-engine all-metal monoplane cargo aircraft used in the 1930s. Towards the end of its service life, it was developed into the A-17 light bomber. Design and development The Gamma was a further development of the su ...

(serial number 2B), a single-engine, low-winged airplane called the ''Polar Star''. Hollick-Kenyon later recovered the aircraft and it was donated to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

in 1936 by Ellsworth.

Awards and distinctions

* A major land area in Antarctica is now named the " Hollick-Kenyon Plateau" in his honor. * Hollick-Kenyon was inducted into the

Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame, based in The Hangar Flight Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, commemorates and honours those whose accomplishments in aviation contributed so much to Canada's development as a nation. Founded in 1973, the Hall of ...

in 1975 for his achievements.

Named for Hollick-Kenyon

Hollick-Kenyon Peninsula Hollick-Kenyon Peninsula or Kenyon PeninsulaKenyon Peninsula.
SCAR

, Antarctica * Hollick-Kenyon Plateau, Antarctica *

Hollick-Kenyon, Edmonton Hollick-Kenyon is a residential neighbourhood located in north east Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The neighbourhood is named for aviator Herbert Hollick-Kenyon. According to the 2001 federal census, substantially all residential development in the ...

, a neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

References

*"Pioneering in Canadian Air Transport", K.M.Molson, copyright James Richardson & Sons Ltd. 1974 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hollick-Kenyon, Herbert 1897 births 1975 deaths Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame inductees Canadian aviators English emigrants to Canada People from the Regional District of Central Okanagan Businesspeople from London 20th-century English businesspeople