Hubert Wilkins
Directing
Biography
Sir George Hubert Wilkins (31 October 1888 – 30 November 1958) was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross after he assumed command of a group of American soldiers who had lost their officers during the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, and became the only official Australian photographer from any war to receive a combat medal. He narrowly failed in an attempt to be the first to cross under the North Pole in a submarine but was able to prove that submarines were capable of operating beneath the polar ice cap, thereby paving the way for future successful missions.
Known For
Sir Ernest Shackleton is a poignant absence in this fragment from the closing chapter in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. The Shackleton-Rowett Expedition and their ship the Quest docked at the old whaling station at Grytviken, South Georgia, on 4 January 1922; Shackleton died of a heart attack on board in the early hours of 5 January. These scenes of wildlife on the remote island – including skewers, fulmars, penguins and seals – were shot before the Quest departed on 18 January.
Shackleton South Georgia Birds
Record of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition in 1921.
Southward on the Quest
Sir Hubert Wilkins getting out of airliner. Close ups and speech. He is about to set out on search for lost Soviet Polar airmen.
Sir Hubert Wilkins in Canada
Sir Hubert Wilkins gives his views and hopes about his forthcoming submarine expedition to the North Pole.