Rymill and fellow expeditioners

A photograph taken at St Katharine's Dock, London, of members of the BAARE (British Arctic Air Route Expedition) which sailed in the Quest in July 1930. These five men were the first polar explorers to receive polar medals with both Arctic and Antarctic bars after the British Graham Land Expedition in 1937. From left: John Riddoch Rymill, A Stephenson (Steve), W E Hampton (Ham), (Surgeon Lieutenant) E W Bingham (Doc), and Quintin Riley. It is presumed that this cut-and-paste image was prepared, perhaps for newspaper publication, after they received their medals. Further scant details can be found in The White Ribbon.

Rymill was the leader of the British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37. The expedition surveyed the western coast of Graham Land (the Antarctic Peninsula) and discovered King George VI Sound which separates Graham Land from Alexander I Island.

Rymill was determined to be a polar explorer and to that end studied anthropology at the University of London, surveying and navigation at the Royal Geographical Society, snow and ice conditions in Switzerland and Scandinavia and he also qualified as a pilot and aircraft mechanic.

He joined Gino Watkins's British Arctic Air Route Expedition in Greenland and learned to understand the ice conditions with guidance from the Inuit people. He returned on Watkins's second Greenland expedition and, following his leader's death, took control of the expedition.

During 1934-37 Rymill led his own expedition to Antarctica, specifically to Graham Land, or the Antarctic Peninsula. His work there would prove that it was a peninsula of the main continent, and not a series of islands as believed by Hubert Wilkins in his aerial survey of 1928/29.

Rymill was joined in Antarctica by four of his companions from Greenland:

A Stephenson, known as Steve, had served as chief surveyor in Greenland and in Antarctica was appointed as chief surveyor and meteorologist.

W E Hampton (Ham) was one of the first to join Rymill for the Antarctic expedition. He served as Rymill's second-in-command and was in charge of the flying operations. 'He had studied aeronautical engineering at Cambridge, and then worked for a further year with De Havilands...On returning from Greenland Hampton joined the staff at Vickers Ltd' (Rymill, pp. 26-27).

Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander Bingham (Doc) was the expedition doctor and also had charge of the expedition's sledge dogs.

Quintin Riley was another of the first to join the Antarctic venture. He was in charge of stores and the two boats used by the shore party for coastal surveying and transport. He also served as one of the meteorologists. One of the boats - Stella, a motor launch - had been used in Greenland and was also used to sound the depths for the Penola, and also on occasion towed the schooner.

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