Beschreibung:

Sold by Order of a Member of the Family ‘Throughout the expedition Launcelot was a strong and moral force, helping it to be an extraordinarily happy party despite its poverty of resources. Physically tough, he was the only member who, for a little bet, swam across the ice-infested creek at the Debenham Islands. Already referred to by some as the “Bishop”, he held a formal parish covering the entire British-claimed Antarctic Territory, of enormous size and utterly empty of people apart from ourselves. He was assiduous in holding Sunday services, preaching a sermon to the small company about once a month. Sincerity, goodness and friendship made this exercise of his first pastoral function acceptable in so small a community. Like all other members he was awarded the Polar Medal on return: his name is commemorated in the Fleming Glacier, Graham Land.’ Colin Bertram, Biologist, British Graham Land Expedition. The outstanding K.C.V.O. and Polar exploration group of seven awarded to the Rt. Rev. W. L. S. Fleming, who served as Chaplain and Geologist to the British Graham Land Expedition, Antarctica, 1934-37, and as a Chaplain in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in the 1939-45 War - having then officiated as Bishop of Portsmouth and Norwich, he was appointed Dean of Windsor, Registrar of the Order of the Garter, and Domestic Chaplain to the Queen in 1971, in which latter capacity he officiated at the funeral of the Duke of Windsor The Royal Victorian Order, K.C.V.O., Knight Commander’s set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, and breast star, silver, with silver-gilt and enamel centre, both officially numbered ‘1165’, in Collingwood & Co. case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45; Polar Medal 1904, G.VI.R., silver, 1 clasp, Antarctic 1935-37 (William Lancelot Scott Fleming), mounted as worn where applicable, generally very fine and better (7) £12000-15000 Footnote K.C.V.O. London Gazette 12 June 1976. William Launcelot Scott Fleming - universally known as Launcelot - was born in Edinburgh in August 1906, the youngest of four sons and fifth of five children of Robert Alexander Fleming, a surgeon, and Eleanor Mary, the daughter of the Rev. William Lyall Holland, rector of Cornhill-on-Tweed. Educated at Rugby, he went up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1925, graduating in Geology, followed by two years as a Commonwealth Fund Fellow at Yale University. He then returned home to study Holy Orders at Westcott House, Cambridge and was ordained deacon in 1933 and priest in 1934. Arctic Geologist At Sir Vivian Fuchs’s suggestion, Fleming joined an expedition to study Vatnajokull in Iceland led by Brian Roberts in 1932, and also an expedition to study the Ny Friesland ice cap in Svalbard led by A. R. Glen in the following year, both valuable experiences in view of his forthcoming part in the British Graham Land Expedition to Antarctica 1934-37 - the first major expedition to leave Britain since Scott’s last journey. Of his trip to Iceland, Fleming wrote: ‘Vatnajokull is about the size of Yorkshire. We sledged across, spent some days mapping and geologising and botanising on the northern edge, and returned by the same route to pick up the seismograph. We enjoyed it all immensely not least because we got on very well together and everyone had some particular responsibility in the scientific and survey side of the expedition's programme. We were divided into two three-man sledge teams each pulling a Nansen sledge loaded with 1000 lbs of gear. For most of the time we were on skis, which on an uphill grade had to be fitted with skins to get a grip. Man-hauling is very hard work and is apt to make one mule-minded - with a sullen suspicion that you are the only member of your team who is really doing any work, until you discover that the others have exactly the same idea. The main constituent of our sledge rations was Pemmican. It is advertised on the tin as a meat extract rich in albumen, meat fib