Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A superb Second War Merchant Navy B.E.M. and Scott’s First Antarctic Expedition group of eleven awarded to Chief Petty Officer Thomas Kennar, Royal Navy, also decorated by the Russians for services at Jutland, who first went to sea in 1887 and who died at sea in 1945

British Empire Medal (Civil) G.VI.R., 1st issue (Thomas Kennar); 1914-15 Star (171801 C.P.O. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (171801 C.P.O. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal; Polar Medal 1904, E.VII.R., silver, 1 clasp, Antarctic 1902-04 (Pett. Off. 2nd Class T. Kennar, “Discovery”); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.VII.R. (171801 Thomas Kennar Actg. C.P.O. H.M.S. Monmouth); Russian Medal of St George, 4th class, the reverse impressed ‘No. 1272961’; Royal Geographical Society Special Medal for the Antarctic Expedition 1902-04, silver (Thomas Kennar, R.N.) contained in its Wyon case of issue, mounted as worn before receipt of WW2 medals, the last with bruise to obverse rim, light contact marks but generally good very fine (11) £18000-22000

B.E.M. London Gazette 4 January 1944. The recommendation by the Minister of War Transport states: ‘Thomas Kennar, Able Seaman, s.s. “Llanstephan Castle” (Union Castle Mail S.S. Co. Ltd.). Age: 67 years. Service: 56 years. Long and meritorious service at sea and in dangerous waters during the war. Has served with present Company for 23 years. He first went to sea in 1887 at the age of 11 with the fishing fleet. In 1891 he joined the Royal Navy and went through the various grades to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, retiring in 1919. Between 1901 and 1904 he served as Petty Officer on the “Discovery” with the Scott Antarctic Expedition. A fine seaman and an outstanding example to younger men.’

Thomas Kennar was born at Brixham, Devon, on 11 October 1876. He worked as a deep water fisherman prior to joining the Royal Navy 1891. Kennar was selected for Scott’s Antarctic Expedition in June 1901, and, together with Skelton, Shackleton, Lashley and Heald, underwent ten days’ instruction at the Royal Engineers Balloon Factory at Aldershot, prior to joining Discovery. Thus, he was a witness to Scott’s historic first attempt to explore Antarctica from the air when, on 4 February 1902, Scott ascended to a height of nearly 800 feet in the balloon Eva.

Kennar was one of five R.N. Petty Officers to join the expedition, on which he was appointed to act as Quartermaster. He went out with Scott’s Western Party in October 1903, and on 11 November accompanied the geologist Hartley Ferrar, with Able Seaman Weller, to search for fossils on what is today known as the Upper Taylor Glacier. On the 12th they ascended the South West Glacier for 3 miles until they reached the foot of a 500-foot sandstone cliff, where Ferrar found some fossilized plant remains which provided the first recorded evidence of a warmer, even tropical, Antarctic climate that had existed in earlier ages.

Despite continuing their search for further evidence, the following week only yielded some specimens of ‘doubtful’ organic matter. By the 19th Weller was complaining of sore feet, so Ferrar and Kennar continued the search alone, again without success. Despite running very low on supplies of food and oil, Ferrar continued the search for another two days. On the 21st, Kennar awoke almost totally snowblind, so Ferrar led the three-hour haul to the depot for new supplies. With both Kennar and Weller now suffering from backaches, Ferrar continued his search for two more days on his own, allowing the others some much needed rest. Despite this, Weller’s feet were still very sore. By the end of the month, with Ferrar suffering from progressively worsening snowblindness, their little expedition slowly ran out of steam. They set off for Discovery on 10 December, allowing three days for the return. However, the three men found they had travelled half of the 30 miles by lunchtime and made it back to the ship at 10 o’clock that evening. Back on ship, his colleagues understood the significance of Ferrar’s fossil finds but none could have foreseen the tragic circumstances in which the next examples would be found among the bodies of Scott and his companions a decade later. He subsequently had named after him Kennar Valley, a small valley, ice free except for a lobe of ice marginal to Taylor Glacier at the mouth, located west of Finger Mountain in the Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land.

Kennar was specially promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class from 2 April 1904, ‘in recognition of his services with Discovery’, and in November 1909 was specially advanced to Acting Chief Petty Officer, after 8 years service as Petty Officer, once more ‘in recognition of his services with Discovery’. During the Great War he served aboard the cruiser Duke of Edinburgh from April 1915 to August 1918, including the battle of Jutland for which he received the Russian Medal of St George 4th Class. He was demobilized in December 1919 and subsequently joined the Merchant Navy. He served during the Second World War, from August 1941 to mid-1943, aboard the Union-Castle Line steamship Llanstephan Castle, commodore ship for the first Allied convoy to Russia. He appears to have been repatriated to the U.K. from Bombay in August 1943 aboard the S.S. Staffordshire, and retired from sea service shortly afterwards, at least according to his record card. His card goes on to record, however, that he joined the Ninella on 23 April 1944, and that he died at sea aboard that vessel of ‘heat and exhaustion’ whilst near Karachi, on 3 August 1945.