Fram Farrington

James Edward Butler Futtit Farrington (originally called Butler; later known universally as Fram)[1] was a key member of a secret wartime Antarctic expeditionary force and the last surviving holder of the Polar Medal in Bronze, abolished after 1941.[2]

Early life

Farrington was born, the son of a clergyman, on 6 April 1908, at Dunmurry, Co Antrim and educated first at the Belfast Royal Academy. On leaving school, he tried to join the Army but was turned down because of colour blindness. He subsequently qualified as a marine radio operator and joined the Merchant Navy.

First visits to Polar regions

After serving on P & O liners and cargo ships he began his Antarctic career as part of the Discovery Committee,[3] voyaging south to the coasts of Enderby Land, Kemp Land and Mac. Robertson Land in Australian Antarctic Territory. In addition to his radio duties Farrington took charge of producing the ship's journal Pelagic News. As a ship-based member Farringdon received the Bronze Polar Medal, a distinction which always rankled with him.[4]

Wartime Service

After the outbreak of war, Farrington became an Air Ministry inspector based at Metropolitan-Vickers in Manchester, until he was summoned to London for secondment to Operation Tabarin,[5] under the overall command of Lt-Cdr James Marr. Based on Deception Island, in the South Shetlands, Farrington had expected to spend the winter of 1945–46 at Hope Bay, but his sense of duty made him exchange places with a less experienced radio operator.[6] Thus, technically, he never wintered on the Antarctic mainland, with the result that he was not awarded the Silver Polar Medal[7]

Post war

On his return from the Antarctic in 1946, Farrington became a scientific officer with the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Malvern, moving two years later to the new electronics division at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell. He retired in 1975 and returned to Northern Ireland[8] where he died on 4 October 2002, survived by his wife and son.

Bibliography

Crustacea Amphipoda from Graham Land and the Scotia Arc, Collected By Operation Tabarin and the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey 1944–59 Thurston, M. H. Cambridge British Antarctic Survey 1974 (ISBN 0856650242)

References

  1. ↑ Stemming from a schoolboy holiday to Framlington-on-Sea Daily Telegraph Obituary
  2. ↑ Polar Journal,University of Cambridge
  3. ↑ Historical background
  4. ↑ It has, however, since been awarded to him after his death: Telegraph Obituary (ibid)
  5. ↑ a predecessor of the British Antarctic Survey, launched to safeguard British interests south of the Falkland Islands, where both the Argentine and Chilean governments asserted claims to sovereignty War II-60.htm Further explanation
  6. ↑ Mission details
  7. ↑ Explanation of ruling
  8. ↑ Lisburn, Co. Antrim Telegrph Obituary (ibid)
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