F.H. Bickerton(1889-1954)
- Editor
- Writer
Francis Howard - or "Bill" - Bickerton served as mechanical engineer on
Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14. This
was the first Antarctic expedition to be filmed by Frank Hurley who, in his
1913 film, The Home of the Blizzard, (Dr. Mawson in the Antarctic (1913)) included footage of
Bickerton piloting the expedition's "air-tractor sledge." As well as
responsibility for this converted Vickers monoplane, Bickerton was
heavily involved in the expedition's pioneering experiments with
wireless telegraphy and led the three-man Western Sledging Party, which
discovered the first Antarctic meteorite. For his services, Bickerton
was awarded the prestigious King's Polar Medal and Cape Bickerton was
named in his honour. He was later recruited for Sir Ernest Shackleton's
"Endurance" (South (1919)) expedition and served as a fighter pilot with the
Royal Flying Corps during World War I. He also led expeditions in
Central America and Africa and joined a colony of war veterans in
Newfoundland, led by Victor Campbell of Captain Scott's "Terra Nova"
expedition. During the late 1930s, he worked with the English film
producer John Argyle at Shepperton and the Welwyn Film Studios both as a
screenwriter and film editor. He left the industry at the outbreak of
World War II, when he served with distinction with the Royal Air
Force.