Coming in from the cold
How a two-year British expedition to Arctic Greenland in the 1950s conducted trailblazing research in science, army manoeuvres and horology. By
Next month marks the 70th anniversary of the British North Greenland Expedition (BNGE), a research and training exercise endorsed by Winston Churchill, with the Queen as its patron. Led by Commander James Simpson, in total 30 men took part over a two-year period, including representatives from various scientific fields such as geology, meteorology, glaciology and physiology, as well as serving members of the Armed Forces, there to train in the freezing Arctic conditions – particularly relevant considering the expedition was taking place not long after the end of the Second World War and at the beginning stages of the Cold War.
The expedition also provided a welcome opportunity for the makers and suppliers of equipment to gain invaluable feedback on how their products held up in such challenging conditions. One of these was Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex and
Tudor, who was keen to receive in-the-field reports on the performance of the timepieces he had provided to the BNGE’S participants.
The scientific research, meanwhile, involved monitoring the movement of the ice cap and determining its thickness, alongside more general geological mapping, much of which is still in use today. The expedition is now regarded as a landmark project in how, operationally and logistically, Arctic expeditions and research projects could be undertaken. Many of the scientists went on to become leaders in their fields, including Stan Paterson, who co-authored the influential work The Physics of Glaciers, and academic Hal Lister, who was a member of the Commonwealth Trans-antarctic Expedition led by Edmund Hillary.
Wilsdorf supplied 30 Tudor Oyster Princes to the expedition – 34mm, stainless-steel, waterproof watches on leather straps. The agreement was that the team would check the accuracy of the Tudors against the BBC radio signal and report back. Extreme fluctuations in temperature, submersion in snow and water, and the punishing routine of military manoeuvres were significant tests that Wilsdorf couldn’t have recreated artificially, and the information on how the watches performed was crucial.
Wilsdorf had registered Tudor as a new company in 1926 with the aim of creating a watch brand that had all the quality of a Rolex but at a more accessible price point. Hence, the BNGE timepieces were presented in a waterproof ‘Oyster’ case containing a self-winding movement.
And feedback from the expedition must have proved pleasing to Wilsdorf. A letter from expedition member Captain JD Walker stated: “Despite these trials, occasional time signals broadcast from England proved that my Rolex Tudor Prince watch was maintaining a remarkable accuracy. On no occasion did it require to be wound by hand.”
In 2014, one of the surviving members of the BNGE, Major Desmond ‘Roy’ Homard, discovered an old watch at the back of a kitchen drawer. On closer inspection, he realised that it was the Tudor Oyster Prince that he had been given in 1953. Homard joined in the second year, when he maintained vehicles and supported the seismic surveying team carrying out explosions. His decision to take the watch to the Rolex Service Centre in London led to it being donated to the Tudor archival museum, where it resides today and is used for exhibitions to celebrate the brand’s involvement in the groundbreaking expedition.
Today, the expedition is seen as a key milestone in Tudor’s development. “It is an important moment in Tudor’s history as it represents the first long-duration, extreme-conditions test the brand conducted,” explains a company spokesperson. “Members of the expedition brought back a large amount of critical data and information that helped Tudor further understand the real-life impact made in such conditions and the need for a robust and accessible tool watch.” This ‘Born To Dare’ spirit, of course, continues today both in Tudor’s tagline and in its watchmaking. The company still tests its watches to their limits by working with in-field research partners, including the Marine nationale, the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team and the worldrecord-holding freediver Morgan Bourc’his. With the watches that followed the BNGE, such as the Ranger, North Flag, Black Bay and Pelagos, Tudor has continued to offer timepieces that are inspired by those used in 1952. And, with the official anniversary of the Greenland expedition fast approaching, Tudor fans are already debating what we are likely to see from the more adventurous side of the House of Wilsdorf.
The team would check the accuracy of the Tudor watches against the BBC radio signal and report back