Catalogue Display

The extraordinary and thrilling story of Hubert Wilkins - Australia's most adventurous explorer, photographer, war hero, spy and daredevil Sir Hubert Wilkins is truly one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived. His life was so jam-packed with adventure and achievement it's as though he crammed several lifetimes into one. The son of pioneer pastoralists in South Australia, Hubert studied engineering before moving on to photography. In 1908 he sailed for England and a job producing films with the Gaumont Film Co. The world was now Hubert's stage - he became a polar expeditioner, a brilliant war photographer, a spy in the Soviet Union, a pioneering aviator-navigator, a death-defying submariner - all while being an explorer and chronicler of the planet and its life forms that would do Vasco da Gama and Sir David Attenborough proud. As a WW1 photographer he was twice awarded the Military Cross for bravery under fire, the only Australian photographer in any war to be decorated. He explored the Antarctic with Sir Ernest Shackleton, led a groundbreaking ornithological study in Australia and was knighted in 1928 for his aviation exploits, but many more astounding achievements would follow. Wilkins' quest for knowledge and polar explorations were lifelong passions and his missions to polar regions aboard the submarine Nautilus the stuff of legend. With masterful storytelling skill, Peter FitzSimons illuminates the life of Hubert Wilkins and his incredible achievements.