James McIlroy (surgeon)

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James McIlroy as a member of the Elephant Island party

James Archibald McIlroy (3 November 1879 – 27 July 1968

Sir Ernest Shackleton's crew on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
(1914-1916).

Early life and career

He was born in the Irish province of Ulster, almost certainly in the County Antrim market town Ballyclare where his father hailed from.[1] The family later moved to Kings Norton, Birmingham, England, where he attended grammar school.[2]

After McIlroy earned his medical degree at

Birmingham University, he was for a brief time a surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. He spent several of the following years practicing medicine in Egypt, in Japan, and as a ship's surgeon on cruise ships in and around the East Indies
.

First Shackleton expedition

In 1914, McIlroy, along with

anaesthesia. After the rescue of McIlroy and his comrades, the physician was awarded the Silver Polar Medal
.

Second Shackleton expedition

After his convalescence from his injuries he incurred during the Great War, McIlroy journeyed to Africa and took up cotton farming with

South Georgia Island, however, and the mission was completed by explorer Frank Wild
(1873-1939).

Military service

During the

First World War, he was badly wounded at Ypres
.

In the

S.S. Oronsay
when it was torpedoed off the coast of West Africa, spending five days on an open boat before being rescued by the French ship Dumont d’Urville.

Later life

After the war, he remained a ship's surgeon well into his late seventies, working for the

P&O and Clan Line shipping lines.[2] He died, at the age of 88, in Surrey
, England.

Legacy

In 1990 the

Husvik Harbour and 0.8 nautical miles (1.5 km) south of Mount Barren
, South Georgia.

In the 2002

Shackleton television film, McIlroy was portrayed by actor Pip Torrens
.

References

  1. ^ a b "James Archibald McIlroy". enduranceobituaries.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Dr. James Archibald McIlroy (1879-1968) - Biographical notes". Cool Antarctica.
  3. ^ "Dr. James McIlroy". Shackleton. 11 July 2014.
  4. ISBN 978-0-465-06288-1
    .
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