Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet

In 1934 Lindsay was the Leader of the British Trans-Greenland Expedition under the patronage of the Prince of Wales. The expedition was sponsored by several British government ministries and aimed to explore and map a 350-mile long stretch of Greenland which had not previously been visited but contained the highest mountains in the Arctic Circle. Andrew Croft was the photographer for the expedition; Lt. Daniel Godfrey was in charge of survey and navigation.

The expedition crossed Greenland from west to east, and succeeded in fixing the positions of many important features including Gunnbjørnsfjeld. On the return journey the team headed south-west to Amassalik (now Tasiilaq) and on their journey discovered the extent of the Crown Prince Frederick Range (Kronprins Frederik Bjerge). Lindsay's expedition set a new world record after sledging for 1,050 miles (700 of which were through unexplored territory).

When all three returned safe and well, the expedition was regarded as an unqualified success, with The Times devoting a leader to it. The Times observed that "for daring and success [it] will rank high in the long annals of polar exploration".[3] Lindsay had also written his report of the expedition for The Times and in 1935 wrote a book, Sledge, based on these reports. His fame extended beyond Britain and in April 1935 he was awarded the Alexandre de la Roquette Gold Medal by the French Geographical Society for his leadership.[4]

Lindsay returned to soldiering 1939, on the outbreak of the Second World War and served in a staff appointment during the Norwegian campaign. It was just three years since he had left the Army. In the spring of 1940 Britain decided to send troops to Northern Norway and Lindsay, with his experience of organising Polar expeditions, was an obvious choice to help advise on the particular problems the climate and terrain could bring to military operations.

However he became deeply critical of the poorly organised and ill-prepared operation in Norway to the extent that he feared that Britain would lose the war unless important lessons were learned following the debacle.[7] Lindsay was one of the first soldiers to reach London following the evacuation from Norway, and presented his candid account of the operation to members of His Majesty's Opposition such as Clement Attlee and Herbert Morrison.[8] This report became known as the "Lindsay Memorandum" in which Lindsay recalled an operation riven with the utmost incompetence, which he contended went to the very top of the government. The evidence presented by Lindsay was used by Attlee in order to bring about a vote of censure against the leadership of the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, which ultimately led to Chamberlain's resignation, the appointment of Winston Churchill and the creation of a coalition government.[9] Lindsay's contribution to the Norwegian Campaign resulted in him being Mentioned in Despatches.

In July 1944 Lindsay was appointed second-in-command of the 1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders, in the 51st Highland Division. He commanded the battalion in sixteen operations between July 1944 and May 1945, being again Mentioned in Despatches, wounded in action, and receiving the Distinguished Service Order.[10] He ended the war as a lieutenant colonel.

As was already his pattern, he wrote up his experiences in So Few Got Through: The Diary of an Infantry Officer in 1946; this was followed by a recap of his Arctic exploits, Three Got Through: Memoirs of an Arctic Explorer the following year.

His maiden speech on 7 November 1945 dwelt on the problems of an international arms race between the United States and Soviet Union. Lindsay supported giving details of the atomic bomb to the latter "if she would agree to cooperate and take part in a mutual system of controls and inspections".[12]

Early in his Parliamentary career he concentrated on conditions for servicemen and ex-servicemen; in May 1946 he encouraged discharged officers to take up posts with the Colonial Office and with the Control Commission in occupied enemy countries.[13] A week later he condemned the Germany Control Commission's publication "The British Zone in Germany" as "a miserable little rag" because it was a pale ghost of the Manchester Guardian.[14] He was a firm opponent of nationalisation of the steel industry, which took place.

Lindsay spoke in October 1946 in support of German prisoners of war being allowed to remain in Britain and being allowed British citizenship, because of the shortage of skilled labour.[15]

Although a generally moderate MP, Lindsay could be roused to anger. In April 1949, a criticism of the Conservative Party by Minister of Food John Strachey prompted Lindsay, recalling Strachey's association with Oswald Mosley, to ask "Is it in order for an ex-member of the Fascist Party ...", the rest of the sentence being drowned out by angry shouts from Labour MPs.[16] The exchange between the two caused a major row involving many Members of Parliament.[17]

When Sydney Silverman proposed the abolition of capital punishment in 1956, Lindsay put down an amendment to retain it only for the murder of a police officer.[27] Despite the significant employment in the car industry in his constituency, he once in parliament criticised workers in the industry for "shoddy workmanship",[28] When the workers at British Motor Corporation were ordered on strike that summer, Lindsay pointed to the fact that 53% of workers had reported for work as usual to observe that it was an unpopular strike.[29]

Lindsay was one of the sponsors of a motion critical of the United States after the Suez Crisis.[30] He was critical of the Macmillan government in July 1957 for not doing enough to tackle inflation,[31] and led a group of three MPs who abstained on it.[32] At the end of 1957 he criticised the mediocrity of many MPs and called for reforms to House of Commons procedures including ending all-night sittings,[33] in a letter which prompted a long debate. At the end of January 1958 the House of Commons set up a Select Committee on the issue, with Lindsay criticising the continued denigration of Parliament by newspapers who were also damaging the Royal family.[34]

When the Parliamentary group on Egypt and Syria was formed in June 1960, Lindsay was appointed Chairman.[35]

In November he protested that the Government should not sell its shares in Ford Motors of Dagenham without allowing MPs to express their views.[36]

Following a lecture tour of the United States early that year, in March he tabled a strongly worded motion attacking Lord Beaverbrook for authorising editorial comments attacking the Royal family. Lindsay circulated to other Members of Parliament examples of coverage in the Daily Express, which he described as a "sustained vendetta".[38]

He supported the Macmillan government's application to join the Common Market, commenting that it was difficult to find a banker or industrialist who did not think membership was essential.[39]

Coat of arms of Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet

Crest A castle triple-towered Proper port Gules tower-caps Argent. Escutcheon Gules a fess chequy Argent and Azure between a mullet of the second in chief and the base barry undy Or and of the third in a dexter canton Argent a sinister hand couped apaume erect of the first. Supporters Two doves Proper gorged of collars chequy Argent and Azure. [40] Motto Firmus Maneo

He abstained rather than support Macmillan on the Profumo affair.[42]

Early in 1964 he called for an inquiry into the Public Trust Office, after discovering that it had lost a large sum of money in investments.[43]