Kenneth Mason MC (10 September 1887 - 1976) was a soldier and geographer notable as the first statutory professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. The Military Cross ( MC) is the third level Military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993 other ranks of the British Army and formerly also to Events 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul meet in the Council of Agde. Year 1887 ( MDCCCLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the His work surveying the Himalayas was rewarded in 1927 with a Royal Geographic Society Founder's Medal, the citation reading for his connection between the of surveys of India and Russian Turkestan, and his leadership of the Shakshagam Expedition. History Founding members of the Society include Sir John Barrow, Sir John Franklin and Francis Beaufort.
Kenneth Mason was born at Sutton, Surrey, the son of a timber broker. The London Borough of Sutton ( is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Outer London. Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. As a schoolboy, it was a book, Heart of a Continent by Francis Younghusband, that was to inspire Mason to take up geography and to survey India and the Himalayas when he grew older. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis Edward Younghusband KCSI KCIE ( 31 May, 1863 - 31 July, 1942, Dorsetshire
Educated first at Cheltenham College and then the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Mason was commissioned in the Royal Engineers, helping to pioneer stereoscopic photographic techniques that were to revolutionise cartography using aerial and land-based photography. Cheltenham College is a Co-educational Independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The Royal Military Academy ( RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army Military academy for the training of Commissioned An officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers ( RE) and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps Stereoscopy, stereoscopic imaging or 3-D (three-dimensional imaging is any technique capable of recording three-dimensional visual
In 1909, Mason sailed for Karachi and was posted to the Survey of India. Geological Survey of India (GSI established in 1851 is a government organization in India for conducting geological surveys and studies 1910-1912 saw him engaged on triangulation in Kashmir, where he learned climbing techniques, taught himself to ski and went on to make a stereographic land survey. This article is about the geographical region of greater Kashmir
In 1914, Mason's First World War service took him to France (the Neuve Chapelle sector and Loos) before, in January 1916, he landed at Basra, Persia. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Neuve-Chapelle is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. Basra ( BGN: AlBasrah also called Basorah Abillah and Uruk or IRAQ The name that British colony has adopted for Basra The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia In action connected to the relief of Kut, he led a night march to the flank of the Dujailah redoubt, and was subsequently awarded the Military Cross. For the town in Armenia see Kut Armenia. Al-Kūt ( BGN: Al Kūt; also spelled Kut-Al-Imara or Kut El Amara He entered Baghdad as Intelligence Officer with the Black Watch. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous The Black Watch 3rd Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS is an Infantry Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. He was promoted to Brevet-Major and three times mentioned in dispatches. Following the Armistice he was the first to take cars across the Syrian desert. An armistice is a situation where the warring parties agree to stop fighting
He married Dorothy Helen Robinson in 1917 and they had two sons and one daughter.
Mason returned to India after the First World War and began preparing for his most important scientific project, the exploration of the Shaksgam Valley, in 1926. The Shaksgam Valley is an area of Baltistan, ceded by Pakistan to the People's Republic of China on March 3 in 1963 pending the settlement At that time the only westerner to see the valley had been Younghusband. Now Mason began its survey using a photo-theodolite and stereographic techniques, laboriously collecting great quantities of data. A theodolite ( is an instrument for measuring both horizontal and vertical Angles as used in Triangulation networks His results, plotted in Switzerland using what, at the time, was the world's most advanced stereo plotting machine, were acclaimed as brilliantly successful, winning him the award of the 1927 Royal Geographic Society Founder's Medal. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation
He was elected as the first statutory professor of Geography at the University of Oxford in 1932, becoming a Fellow of Hertford College. Hertford College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. His academic work, linked to the Himalayan Journal which he had founded in 1929, addressed the challenge of naming ranges in the Karakoram region. Karakoram is a mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, China, and India, located in the regions of Gilgit, Ladakh, and He retired from his Chair in 1953 after a career that included directing the Oxford team of a group of academics involved in producing the British Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series between 1941 and 1946. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The British Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series was produced between 1941 and 1946 Together with a team in Cambridge, over fifty volumes were produced. These were devoted to the geography of countries engaged in military operations during the Second World War. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
Outside professional interests, Mason was devoted to the Drapers' Company and became its Master in 1949. The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London; it has the formal name of The Master and Wardens and Brethren and
Works
Abode of Snow, Professor Kenneth Mason, 1955
Source
- [1] Includes section on Mason's contribution to the Naval Intelligence Handbooks
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