29th November 1929: Richard E. Byrd completes the first flight over the South Pole

Hello, and welcome to HistoryPod. On 29 November 1929, American naval aviator Richard Byrd made the first flight over the South Pole.

Richard Byrd served in the United States Navy during the First World War, but was forced to undertake a desk job due to an ankle injury that had forced him to be medically retired a few years earlier. Nevertheless, in autumn 1917 he was sent for naval aviation training, where he developed a love of flying.

Having volunteered for numerous challenging missions during the early 1920s, in 1925 Bird travelled to Greenland to command the aviation unit of Arctic explorer Donald B.

Macmillan's most recent expedition. It was here that he was inspired to attempt to navigate the first flight over the North Pole, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honour in 1926. Doubts have since been raised over whether he and the pilot, Floyd Bennett, actually reached the Pole, as they claimed. Bird and

three crewmates completed a non-stop transatlantic flight in 1927 and used the success of this mission to secure financial backing for an Antarctic expedition the following year. Arriving on the Ross Ice Shelf in January 1929, the

year. Arriving on the Ross Ice Shelf in January 1929, the explorers constructed the Little America Base Camp from where they undertook photographic expeditions and geological surveys. Eventually, on 28 November, they launched the first ever flight to the South Pole. The four-man

crew boarded a Ford tri-motor airplane named the Floyd Bennett after Bird's previous pilot who had recently died, and at 1am on 29th November reached the South Pole, where they flew beyond and to the left and right in case of any navigational errors. The round trip took them more than 18

hours and saw Bird promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral on his return to America. He continued to undertake Antarctic expeditions and his last

America. He continued to undertake Antarctic expeditions and his last was completed in 1956.