Lionel Greenstreet was born in 1890 in Barnet, Hertfordshire. He was educated at Sunningdale and the training ship Worcester, from which he passed out in 1904. He served in several sailing ships, gaining a Master's certificate in 1911. He joined the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition [Weddell Sea Party], 1914-1916 (leader Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton), as first officer in Endurance After the ship was crushed in the pack ice of the Weddell Sea, the crew lived for six months on drifting ice until this broke up north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula. Proceeding in three open boats, the party of twenty-eight men reached Elephant Island on 15 April 1916. Greenstreet and his companions were rescued from the island on 30 August 1916.
On his return from the expedition, he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and saw active service for the rest of the First World War. After the war, he worked for the shipping company, Furniss Withy & Co. During the Second World War, he served in rescue tugs in the Atlantic and North Sea, and became an adviser in Henry Kaiser's wartime American shipyards. He was demobilised as a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, returning to his post with the shipping company. He retired to Devon and died in 1979.
From the guide to the Lionel Greenstreet collection, 1914-1964, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
