caption death_date death_place children birth_place name birth_date alt spouse image article_title education birth_name occupation
carlin in montreal , canada , in 1948 7 march 1981 -lrb- age 68 -rrb- perth , western australia , australia deidre scott carlin -lrb- b. 1964 -rrb- northam , western australia , australia ben carlin 27 july 1912 refer to caption gertrude arone -lrb- m. 1946 -- 55 -rrb- cynthia henderson -lrb- plath m. 1963 -- 64 -rrb- -lrb- m. 1940 -- ? -rrb- elinore bencarlin01.jpg ben carlin
 guildford grammar school kalgoorlie school of mines frederick benjamin carlin engineer , soldier
ben carlin

frederick benjamin `` ben '' carlin -lrb- 27 july 1912 -- 7 march 1981 -rrb- was an australian adventurer who was the first and only person to circumnavigate the world in an amphibious vehicle .
born in northam , western australia , carlin attended guildford grammar school in perth , and later studied mining engineering at the kalgoorlie school of mines .
after qualifying as an engineer , he worked on the goldfields before in 1939 emigrating to china to work in a british coal mine .
in the second world war , carlin was posted to the indian army corps of engineers , serving in india , italy , and throughout the middle east .
after his discharge from service in 1946 , he emigrated to the united states with his american wife , elinore -lrb- née arone -rrb- .
sparked by an idea he had had whilst in the military , carlin proposed that the couple honeymoon by crossing the atlantic ocean in a modified ford gpa -lrb- an amphibious version of the ford gpw jeep -rrb- , which they named the `` half-safe '' .
beginning their trip in montreal , canada , the carlins finally completed the transatlantic crossing in 1951 , after unsuccessful attempts .
from there , they travelled to europe , temporarily settling in birmingham to raise more money .
they resumed their journey in 1954 , travelling overland through the middle east before arriving in calcutta .
after a short fundraising trip to australia , carlin 's wife left to return to the united states .
he resumed the journey with new partners , travelling through south-east asia and the far east to the northern tip of japan , and then to alaska .
after an extended tour through the united states and canada , he and `` half-safe '' finally returned to montreal , having travelled over by sea and by land during a ten-year journey .
following carlin 's death in 1981 , `` half-safe '' was acquired by guildford grammar , his old school , where it remains on display .
