Maurice Wilson..
I admire the man for what he believed in and after what he suffered in WW1 and his travels and eventual demise, was it the 1935 expedition who found his body? he got pretty high for someone with no climbing experience, there was an old tent discovered at 8500m (?) which was thought to be his but most folk attributed it to the 'did it happen ? Russki expedition of 75?'
anyway, he surpassed expectations, sad thing was the reluctance of help from the Mountaineering establishment back in the UK, more likely as he wasn't one of the 'chaps'...
Having read and listened to an awful lot of Everest stuff, (Evereast) apparently George Everest pronounced his name as in the brackets, you only have to listen and read some of the s***e written etc about Everest....
There is video of the HF antenna breaking on their last take off, some present search stuff just looks shady...
That may tie in with the photo of them after being captured by the japs, one documentary took the photograph and said it was 99 per cent them..
It turned out it had been in a guide(?) book a couple of years before they flew...
I emptied my 'library' before I moved and donated them to a charity shop and kept some..
gave my climbing books to ex workmate..
That's the fella.
He went to prove everyone wrong, he could do what they said he couldn't, but there's the clear moneyed background that allowed for such behaviour clearly visible in the book. Starting off in a Boys Own style. Get past the way it starts and it could be a decent read. Found the following year as you say.
The "establishment" were against him trying to climb Everest and flying. Both still novelties back in the day, he managed the latter.
Think what may have set the establishment against him was his idea of crashing onto Everest, then walking to the summit before heading back down. Possibly not "the British way" of doing things, given he'd not flown at the time.
Video, from the 1940's!!
Some search stuff looks very dubious, not just the modern stuff. For what it's worth, I don't think they were captured by the Japanese. Secret mission or not. That the US navy were involved, ships in the area as contacts/beacons isn't in dispute. They used what was available to them, who wouldn't. Especially on a flight over the Pacific.
Ever feel like buying any of them back?
Climbing books, to yer ex workmate. You weren't planning on doing Everest were you...
