I WILL CLIMB MOUNT EVEREST ALONE- THE STORY OF MAURICE WILSON

160 Pages·2016·1.46 MB·English

by  DENNIS ROBERTS

Captain Maurice Wilson, M.C.
I'LL CLIMB
MOUNT EVEREST
ALONE
The Story of
Maurice Wilson
By
DENNIS ROBERTS

LONDON
ROBERT HALE LIMITED
63 Old Brompton Road, S.W.7
First published 1957
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY EBENEZER BAYLIS AND SON, LTD., THE
TRINITY PRESS, WORCESTER, AND
LONDON

Contents
FOREWORD
1
1
PROLOGUE : NORTH COL, MAY, 1934 . 13
1. THE MAN 15
2. THE MOTIVE 24
3. THE MOUNTAIN 28
4. "I'LL FLY ALONE TO n.1DIA" 45
5. A MINOR EPIC IN THE HISTORY OF THE AIR . 61
6. FRUSTRATION 78
7. ACROSS THE ROOF OF THE WORLD . 90
8. THE FIRST ASSAULT 105
9. THE SECOND ASSAULT 124
10. "IF 1 DON'T COME BACK . 144

List of Illustrations
1. CAPT. MAURICE WILSON, M.C. Frontispiece
2. MAURICE WILSON . . . THE SOLDIER 16
3. THE SECOND LETTER FROM THE AIR MINISTRY 17
4. MAURICE WILSON . . . THE AIRMAN 32
5. WILSON SAYS GOOD-BYE TO ENID EVANS 33
6. GODSPEED . . . FROM JEAN BATTEN, THE FAMOUS
AIRWOMAN 48
7. VNnLSON AND "EVER WREST" 49
8. THE FUEL PERMIT FROM BAHREIN 64
9. "EVER WREST" IN INDIA 64
10. IN SINGLA BAZAAR 65
1 1. KARMA PAUL 80
12. THE RONGBUK MONASTERY 81
13. THE HEAD LAMA OF RONGBUK 81
14. EVEREST FROM CAMP n: 1935 RECONNAISSANCE 96
15. THE EAST RONGBUK GLACIER 97
16. THE NORTH COL 128
17. CAMP 111 . . EIGHT THOUSAND FEET FROM THE
SUMMIT 129
18. "OFF AGAIN. GORGEOUS DAY" . THE LAST
ENTRIES IN WILSON'S DIARY 144
19. MOUNT EVEREST . . . IT CONQUERED THE MAN 145

Acknowledgments
I AM grateful for the advice and assistance of Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Evans.
The passages from works by Eric Shipton, Frank Smythe, James Ramsey Ullman and Hugh Ruttledge
are quoted by kind permission of the authors (or their executors) and publishers.
I should like to thank the Royal Geographical Society for permission to reproduce photographs Nos. 12,
13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 19.