Page 15 - Army Mountaineer Winter 2022

Typical Axel Heiberg scenery
Noel had said they left Doug. With a little searching we found the tent and, with some trepidation, I undid the door. Doug was alive! Admittedly, he claimed that every bone and muscle in his body ached but he thought he could walk down the glacier and would not need the pulk we had brought as an improvised stretcher.
Tim King and I inspected the site of the accident and agreed that to attempt to recover the body would be too hazardous with our limited numbers and equipment. The rescue party gathered at the side of the crevasse and I read the Shortened Form of the Burial Service from the Army Prayer Book. We then packed up the tent and other items, roped Doug to two members of the expedition, and started our return to Base Camp. The bad weather was still persisting and the melt streams were in full flood so it was a very wet rescue party which reached Base Camp after 20 hours of near constant
activity. Seldom have warm, dry sleeping bags been more attractive. Noel and Bronco had more of less recovered from their exertions and took over the care of Doug. Without the facilities of a hospital Noel could not be certain that Doug had no major injuries but his initial diagnosis of concussion and a lot of cuts and bruising was confirmed.
The bad weather persisted and we began to have doubts about making our rendezvous with the RAF Hercules at Resolute Bay but suddenly we heard the noise of an aircraft and it proved to be the Twin Otter flying in at near zero feet below the ten-tenths cloud. A hurried pack and the first lift was airborne leaving four of us to wonder our future. Eight hours later the pilot returned and we thankfully climbed aboard to return as a much-saddened expedition to civilisation.
Fortnums from the air aka Tesco door-to-door
JOHN MUSTON MBE
John Muston is a retired Army officer having first attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the early 1950s before ascending through the ranks to Lieutenant Colonel with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. During this time, he was also a member of RAF Mountain Rescue and the Mountain Leader Training Board (until 2005) before concluding his military career in 1989 following 6 years as Commandant of the Joint Service Mountain Training Centre. Thereafter, he spent 3 years as County Commandant of Gwynedd Army Cadet Force and serves the Army Mountaineering Association as an Honorary Vice President.
His mountaineering career spans over 55 years including expeditions to Mt Blanc, the Tautus mountains, Nuptse, Everest, the Arctic, multiple excursions to Greenland, and to India where he was part of the Army Himachal Pradesh Expedition. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of The Arctic Club (President 1995), The Alpine Club, The John Muir Trust and The British Trust for Ornithology.
He is a noted author having published ‘Survival - Training & Techniques’ (Arms & Armour Press, 1987) and ‘The Survival Handbook’ (New Orchard Press, 1991), and was editor of ‘Mountain Moments’ published by the Army Mountain- eering Association in 1997.
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