Page 236 - Rifles 2017 Issue No 3

A CREATIVE PERSON, HE PAINTED IN OIL, TOOK UP SCULPTURE AND TAPESTRY, TEACHING SEWING TO INMATES
Lt Col Henry Worsley MBE
Royal Green Jackets. Henry
Worsley was on the brink of
becoming the rst person to
cross the Antarctic unaided.
He was just 30 miles short
of completing a record solo
crossing when he had to
admit, as his hero Sir Ernest
Shackleton had done a
century before, that he had
“shot his bolt” and had to
be airlifted off the ice; he had
covered 1,700 kilometres in 71 days. Henry’s death a few days later of acute organ failure, on the 24th January 2016, aged 55, made national headlines. Whilst spending a great deal of time serving with Special Forces and pursuing a deep passion for polar exploration, he never forgot his loving family nor did he abandon the premise of being, “once a ri eman, always a ri eman.”
Henry was born in London in 1960. His father, General Sir Richard Worsley, a ri eman too, had served as Quarter Master General from 1979-1982. Henry was educated at Stowe and commissioned into the Regiment in 1980, serving in Cyprus, Germany and Northern Ireland.
His skills, and formidable levels of tness and determination drew him to the SAS; in 1988 he was selected for secondment, later becoming 2IC of the Regiment, as well as working with 14 Intel- ligence Company in Northern Ireland, for which he was awarded an MBE in 1993. After Staff College, he commanded 2nd Battalion, the Royal Green Jackets from 2000 to 2002, in Germany, UK and Bosnia, and later led a 6 month reconnaissance mission to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, prior to
the main British deployment in 2006. Promotion may have stalled because of his determination to remain with Special Forces and his steadily increasing commitment to the Antarctic – where he would undertake three demanding expeditions.
Descendants of Shackleton, Will Gow and Henry Adams, accompanied Henry (himself a descendant of Frank Worsley, the skipper of Endurance) on his rst expedition in 2008/2009; the aim, which they achieved, was to complete “un nished family business” by reaching the South Pole on Sir Ernest’s original route. Adams was bowled over by Henry’s “unswerving will”. They raised £350,000 to establish the Shackleton Foundation, which provides funding for people wishing to make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged young people. Henry’s book, “In Shackleton’s Footsteps” was published soon after- wards.
The centenary of the famous rst attempts to reach the South Pole was too great an opportunity to miss; he retraced the two routes taken by Roald Amundsen and Captain Robert Scott in 1911/12 with two teams of British servicemen (the Norwegian forces having declined to participate!). It was the inspiration of Shackleton that drew him back in late 2015 which was to end in tragedy. The weather delayed his start, storms kept him pinned in his tent at times; but temperatures as low as -44C did not prevent him from keeping going; “onwards” was his watchword.
But to see Henry through the prism of active, military service and polar exploration only, would be incomplete. He had wider interests: he played cricket in a true Corinthian spirit, often arriving at St Cross in his green, open-top VW Beatle, dressed in white annelled turn-ups, with an old leather, monogrammed cricket bag. He would never take the game too seriously but was a brilliant, athletic wicketkeeper and swashbuckling left-hand bat. He played many times for the Army XI, The Free Foresters, The Pilgrims and I Zingari; he was a very successful regimental skier and enjoyed the Cresta – where he rode from Top. He was a skilled free-fall parachutist.
His talents as a photographer and artist were evident from early in his Regimental service – the Mess albums lled with his images of our lives. A creative person, he painted in oil, took up sculpture and tapestry, teaching sewing to inmates at Wandsworth prison, when time permitted.
Henry raised more than £500,000 for the Endeavour Fund, with the Royal Princes as Patrons, to help fund sporting and adventure challenges for wounded servicemen and women. The Duke of Cambridge, who joined 800 mourners at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, said: “He was a man who showed great courage and determination and we are incredibly proud to be associated with him. We have lost a friend but he will remain a source of inspiration to us all.” Henry was awarded the Polar Medal, posthumously, in 2017.
He leaves behind his devoted family who were always so much part of his life and his expeditions: his wife, Joanna together with their two children, Max and Alicia, his mother, Sally, and his sister, Charlotte. They will take his ashes to South Georgia to lay them beside the grave of Sir Ernest Shack- leton at Grytviken.
James Cunliffe
Captain JPC Wathen Captain (Julian) Wathen was born on 21 May 1923 and on leaving Harrow in 1942 he joined up for war service and was commissioned in 1943 in the KRRC.
He served with 1KRRC throughout the Italian Campaign and was wounded during operations with B Company in the Apennine Foothills in 1944.
HE WAS A
DRIVING
FORCE
BEHIND
BARCLAYS
BANK’S
EXPANSION
OVERSEAS
DURING THE MID1970- 80S
By April 1945 he was back as the battalion IO having taken over the role from Giles Mills and served in Austria until the end of the war.
Then, still as a 60th Ri e’s Of cer, he served for a year (1946) as Third and Private Secretary to the British Ambassador in Athens; a time when Greece was going through post-war turmoil. On demobilisation in 1947 he joined Barclay’s DCO, serving in Kenya, Cyprus and New York before returning to the London of ce as a senior general manager for Barclay’s International. He was a driving force behind Barclays Bank’s expansion overseas during the mid1970-80s nally retiring after being a Vice Chairman in charge of staff from 1979-84. He had a great interest in education and was Trustee and Governor of a number of educational institutions. He was Master of the Mercers Co. 1984-85. Julian died aged 93 years on 16 April 2017. His wife Priscilla predeceased him earlier this year. He is survived by a son (Simon) and two daughters (Lucy & Henrietta).
234 REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS
THE RIFLES