The RAF Southern Reach Expedition to the South
Pole
Regrettably, an attempt by 4 members of the
first RAF team to walk unassisted to the geographical South Pole and
back was abandoned on the 23 December 2006 after injuries sustained by
2 of team became too serious for them to carry on. The team
participating in the RAF Southern Reach
Expedition had been walking for 43 days and were just 100
miles away from the South Pole when disaster struck. Plans to organise
the expedition began in July 2004 after 27 year old Cpl Iain Kirk
(Deputy Team Leader), who was serving with the RAF Police Flight at RAF
Kinloss in Scotland,
came up with the idea. Iain who joined the RAF in 2001 has completed
detachments in Iraq,
Kuwait,
Afghanistan
and Oman
and is also a part-time member of the unit’s Mountain Rescue
Team. The other team members were; WO A Sylvester MBE (Team Leader and
telecommunications specialist RAF High Wycombe), Flt Lt K Scully
(helicopter navigator MOD Boscombe Down) and Cpl P Mainprize (RAF Regime
The RAF Southern Reach Expedition to the South
Pole
Regrettably, an attempt by 4 members of the
first RAF team to walk unassisted to the geographical South Pole and
back was abandoned on the 23 December 2006 after injuries sustained by
2 of team became too serious for them to carry on. The team
participating in the RAF Southern Reach
Expedition had been walking for 43 days and were just 100
miles away from the South Pole when disaster struck. Plans to organise
the expedition began in July 2004 after 27 year old Cpl Iain Kirk
(Deputy Team Leader), who was serving with the RAF Police Flight at RAF
Kinloss in Scotland,
came up with the idea. Iain who joined the RAF in 2001 has completed
detachments in Iraq,
Kuwait,
Afghanistan
and Oman
and is also a part-time member of the unit’s Mountain Rescue
Team. The other team members were; WO A Sylvester MBE (Team Leader and
telecommunications specialist RAF High Wycombe), Flt Lt K Scully
(helicopter navigator MOD Boscombe Down) and Cpl P Mainprize (RAF
Regiment RAF Halton). On the 11 November, the team flew from Punta Arenas, the most southern
city in Chile,
to the blue ice runway at Patriot Hills where base camp was
established. The following day, equipped with satellite phones and
satellite emergency beacons, they left the safety of base camp and
began the perilous trek towards the South Pole across the only
continent on earth that belongs to everyone. The team aimed to follow
the route of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, whose famous venture in 1912
was the last time that a British expedition, comprising only military
personnel, had been involved in a trek to the South Pole. The journey from the edge of the frozen Antarctica continent to the
geographical South Pole is almost 570 miles, starting at sea level and
rising to over 9,000 feet, travelling over snow, ice and occasionally
exposed rock. Antarctica
is the world’s most arid, coldest and windswept continent and
holds the record for the lowest recorded temperature at minus
82º Celsius. The snow is blown by constant winds into bizarre Sastrugi, which are rugged looking
formations often rising to between 6 and 8 feet in height making it
very difficult to pull a fully laden sledge through. Roped together safety reasons, each man hauled
his own sledge (pulk) containing everything needed for the voyage. At
the start, each pulk weighed 115kg. Iain Kirk, who left Basra in May where the
temperature hit 50º Celsius, found himself 7 months later,
crossing the frozen wastelands of Antarctica
where the temperature dropped to minus 50º Celsius.
Ironically, after the recovery of the RAF men, Lt Cdr A Brown RN, Maj P
Mattin RM and Marine C Hunter led by Capt S Chapple RM, successfully
reached the South Pole on Christmas Day and became the first British
military team to complete the journey unsupported by dogs or vehicles.
(Photo shows the RAF Team at the South Pole
after being recovered by air – Corporal Iain Kirk is on the
extreme right)
nt RAF Halton). On the 11 November, the team
flew from Punta Arenas,
the most southern city in Chile,
to the blue ice runway at Patriot Hills where base camp was
established. The following day, equipped with satellite phones and
satellite emergency beacons, they left the safety of base camp and
began the perilous trek towards the South Pole across the only
continent on earth that belongs to everyone. The team aimed to follow
the route of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, whose famous venture in 1912
was the last time that a British expedition, comprising only military
personnel, had been involved in a trek to the South Pole. The journey from the edge of the frozen Antarctica continent to the
geographical South Pole is almost 570 miles, starting at sea level and
rising to over 9,000 feet, travelling over snow, ice and occasionally
exposed rock. Antarctica
is the world’s most arid, coldest and windswept continent and
holds the record for the lowest recorded temperature at minus
82º Celsius. The snow is blown by constant winds into bizarre Sastrugi, which are rugged looking
formations often rising to between 6 and 8 feet in height making it
very difficult to pull a fully laden sledge through. Roped together safety reasons, each man hauled
his own sledge (pulk) containing everything needed for the voyage. At
the start, each pulk weighed 115kg. Iain Kirk, who left Basra in May where the
temperature hit 50º Celsius, found himself 7 months later,
crossing the frozen wastelands of Antarctica
where the temperature dropped to minus 50º Celsius.
Ironically, after the recovery of the RAF men, Lt Cdr A Brown RN, Maj P
Mattin RM and Marine C Hunter led by Capt S Chapple RM, successfully
reached the South Pole on Christmas Day and became the first British
military team to complete the journey unsupported by dogs or vehicles.
(Photo shows the RAF Team at the South Pole
after being recovered by air – Corporal Iain Kirk is on the
extreme right)
