Wally Herbert

Sir Walter William " Wally " Herbert ( born October 24, 1934 in York, England; † June 12, 2007 in Inverness, Scotland ) was a British polar explorer, writer and painter.

Life

Herbert started in February 1968 with his companions Allan Gill, Roy Koerner and Kenneth Hedges Trans Arctic Expedition. As a means of locomotion four Dogsledding with Huskies forty ministered to him. He wanted to join the trip to the North Pole with the crossing of the Arctic Ocean.

The expedition was supplied from the air. Every few weeks brought airplanes food and other necessary materials. The biggest problems of the trip were melt-water ponds and ice. The average temperature was about -20 ° C to -30 ° C. On April 6, 1969 Herbert reached the North Pole on June 11, 1969 ended the expedition to 467 days. Since there is absolutely no conclusive proof as to whether Robert Edwin Peary and Frederick Cook have ever been at the North Pole, it is considered likely that Herbert and his companions were the first to have reached the Pole overland.

In 2000 he was knighted in recognition of his achievements of Queen Elizabeth II. In June 2007, Wally Herbert died at the age of 72 years of severe diabetes and heart problems. He leaves a wife and a daughter.