Geoffrey Bruce (Indian Army officer): Difference between revisions

==1922 Mount Everest expedition==

{{main|1922 British Mount Everest expedition}}

In 1922, at the age of 25, Bruce had no mountaineering experience except for hill scrambling in the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–55)|North-West Frontier]], but he was invited by his cousin General [[Charles Granville Bruce|Charles Bruce]], the leader of that year's Everest expedition, to take part as third transport officer and interpreter.<ref name=blakeney /><ref name=rgs>{{cite web |title=Major-General John Geoffrey Bruce |url=http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Units/25.html |website=Imaging Everest |publisher=[[Royal Geographical Society]] |access-date=16 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124022935/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Units/25.html |archive-date=24 November 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref> This was the first expedition with the specific aim of reaching the summit of the world's highest mountain.

While the expedition was ascending the [[East Rongbuk Glacier]] at an elevation of about {{convert|21000|ft|order=flip}}, many of the climbers and porters were suffering from dysentery and the effects of altitude, but Bruce maintained his full fitness. It had been intended that one of the assaults on the summit would be led by George Finch, using oxygen equipment. Bruce was willing to cooperate, although this sort of artificial aid was regarded with scepticism or even disdain by many members of the party. Finch was taken ill and, by the time he recovered, all the other lead climbers had set off higher up the mountain, so Finch had to assemble a team of untrained climbers.{{sfnp|Davis|2012|pp=413–414, 418–419}}

On 24 May Finch and Bruce, accompanied by [[Tejbir Bura]], an [[Non-commissioned officer|NCO]] [[Gurkha Army]] colleague of Bruce's, set off with a group of porters to reach the [[North Col]].{{refn|group=note|Finch gives a highly-readable account of the summit attempt ([//archive.org/stream/assaultonmountev00bruc#page/234/mode/2up available online]) in ''The Assault on Mount Everest, 1922''.{{sfnp|Bruce|1923|pp=234–250}}}} [[John Baptist Lucius Noel|John Noel]] accompanied them as far as the Col to photograph and film progress. The next day, Finch, Bruce, and Tejbir climbed higher up towards the North Shoulder and camped the following night in hurricane conditions. After being forced to stay in camp the next day, they at last set off again, but Tejbir, at the point of collapse, had to return to the tent. To keep slightly sheltered from the strengthening wind, they started to traverse the North Face, without using ropes so as to save time. Suddenly the glass T-piece of Bruce's oxygen set broke, but Finch was able to replace it while they shared Finch's oxygen. After that, Bruce was unable to go higher and so, within a half-mile ({{convert|0.5|mi|disp=out|sigfig=1}}) of the summit, they turned back.{{sfnp|Davis|2012|pp=428–430}}

to work on the hillside, he had never before this big attempt, and before the few practice walks that he had with Finch, attempted a snow mountain in his life; the nearest thing he had been to it was following game in Kashmir".{{sfnp|Bruce|1923|p=61}}}}

In violent wind, they eventually got back to the North Col where Noel, fearing that no one could survive for so long in such conditions, had been burning unexposed film to act as flares to guide them. Bruce's feet were completely numb and Finch feared they might be lost to frostbite, although Bruce staged a full recovery and was able to return to his regiment later in the year.{{sfnp|Davis|2012|pp=434–437, 457–458}} [[Douglas Freshfield]] later described the climb as "one of the bravest mountaineering feats on record".{{sfnp|Davis|2012|pp=434–437}} Bruce wrote to Finch, "I can never thank you enough for electing to take me with you on that climb, or for the perfectly astonishing way you pulled me through it all. It was wonderful".{{sfnp|Davis|2012|p=463}} At the [[1924 Winter Olympics]], Bruce was one of the thirteen members of the expedition awarded an [[Olympic medal|Olympic gold medal]].<ref group=note>Medals were awarded to a further eight members of the team at the [[1924 Summer Olympics]]</ref><ref name=www /><ref name=bbc1924>{{cite news|last1=Georgiou|first1=George|title=Everest Olympic medal pledge set to be honoured|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17493939|access-date=16 December 2014|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=26 March 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140922145422/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17493939|archive-date=22 September 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>