Roy Koerner
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Roy Koerner was a Polar explorer who participated in what the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson described as "a feat of endurance and courage which ranks with any in polar history", and Prince Philip feels "ranks among the greatest triumphs of human skill and endurance".[1]
Born on 3 July 1932 in Copnor Portsmouth [2] he was educated at Sheffield University, after which he taught at Bridgemary Community School before joining the British Antarctic Survey in 1957. He has a 600 metre high rock named after him[3] on Deception Island[4]. From 1968 to 1969 he was a member of the British Trans-Arctic Expedition led by Wally Herbert, a 3,800-mile surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean, from Alaska to Spitsbergen. In the 1970s Koerner emigrated to Canada where he was head of the Ice Core Laboratory at Ottawa[5]. He died after being sent home from his final mission on 26 May 2008.
