Maurice Wilson

This article describes the adventurer, for the painter and illustrator see Maurice Wilson (painter) .

Maurice Wilson (born April 21, 1898 as Morris Wilson in Bradford , † around June 1, 1934 on Mount Everest ) was an English adventurer. He became known through his flight from England to India and the subsequent attempt to climb Mount Everest alone.

Family and childhood

He was born the third of four sons to a working-class family. His father was an overseer and later director of a wool mill and was able to offer his family a certain wealth. Wilson's mother was a housewife. The wedding took place in 1892.

The Wilsons' children got a pretty good education. Maurice Wilson himself achieved average school results, but he had a lot of strength and was very communicative. As a teenager, he spoke fluent German and French .

Maurice Wilson's older brothers followed the professional path of their father, which he himself wanted to pursue. However, this changed with the beginning of the First World War. Wilson enlisted in the Army on May 13, 1916, at the age of 18. This changed his life fundamentally.

The First World War

Wilson applied as an officer and was shipped on November 29, 1917 as 2nd Lieutenant from Dover to Boulogne-sur-Mer . He was deployed in the Ypres area, where he served at the front. During an offensive by the German army at the end of March 1918, Wilson earned the Military Cross through his service at Meteren . His honor was justified as follows:

“For extraordinary bravery and the fulfillment of duty. He held a position in front of the lines under heavy bombardment and fire on both of its flanks after the machine guns that had secured its flanks had been withdrawn. It was largely thanks to his courage and determination to hold the position that the enemy attack was halted. "

On July 19, Wilson was seriously injured while on patrol. He sustained one bullet in the left upper arm and one in the back left chest area. His left arm in particular always caused problems for him until the end of his life because he was almost unable to move. Although permanently disabled, he received no compensation from the British state and was deeply disappointed. In addition, Wilson felt unable to do a normal job.

After the war

On July 20, 1922, Wilson married Beatrice Hardy Slater, 22. Still, he was restless and wanted to leave his hometown of Bradford. At the end of 1923 he left England for America . After changing his place of residence several times, he embarked for New Zealand . Beatrice followed him there. Wilson worked in New Zealand, but his marriage ended in divorce after an affair on his part. Wilson remarried in 1927, but this relationship did not last long either. At the beginning of 1931 he left New Zealand for England. A short time later he met Leonard Evans and his wife Enid in London , with whom he became a deep friend. He fell in love with Enid but never really entered into a relationship with her.

Soon after, Wilson contracted tuberculosis and suffered a nervous breakdown . The doctors couldn't help him, so he left the Evans and sought help from a healer named Armstrong. He tried to help the sick by making them pray and fast for 35 days . Wilson recovered and also gave up smoking and drinking. Before that he hadn't dealt with faith, but as a result he found something like his own religion . In autumn 1932 he did a short fast in the Black Forest . There he read the reports about the Mount Everest expedition of 1924 , in which George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had disappeared. This sparked his interest in this mountain. A vision arose in him as he climbed Mount Everest alone, fasting and praying .

The trip to Darjiling

Gipsy Moth

Wilson planned to fly to Mount Everest on a plane and then climb that mountain by himself. Until then he had never flown or climbed a mountain. His goal was to climb Everest from the Nepalese side . However, the Indian government quickly made it clear that it would not give a permit for an entry into Nepal. The situation in this area was too tense because England as well as Russia and China made claims to the area. After all, Nepal had become part of the Great Game .

In April 1933 he announced his plans in the press, which gratefully received the topic. Wilson bought a Gypsy Moth, an open biplane, before the first flight lesson. He called this plane "Ever Wrest", "Eternal Fight". Since Wilson was severely handicapped by the injury to his left arm, it took a little longer before he could fly the plane. Nevertheless, he took off on May 21st in the direction of the Black Forest, where he wanted to stay with friends. The press reported a lot about Wilson at the time, but officials tried to ban him from flying. The necessary permits were not given and the Alpine Club , which had undertaken all previous Everest expeditions, was against his company. At the time, conquering Mount Everest was a national interest, and Wilson was not part of a national expedition.

On the flight to India , Wilson repeatedly had to master difficult situations. He was forced to detour by the authorities and the weather. So he sometimes had no choice but to fly illegally. The stages were sometimes very long and dangerous. His journey was initially stopped in Lalbalu and his plane was taken into custody. Wilson was now trying to get a permit to walk to Everest, but that too was forbidden. So he changed his plans and now wanted to reach Darjiling to climb Mount Everest from its north side . He arrived in Darjiling in the fall of 1933. There he was kept under constant surveillance by the police, who feared he could travel to Tibet illegally . He was also strictly forbidden from entering Tibet. Wilson met Karma Paul in Darjiling, who supported all foreign mountaineers. This helped Wilson, who was now planning to travel to Tibet in disguise. As a result, Wilson went on short hikes with several locals in the mountains around Darjiling.

The way to Mount Everest

Together with the helpers Tewang, Tsering and Rinzing, he set out in March 1934, disguised as a deaf and mute lama . The 19-year-old Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was supposed to accompany them, but he was not in Darjiling at the time. The long journey went largely smoothly as they mostly traveled at night. Still, Wilson was always afraid of being discovered by the police. They arrived in Tibet in April. Wilson was excited about the country. On April 15, they arrived at Rongpu Monastery . Something like a friendship developed with the abbot of the monastery because Wilson respected nature and humbly wanted to climb Mount Everest as a pilgrim . Wilson left the monastery after a short time, accompanied by many wishes and prayers from the monks.

Wilson's attempts to climb

The north flank of Mount Everest

During his expeditions on Mount Everest, Wilson used the remains of the English expedition of 1933. He often found food in the old camps. His plan was to be on the summit on his 36th birthday.

Wilson's first attempt to climb failed early due to the weather. He was alone on the mountain, sitting in the tent on his birthday while a blizzard swept over him. A few days later, completely emaciated, he returned to the monastery and was cared for there.

Wilson wanted to make his second attempt with the support of the Bhutias. But since Tsering fell ill, only Rinzing and Tewang could accompany him. It was planned that they would accompany him to Camp III. The three men left on May 12th. In the area of ​​Camp II, Wilson had left several pieces of equipment lying around on his first attempt. Rinzing was able to find some of them, but not the crampons . On May 21, Wilson left Camp III and began the ascent to the North Col. Rinzing initially accompanied him and showed Wilson how to hit steps in the ice with a pimple. Wilson had never done this before. This work was made more difficult because Wilson no longer had crampons. At the key point in the ascent to the North Col, an ice wall, he had to give up and turned around. He met his helpers in Camp III. Wilson now wanted the two Bhutias to accompany him even further, but they refused. The danger seemed too great to them. They assured Wilson that they would wait ten days for him in Camp III and then dismount. What happened next is unclear. Rinzing saw him on May 29th when he dared to climb again alone. Wilson's last entry in his diary is dated May 31, 1934. Contrary to what they claim, the two Bhutias probably descended on May 30. Otherwise it can hardly be explained that they no longer saw Wilson, who was found dead in Camp III in 1935. The other possibility is that Wilson was alive much longer and didn't come back to camp until the ten days were up.

In his homeland the press became aware of Wilson again. They did not condemn his expedition, but made him a hero, even though he acted contrary to national interests.

The time after his death

On July 9, 1935, the body of Wilson was discovered by Charles Warren, a member of the British exploration expedition. The diary on which the books on Wilson are based was also found. Warren noted three things that were strange to him:

• No sleeping bag could be found.
• Wilson was less than 200 yards from the 1933 expedition's food depot, which he had already used.
• He was within calling distance of Camp III, where Rinzing and Tewang are said to have been waiting for him.

Wilson's body was wrapped in a tarpaulin by the participants in the English exploration expedition in 1935 and sunk into a crevasse .

In 1960, the glacier released his body again shortly below Camp III. He was found by a Chinese expedition and reburied. His corpse also reappeared in 1975, also in 1985 and 1989. Even today, off the beaten track, you can find bone parts from Wilson.

During the ascent of Everest in 1960, a tent was allegedly found at an altitude of 8500 m. Since no official expedition had erected a tent here, it was speculated whether it could have been a Wilson tent. From here he could have reached the summit. It is more likely, however, that this tent is from a Soviet expedition in 1952 , even if it never officially took place.

Individual evidence

1. ^ London Gazette  (Supplement). No. 30901, HMSO, London, September 13, 1918, p. 7905 ( PDF , accessed September 13, 2008, English).
2. ↑ Meier-Hüsing: Where the snow lions dance. Page 258

literature

• Peter Meier-Hüsing: Where the snow lions dance - Maurice Wilson's forgotten Everest ascent . Piper-Verlag, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-89029-249-6 .