"Everyone has their own personal Everest to conquer!"
-- John "Brummie" Stokes
Bronco, Brummie being the one on the right.
Source: John "Brummie" Stokes
It's a special event for a man to realize one dream in a lifetime; it's
entirely something else to use that goal as a springboard for even bigger
things. When John Henry 'Brummie' Stokes enlisted in the British Green Jackets
in 1963 he accomplished one goal (at 17), but this was only the foundation for
fulfilling the larger dream of joining the elite SAS, Britain 's toughest
But this dream itself would serve as a basis to an even larger goal, the
summit of Everest. In the years of military service that followed Stokes would
see action all over the world including the successful British campaign to
retake the Falkland Islands. He was decorated several times for bravery.
Through it all though climbing remained his life's passion.
He and fellow SAS climber Bronco Lane would attempt many of the world's
most demanding peaks including a 1976 summit of Everest, via the South Col.
route (Stokes was the third Briton to do so) in what would be the only
successful military ascent of the mountain. Stokes returned in 1986 for an
attempt at Everest's North East Ridge from the Chinese side, with Mo Anthoine
and Joe Brown. The expedition was thwarted by severe weather including Jet
Stream winds on the mountainside.