Warwick Deacock (1926–2017) was a British soldier, mountaineer and adventurer.

Early life

Born in London, he joined the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

in 1943 and gained Commando Green Beret. Deacock left the Marines in 1947 and went on to do odd jobs to pay for sailing and climbing. In 1956, he joined the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

and served in

Northern Malaya The term Unfederated Malay States () was the collective name given to five British protected states in the Malay peninsula in the first half of the twentieth century. These states were Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis, and Terengganu. In contras ...

and

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

. He later resigned after realising the forces he fought in Oman were trained by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. In 1959, Warwick Deacock migrated to Australia with his wife and daughter.

Ascent of Big Ben

In 1963 Deacock went to

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...

as a member of the

Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE ) is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program (AAp) administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). History Australia has had a long involv ...

. During the expedition, there was an attempt on climbing

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

to investigate glaciology, geology and volcanology of the unexplored area. Due to a prolonged blizzard and a lost food depot, the attempt was abandoned. One of the three members (Grahame Budd) had frostbitten hands but all survived. The three had lost their tent, sleeping bags and other equipment. Back in Australia, Deacock drove around the country with his family working odd jobs. He decided to have another attempt at climbing Big Ben and in 1964 started fundraising for the attempt. In 8 months he raised nearly £86,000. Using this Deacock and four others went back to Heard Island and in January 1965, were the first to summit Big Ben.

Awards

Royal Geographic Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

J.P. Thompson Medal for Exploration in 1992 * Australian Geographic Society Adventurer of the Year Gold Medal in 1993 *

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for services to conservation and the environment in 1997

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deacock, Warwick 1926 births 2017 deaths Place of death missing Royal Marines personnel of World War II Special Air Service soldiers Military personnel from London British emigrants to Australia Australian mountain climbers Members of the Order of Australia