John Stokes (mountaineer)

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John Henry Stokes

MBE BEM (28 August 1945 – 10 January 2016), known as 'Brummie' Stokes, was a British Army
soldier and mountaineer, known for his successful summit of Everest in 1976.

Personal life

Stokes was born in 1945 in Hamstead, then a mining village straddling the border of South Staffordshire and Birmingham, England, hence his nickname of 'Brummie'.[1]

His autobiography, Soldiers & Sherpas, A Taste For Adventure, was published in 1988.

He died in January 2016, and was survived by his wife, Lynn, and their two sons.[1][2]

Military service

At the age of seventeen, Stokes joined the Royal Green Jackets, an infantry regiment of the British Army. Three years later, he joined the SAS Regiment.[1]

With the SAS he saw action in the Falklands War.[1] He left the army in 1985.[1] He was awarded a British Empire Medal for his nineteen years' work in the Special Air Service.[citation needed] He was well liked by all his fellow Soldiers.[1]

Mountaineering

Stokes took part in an expedition to

Mount McKinley in Alaska), an avalanche wiped out advanced base camp, killing one of the members and injuring several others, and Stokes' neck was broken.[1]

After leaving the army, he was part of an attempt to conquer Everest's last unclimbed route, its northeast ridge, accessed through

Charity work

In 1991, with his wife, Stokes established and ran the 'Taste for Adventure Centre', a registered charity and outdoor activity centre for less privileged children, at Credenhill.[1] He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for this work in 2004.[1][4]

Bibliography

Soldiers & Sherpas, A Taste For Adventure.

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See also

References

External links