Summer is around the corner, so why not get jazzed on some adventure? In 1955, six, then recent graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, did just that and set out to accomplish the first overland crossing from London to Singapore. The group was made up of Henry Nott (Chief Engineer, Cambridge), Nigel Newbury (Quartermaster and Mechanic, Oxford), Adrian Cowell (Business Manager, Cambridge), Patrick Murphy (Navigator and Chef, Cambridge), Anton "B.B." Barrington-Brown (Cameraman, Cambridge), and Tim Slessor (Scribe and Assistant Cameraman, Cambridge). 
Two Series 1 Station Wagons were donated by Land Rover for the journey, as the company was about to release the first commercially available version in 1956. Land Rover saw this as a great opportunity to thoroughly test and promote the new line of vehicles. To play on the friendly rivalry between the schools, one truck was painted Cambridge Blue while the other was painted a dark "Oxford" blue.
When the group was ready to depart, they had managed to put together some 80 sponsors and received funds to document the crossing for the BBC. The Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition set off from London and headed south-east through Vienna, Belgrade, and Salonika, then east through Turkey, Persia (now Iran), Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Burma and then south-east through Thailand to Malaysia and finally to Singapore.
After six months and six days, the teams returned to London in August 1956 having logged over 32,000 miles. For any of you interested in learning more about this feat, find a copy of Tim Slessors book, First Overland: The Story of the Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Exhibition. It is an exciting, humorous, and insightful read.
0 comments:
Post a Comment