1. Bill Tilman was born on 14 February 1898 in Wallasey, Cheshire, the son of a wealthy sugar merchant John Hinkes Tilman and his wife Adeline Schwabe.
12 Facts About Bill Tilman
1. 2.
Bill Tilman fought at the Battle of the Somme, and was twice awarded the Military Cross for bravery.
3.
Bill Tilman's climbing career began with his acquaintance with Eric Shipton in Kenya, East Africa, where they were both coffee growers.
4.
When it came time to leave Africa, Bill Tilman was not content with merely flying home but rode a bicycle across the continent to the West Coast where he embarked for England.
5.
Bill Tilman was involved in two of the 1930s Mount Everest expeditions - participating in the 1935 Reconnaissance Expedition, and reaching 27,200 feet without oxygen as the expedition leader in 1938.
6.
Bill Tilman penetrated the Nanda Devi sanctuary with Eric Shipton in 1934, and in 1936 he went on to lead an Anglo-American expedition to Nanda Devi.
7.
In 1939, Bill Tilman was the first man to attempt climbing in the remote and unexplored Assam Himalaya, exploring the Southern approaches of Gori Chen, 6538 metres, before his team succumbed to malaria.
8.
Bill Tilman was awarded in 1952 the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal for his achievements.
9.
Bill Tilman volunteered for service in the Second World War; he first saw action during the Battle of France helping to cover the retreat in Flanders before getting to the beaches at Dunkirk.
10.
Bill Tilman then served in North Africa, Iraq and Iran before being called on for special duty in 1943.
11.
Bill Tilman then was dropped by parachute into Albania behind enemy lines to fight with Albanian and Italian partisans.
12.
On his last voyage in 1977, in his eightieth year, Bill Tilman was invited to ship as crew in En Avant with mountaineers sailing to the South Atlantic to climb Smith Island.