Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A soldier and one of Britain's most celebrated explorers.
On the island
Eight records
It reminds me of Paphos, where our first expedition was held underwater, where we were looking for the lost port of Paphos. And it reminds me of a little restaurant on the quayside where you got wine and a dancing pelican.
Many of my expeditions have been uh in deserts, and recently I've served in the desert of Oman. And I think that the uh music that you hear in the theme tune of the film Lawrence Arabia epitomizes the desert.
He Played His Ukulele as the Ship Went Down
And one day for a wager with a rather wicked girl who sang on the Decani side I slipped in a record called He Played His Ukulele as the Ship Went Down. And the result was that all the old ladies coming up the road to church were jogging happily and then I turned it over full volume to the deaf in the front rank and really it was most extraordinary.
The Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers
Well, when we marched out of the Darien Gap on Saint George's Day, appropriately, in nineteen seventy two, the sappers who had been leading this assault and cutting through this awful jungle broke into song, and they sung one of our marching songs in the Corps, which is called Hurrah for the CRE.
And as personal assistant, she was responsible not only for interpreting all the various different languages we came across, but also for selecting the music for playing in TAC HQ, as we called the small headquarters. And we had a little cassette player and she selected a number of records, and one of which was called Skybird by Neil Diamond.
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 ('From the New World')
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by István Kertész
And I think that this symphony is the complete epitome of exploration, the search, the quest. And after all, explorers are questioners. They are people who are looking for something. And I think this music epitomizes that.
The Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
And I always remember that that radio was playing the tune Amazing Grace, and so I think as a salute to all Scotsmen and very many of my friends who come from north of the border, I would like to hear that.
Land of Hope and GloryFavourite
Colin Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra
My mother was um a very good singer, I thought, and on high days and holidays in the church she would sing Land of Hope and Glory. And this still reminds me of the best of Britain...
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:37On your expeditions, or at any time in your life, have you ever had to experience prolonged loneliness?
No, I don't think I have. Or I've been lonely for short times, but never really for prolonged periods.
Presenter asks
0:37What would you be happiest to have got away from?
Well, I I think paperwork mostly because the paper jungle of exploration uh is considerable.
Presenter asks
0:51How important is music in your life?
I think perhaps I'd like it to be more important than it really is. My mother was a great singer. My father played the organ and the violin. My grandmother played the piano, and I used to play the drum, but that made the Saint Bernard howl, and I was forbidden.
Presenter asks
3:45You formed a private army when you were about fourteen?
Yes, this was in England. I was a little, before I was fourteen. I became very worried that Hitler was going to invade Herefordshire, and therefore I decided that I hadn't got much faith in the Home Guard, and I decided to form from the girls and boys of the choir a defensive force. And we did, in fact, fight many successful campaigns, mostly against the scrumpers.
The keepsakes
The book
Rudyard Kipling
I think I would need some poems, and undoubtedly I would take the complete works of Kipling.
The luxury
Well, then I've got something that really is a luxury, and that's a large bottle of malt, scotch, whisky, and you can get inflatable ones.
Presenter asks
4:30What branch of the army did you work for?
Well, I reckon if I wanted to be an explorer, I wanted to be someone who was involved with conquering obstacles, and the one people that do that are the Royal Engineers. And so I tried very hard to get into the Sappers, and uh perhaps foolishly they accepted me, and I never looked back.
Presenter asks
12:17How many casualties did you have [on the Zaire River expedition]?
Well, the senior medical officer worked out that we had about 50%, a little over actually, which works out at around about 70 men and women. But of course, a casualty is defined as somebody who is seriously ill for more than 24 hours. And I'm very happy to say that by a miracle nobody was actually killed.
“I suppose Jersey is a natural place for explorers, because it's a small island, and people tended to be outward-looking, and many of them indeed became sailors.”
“And so what we've developed, of course, are servicemen and civilians who have the administrative expertise and scientists who need to get into these very remote areas and solve the problems.”
“I reckon I've got forty years left and I'm thirty-nine now.”