Roy Koerner MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

 was a Polar

Polar region

Earth's polar regions are the areas of the globe surrounding the poles also known as frigid zones. The North Pole and South Pole being the centers, these regions are dominated by the polar ice caps, resting respectively on the Arctic Ocean and the continent of Antarctica...

 explorer who participated in what the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson

Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...

 described as "a feat of endurance and courage which ranks with any in polar history", and Prince Philip feels "ranks among the greatest triumphs of human skill and endurance".

Early life and career

Koerner was born on 3 July 1932 in Copnor

Copnor

Copnor is one of the administrative districts of Portsmouth, England, located on the eastern side of Portsea Island. As Copenore, it was one of the three villages listed as being on Portsea Island in the Domesday book....

, Portsmouth. From an early age, he was nicknamed "Fritz" on account of his Germanic surname, and the moniker stuck. He was educated at Sheffield University

University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...

, after which he taught at Bridgemary Community School

Bridgemary Community School

Bridgemary Community School, formally Bridgemary Community Sports College, is a comprehensive 11-16 secondary school in Gosport, Hampshire, England. The school was awarded specialist Sports College status until the end of the 2010-2011 academic year....

 before joining the British Antarctic Survey

British Antarctic Survey

The British Antarctic Survey is the United Kingdom's national Antarctic operation and has an active role in Antarctic affairs. BAS is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and has over 400 staff. It operates five research stations, two ships and five aircraft in and around Antarctica....

 in 1957.

Polar career

From 1968 to 1969 he was a member of the British Trans-Arctic Expedition led by Wally Herbert

Wally Herbert

Sir Walter William "Wally" Herbert was a British polar explorer, writer and artist. In 1969 he became the first man to walk undisputed to the North Pole, on the 60th anniversary of Robert Peary's famous, but disputed, expedition...

, a 3,800-mile surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean, from Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 to Spitsbergen

Spitsbergen

Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...

. In the 1970s Koerner emigrated to Canada where he spent more than forty years studying the history embedded in glacial ice. He was head of the Ice Core Laboratory at Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. Koerner died after being sent home from his final mission on 26 May 2008.