When was george mallory born

He was born on June 18, in Mobberley, Cheshire. His complete name was George Herbert Leigh Mallory. He won a mathematics scholarship to Winchester College at the age of 13 years. Search Search for: Search. George Mallory developed his interest in rock climbing during his last year at Winchester College. Although he never actually tried such a stunt, he frequently climbed poles, roofs, and anything else he could find. According to Firstbrook, Mallory's friend David Pye wrote, "There is no doubt that all his life he enjoyed taking risks, or perhaps it would be fairer to say doing things with a small margin of safety.

At the age of 14 Mallory won a scholarship to Winchester College. He loved the school, and his interest in climbing was fueled by the fact that his headmaster, Graham Irving, was an experienced mountain climber. Irving was an experienced but controversial climber who advocated climbing without local guides and who often climbed alone, both considered irresponsible at the time. In , when Mallory was 18, the group went to the Alps and attempted to climb Bourg St-Pierre, a relatively modest mountain of under 12, feet.

Despite its modesty, the mountain proved more than enough for the young climbers. Mallory and another boy developed mountain sickness feet from the summit, forcing them to retreat. Mallory later returned with Irving and succeeded in two summit climbs. At this point he was hooked, and spent the following summer in the Alps. Away from mountains, he climbed the roof of his family's house, towers, and church steeples, occasionally getting into trouble for these exploits.

Mallory attended Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was not particularly happy as a freshman. During his second year he made more friends, including Charles Darwin's grandson also named Charles , the poet Rupert Brooke, zoologist A.

Shipley, and economist Maynard Keynes. Although he was interested in his studies, Mallory often failed to hand in his work on time, and cared little when he tested poorly on his exams.

He spent his vacations from school climbing in the Lake District of England. In his third and fourth years at school Mallory's academic performance improved. In he met Geoffrey Winthrop Young, an experienced climber who would become a lifelong friend. Young introduced Mallory to other great climbers of the day, including Percy Farrar, who would later ask Mallory to be a part of the first Everest expedition.

Mallory was still not sure what he wanted to do with his life; he considered, and rejected, the ideas of becoming a writer, a clergyman, or a mathematics teacher. Eventually, under pressure by his father to get a job, he took a position as assistant master at Charterhouse, where he was conscientious but often troubled because he was not much older than the students and he was not particularly authoritative.

His students were often bewildered by the fact that Mallory wanted to treat them as equals, a method almost unheard of in the authoritarian schools of the time.

He often took students on climbing trips that led to lifelong friendships. On July 29, , Mallory married Ruth Turner, the daughter of an architect.

The couple had a daughter, Frances, the following year. In , during World War I, he spent a few months as a second lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery, but was sent home when an old ankle fracture began bothering him.

He and Ruth had another daughter in , and a son in Although he had only spent a short time on the front, his war experiences shook Mallory and made him reassess his life. What was truly important?

What did he truly want to do with his life? Although happy with his family, he still felt restless and unsatisfied. When, in , Percy Farrar asked him to be part of the first Everest expedition in , he eagerly accepted.

The Everest expedition of did not succeed. The team spent weeks reconnoitering the mountain and debating possible routes to the summit. Mallory eventually mapped a route to the summit from the northeast. The climbers attempted to reach the summit, but had not traveled far before horrendous weather forced them to retreat. Overall, the expedition was unprepared and poorly equipped.

As quoted by Jochen Hemmler, Larry A. Johnson, and Eric R. Simonson in their Ghosts of Everest,, Mallory later wrote, "I doubt if any big mountain venture has ever been made with a smaller margin of strength. Mallory married Ruth Turner on 29th July Geoffrey Winthrop Young was the best-man. The couple went to Porlock in Somerset for their honeymoon.

Mallory was deeply shocked by the outbreak of the First World War. He believed strongly that international disputes should be solved by diplomacy. Young became a war correspondent with The Daily News and his reports of the slaughter on the Western Front appalled Mallory.

Although opposed to the war, Mallory began to feel that he should do his duty and help the war effort. Geoffrey Winthrop Young resigned as a journalist and began to help to transport casualties and refugees away from the front-line.

On 22nd November Mallory wrote to Young saying that it was "increasingly impossible to remain a comfortable schoolmaster". He added: "Naturally I want to avoid the army for Ruth's sake - but can't I do some job of your sort? On 9th December, , the war minister, Lord Kitchener , instructed headteachers not to let teachers join up if this would impair the work of their schools.

Frank Fletcher , the head of Charterhouse , used this directive to refuse permission for Mallory to join the armed forces. Mallory's guilt for not taking part in the war increased after hearing about the death of his friend, Rupert Brooke in April The following month he received a letter from his brother, Trafford Leigh Mallory , who had just arrived at the front-line near Ypres.

Despite the foul latrines and the smell of rotting bodies he told him that: "I must say I am extraordinarily happy here. I never thought I would enjoy it so much.

We have got gag things to put over our mouths, but still many seem to get killed. On 16th June Leigh-Mallory was wounded in the leg during an attack on the German trenches at Ypres. As a result of the seriousness of his injury Leigh-Mallory was sent to a hospital in Oxford. Ruth Mallory wrote to her husband on 10th August "I wonder dear how much we shall keep up with the times and be able to be proper companions for our children. Lets try and remember that they must educate us as well as we educating them then I think we may not go so far wrong, we mustn't hate every new thing that comes along until its got old.

George had wanted a boy and he wrote to a friend: "I can't claim any great interest at present in my daughter. Some of his favourite students joined the British Army. He wrote to a friend that losing them was "like cutting off buds". Mallory could no longer accept the idea that these young men should be fighting on his behalf and despite the protests of Frank Fletcher he decided to join the Royal Artillery. He wrote to a friend: "I feel so mixed up when I think of it - not wanting perfect safety for my own sake because I prefer adventure and want anyway to share those risks with my friends; but thinking so very differently where Ruth comes in.

I'm afraid she'll feel very sore when I'm out there. That night Ruth wrote to her husband: "I think I must write to you tonight it makes me feel less far from you. I am alright dear. I am cheerful and I have not cried anymore. I had baby as soon as I got home till she went to bed and it was very comforting. She is more of a comfort than anything else I could have. Mallory was assigned to the 40th Siege Battery, then position in the northern sector on the Western Front.

That summer he took part in the Somme offensive. He wrote to his wife about the bombardment that took place before the infantry attack: "It was very noisy. Field batteries again firing over our heads of course there are plenty in front of us too and most annoying of them a pounder which has a nasty trick of blowing out the lamp with its vigorous blast. Mallory wrote that he was "full of hope" that the offensive would be successful.

On 14th July he sent another letter to Ruth Mallory arguing that: "It really seems as though we have given the Hun something of a whacking and also that his reserves are pretty well used up.

Shall we find suddenly one day that the war is over - finished as dramatically as it began? Later that month George Mallory saw flamethrowers in action for the first time. He described how he saw "a sort of liquid fire, a long line of trenches apparently on fire and exploding with great flashes and clouds of sparks. On 15th August he wrote about the large number of people killed during the Somme Offensive ; "I don't object to corpses so long as they are fresh With the wounded it is different.

It always distresses me to see the. He told his wife: "The chance of survival in my branch of the services is very large. Mallory was constantly worried about the dangers of killing his own men. He wrote in a letter to his wife about this fear: "Before I went to sleep I heard distinctly from the murmur of voices in the tent some mention of our troops being shelled out of a trench by our own guns I can't tell you what a miserable time I had after that.

You see, if my registration had been untrue, it was my fault I went over and over again in my mind all the circumstantial evidence that it was really our shells I had seen bursting and had horrid doubts and fears. Lieutenant Mallory went on leave in December When he returned to the Western Front he became a liaison officer to a French unit.

He wrote a letter to his wife about the conditions on the front-line : "The surroundings are indescribably desolate and dotted with small crosses. We haven't many dead in the trenches at least only one decapitated unfortunate has been discovered below the surface but those outside could well do with some loose earth over them.

In May he was forced to return to England to have an operation on an ankle injury that made it very difficult to walk. In September Mallory was sent to Winchester to train on some new guns. He was later sent on a battery commander's course in Lydd. Mallory returned to the Western Front in September He was with the company when the Armistice was declared on 11th November Mallory served in France until January