Bronco Lane

Infobox Military Person
name= Michael Lane
lived=1945
died=
placeofbirth=Manchester, England
placeofdeath=


caption=
nickname=Bronco
allegiance=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
serviceyears= 1961
rank= Major
branch=
parent unit= Royal Artillery
unit= Special Air Service
battles=Aden Emergency
Dhofar Rebellion
Operation Banner
awards= British Empire Medal
Military Medal
laterwork=Mountaineer
Major Michael 'Bronco' Lane BEM, MM (born 1945) is a former British Army officer and author, known for his climbing expeditions which led to his summiting Mount Everest in 1976.

Background

Born in 1945 in Manchester, Lane attended the Ullswater Outward Bound School in 1960 and joined Junior Leaders Royal Artillery in 1961. He volunteered for service in the 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in 1964 and was selected for the Special Air Service in 1967. [http://polarquest.co.uk/polar_ambassadors.php#bronco Polar Quest Ambassadors] ] He fought in the Aden Emergency, Oman and in Northern Ireland where he was awarded the Military Medal. [SAS Heroes. Pete Scholey. Osprey]

Mountaineering

Bronco joined the Army Mountaineering Association (AMA) in 1968 and took part in AMA expeditions to the Canadian Arctic in 1972, Indian Himalayas in 1973, Nuptse, Nepal in 1975. 1976 saw him joining a joint British-Nepalese Army expedition to Everest under the command of Lt. Col Tony Streather. The expedition succeeded in putting Lane and fellow SAS colleague Brummie Stokes on the summit on May 16th. [ [http://www.everest1953.co.uk/3.html Joint British Army & Royal Nepalese Army Everest Expedition] ] After summiting Lane and Stokes were caught by bad weather and were forced to abandon their descent. The pair bivouacked in a snow hole near the South Summit for the night. [ [http://www.everestnews.com/history/climbers/michaellane.htm EverestHistory.com: Michael "Bronco" Lane] ] . Stokes tried and failed to attach a oxygen bottle to his face-mask. Lane had to remove his glove to attach the bottle but after an hour his hand was frozen. After the night in the open both men's feet were badly frostbitten. Back home in England doctors attempted to save the men's toes but the condition of their feet deteriorated in the summer heat. Eventually he felt a tingling sensation in his foot and after removing his dressing found maggots in one of his toes which he removed with a cocktail stick. Lane lost his toes as well as the thumb and top halves of his fingers on his right hand. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZOomkQfnWsAC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=%22Bronco+Lane%22+everest&source=web&ots=LeTuzmgRJi&sig=C8-S_rB_2CGqbQk1Ir37-zD8iVE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA142,M1 Where the Mountain Casts Its Shadow By Maria Coffey. Macmillan] ]

He continued mountaineering, climbing in the Canadian Rockies in 1978-9 and Mount Kenya in 1983. In 1984 he led an expedition to Everest Tibet and was deputy leader of the Joint Services Everest Nepal 1992. He has also been involved with several Antarctica expeditions.

Bronco's digits

Lane had his five fingers and 10 toes preserved in formaldehyde and kept them behind the regimental mess. When the National Army Museum approached him seeking items to commemorate his climb in 1976 Lane presented them with his severed digits together with an ice axe he used during his climb. Lane stated at the time that "I don't think it was quite what they were expecting...but I haven't got any use for them any more and I thought it would be nice to see them exhibited." [ [http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=qw971092861766B216 Everest climber gives museum the finger] ] The toes were not in good enough condition to be exhibited but the fingers were placed on display on a wooden plinth.

Works

* Project Alpha. ISBN: 9781904524212
* Military Mountaineering - A History of Services Mountaineering, 1945 - 2000. Hayloft Publishing. ISBN: 9780952328216

References

External links

* [http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/exhibitions/shortVisits/heroes/page21.shtml National Army Museum - Major Michael ‘Bronco’ Lane (b1945)]