Mike Banks (mountaineer)

Soldier, author, and adventurer (1922–2013)

Michael Edward Borg Banks

Born| 22 December 1922

Chippenham

Died| 9 February 2013
Nationality| British
Occupation| Soldier

Adventurer Climber

Author

Michael Edward Borg Banks MBE (22 December 1922 – 9 February 2013) was a British soldier, adventurer, climber and author.[1]

## Early life

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Banks was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, on 22 December 1922.[1] His father Humphrey Borg, an engineer, and mother Elsie (nee Millicent) worked in Malta, where Banks was schooled until returning to Chippenham when he was 14.[1] He adopted the surname Banks by deed poll, in adulthood.[1] Banks was a vegetarian.[2]

## Career and later life

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Banks joined the Royal Marines, with a commission, in January 1942.[1] He was a member of the British North Greenland Expedition (1952 to 1954).

He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 25 November 1954.[3] He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1959.[1]

In 1958, he made the first ascent of Rakaposhi with Tom Patey as part of a British-Pakistani joint forces Himalayan expedition.[4]

At the age of 77, in May 2000, he climbed the Scottish sea stack, the Old Man of Hoy becoming the oldest person to have done so.[5]

He died in Bristol on 9 February 2013, aged 90.[1]

## Bibliography

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* 
- (1955). Commando climber. Dent.
* 
- (1957). High Arctic: The story of the British North Greenland Expedition. Dent.
* 
- (1957). High Arctic. Secker & Warburg.
* 
- (1959). Rakaposhi. Secker & Warburg.
* 
- (1961). Snow Commando. Burke.
* 
- (1975). Greenland. David & Charles. ISBN 978-0715369111.
* 
- (1979). Mountaineering for Beginners. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0340236956.

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g "Michael Banks". The Daily Telegraph. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
2. ^ "Lives remembered: Mike Banks". thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
3. ^ "Desert Island Discs – Castaway : Captain M B B Banks RM". BBC Radio 4. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2014. [sic]
4. ^ Banks, M.E.B; Mills, E.J.E (1960). "The Ascent of Rakaposhi". The Geographical Journal. CXXVI. The Royal Geographical Society. JSTOR 1790422.
5. ^ "Alpine Club Newsletter 3/2000". Alpine Club. July 2000. Archived from the original (MS word) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2010.

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