would be resumed on the 28th, by which time this skeleton team could have had a day's rest, and fresh members would be back from leave.

The team left Fort William late that evening, and arrived at Kinloss in the early hours of the next day. Eight hours later the police telephoned to say that no civilians would be available to search that day after all. The RAF returned to Fort William in the afternoon.

In the meantime the NCO in charge at Kinloss, Flight-Sergeant Donald Cooke, was on sick leave, but he had heard of the search from the radio. He came to Fort William on the 26th, to be told by the police that the search for the remaining climber had been temporarily abandoned.

On the 27th he went up on his own and found the fourth body in a steep snow gully and below a forty-foot drop at the western end of the Carn Dearg cliffs. It was fairly obvious that he had gone off on his own, probably to fetch help himself, and had walked over the edge in bad visibility.

Cooke went back to the Fort, informed the police, and the RAF recovered the body in the morning.

The police were commended as a result of this rescue, particularly in view of their inexperience, but it was recommended that they be issued with proper clothing and equipment in future. (All members of the advance party had suffered from some form of frostbite, mainly of the tongue and hands.)

Both police and RAF were highly incensed at the behaviour of some of the reporters who, it seemed, were inclined to put their stories before the success of the rescue. At one time, when it was vital to travel with all possible speed from the road-end at Achintee Farm (where the pony track becomes unnavigable for vehicles) to Fort William, the RAF Land-Rover was impeded by no less that eight Press vehicles blocking the road.
On the other hand, after the accident, the Sunday newspaper The People joined with relatives of mountaineers who had been killed on the Ben, to raise money to erect the two shelters which now stand on top: on near the summit of Carn Dearg, the other near the old observatory.

These shelters might save lives in similar circumstances to the last accident, although it is debatable whether, if men have enough strength to dig away the enormous drifts which will accumulate about the entrance, they would be better employed trying to get down to the valley. But if one member of the party is exhausted he may not be capable of descent, and another member might Continue to page 7