Pegasus Overland Expedition
BBC reported:
"For five young men from Liverpool, 1968 was to be a year they would never forget as they travelled overland from the UK to New Zealand. John Proffit, John Doran, John Bate, Tom McCormack and Victor Parkinson set off to make the trip through 18 countries in a second hand Land Rover."
There is not much information on this trip (besides for the links below) so please get in touch if you know anything more.
Here are a few passages I could decipher from the article on the right (Source below)
Each man had only the £50 overseas allowance in his pocket but the Land Rover was weighed down with 400lb of food, which included 2000 tea bags...
We spent four months preparing the Land Rover but we forget about equipping it with heavy duty springs and four broke from the strain. We had to jack it up eventually with wood.
We weren't the only ones to have trouble with our springs, added Mr Proffitt. We met four grandmothers who were also travelling by Land Rover to deliver 600 Christmas puddings to a hospital in Australia. (Note: see below)
When we were in Singapore we were not surprised to read that these same grandmothers had cabled their husbands for extra money. They were, by the way, aged from 59 to 79.
Eighteen countries were visted in the course of the tour.
Three married in Austrial and two of the couples returned to England in the Land Rover.Grandmothers Expedition to Australia
 |
| Grandmother's Expedition to Australia |
The grannies are: Melanie Delmont, Mavis Britter, Lilian Humphreys, Helen Scott, Phyllis Howard and Ann Spink.
GRANNIES' SAFARI - British Pathe (Click for video)
Sources:
Pegasus Overland Expedition
Grandmother's Expedition to Australia
Recommended Reading:
Trans-Asia motoring
by Colin McElduff
by Colin McElduff
So above mentioned "Pegasus Overland" must be refering to the later expedition as the first one took place in 1959 with 8 people in 2 land rovers.
ReplyDeleteRgds
Michael
Thanks Michael. re. the Pegasus Overland trip -very little information is available online. Any additional information would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHi Martin, my grandmother Melanie Delmont led the overland Grannies expedition to Austrailia and that is my 9 year old mum she is kissing good bye to in the newsreel! if you'd like any more information please do let me know, Kind Regards Chris Bird
ReplyDeleteI have a video of the first Pegasus expedition, believe it was shown on BBC shortly after the trip. The style is similar to the First Overland a few years earlier.
ReplyDeleteGot it from one of the participants and I have recently asked if not he could write down the story for others to read.
Rgds
Michael
Try to google " Pegasus Overland 1959 " and you will see a referance to the trip and the programme for which it was filmed.
ReplyDeleteRgds
Michael
Micheal,
ReplyDeletethank goodness someone else who knows of the 1959 expedition. I too have a DVD of the video it was broadcast on HTV. My Uncle John Devine took part in the expedition aged 19. Sadly he died in 1985 but one of the officers Stephen Fox, last I heard, was still alive living in Kuala Lumpur.
John
1968 Expedition a first.
ReplyDeleteYes, I served in the Para's with John Devine and Stephen Anselm Fox who had great adventure spirit. Stephen took us all out for dinner the night before we left.
Pegasus Overland Expedition 1968,was a first and different to any other as it travelled over 10,000 miles of unsealed tracks and deserts in chartered and un-chartered territory it was expected to get through. The Pegasus Overland Expedition arrived in Freemantle, Australia ahead of the very first 'London to Sydney Car Rally 1968'. There was lots of international media interest prior to our expeditions next leg of it's journey across the Nullaba Desert and on to NSW.We also had a video and journal.
Hello John,
ReplyDeletenice to hear from someone that served with Uncle John. I made a mistake in my post in that their expedition was filmed for TWW the precursor of HTV. The DVD I have is pretty poor quality being a copy of a copy from VHS. Apart from the journey it includes a clip of them parachuting into the Malay jungle to deliver supplies to troops.
John