The British Antarctic Monument Trust are searching for information about a local man who was killed in the Antarctic, on December 6th 1963.

The British Antarctic Monument Trust, which is a registered Charity, was set up to celebrate the achievements of the men and women whose scientific exploration in the British Antarctic Territory has led to a new understanding of our planet. The Trust also aims to honour those who did not return; 29 Britons have died in the Antarctic since 1944.

The British Government established its first permanent research base in Antarctica in 1944 at Port Lockroy, and since then more than 2000 men and women of the British Antarctic Survey, and its predecessor the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, have worked in the world’s most treacherous conditions to help us understand the world in which we live. Twenty eight men and one woman have died in the pursuit of this scientific knowledge.

The Trust are trying to unearth more about these 29 Britons, and one of those is Able Seaman Michael Lane, who was originally from Much Marcle, in Herefordshire.

Brian Dorsett-Bailey, from the Trust, told the Ross Gazette:?“We have been attempting to contact the families of those who died.”

Last year, a group of 85 people from the Trust visited Stanley in the Falkland Islands, where they unveiled and dedicated a Southern Monument in memory of the 29. They then sailed to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula, visiting the sites where these men and one woman had worked.

Mr Dorsett-Bailey continued:?“On our visit to Stanley last year we discovered that one of them (the Britons), Able Seaman Michael Lane, lived in March Marcle, as indicated by his grave stone.”

During the trip, a film was made in which the Trust pays tribute to each individual, and they are including photographs of all of them. “So far, we have been unable to find a photograph of Michael, or trace any members of his family,” Mr Dorsett-Bailey said.

The Trust have also placed a memorial plaque in St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and a two part sculptural memorial at the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge and at Stanley, in the Falkland Islands.

If anyone has any information about Able Seaman Lane, please contact the Ross Gazette by emailing [email protected], or call 01989 562007. These details can then be passed along to the British Antarctic Monument Trust.

If you require further information about the Trust, visit:?www.antarctic-monument.org.