Where disciplined leadership led to 50 years of adventure
In 1976, I led a joint British and Australian Army expedition with a bold and unusual objective: to retrace — step for step — the original route taken by John McDouall Stuart, the man who in 1862 became the first explorer to cross the Australian continent from south to north and return home alive. Stuart’s achievement was extraordinary. His third attempt succeeded where others had failed, overcoming hostile terrain, extreme heat, scarce water and repeated attacks. He travelled with nine men and seventy‑one horses and camels, navigating one of the harshest environments on earth with nothing but skill, endurance and sheer determination.
Although many had followed sections of Stuart’s journey, no one had ever completed the full route in its entirety. Our 1976 expedition became the first to do so.
The journey was demanding in every sense. The Australian interior tested us with searing heat, snakes, scorpions, and vast stretches of unforgiving country. But it also gave me something I didn’t expect: the bug for adventure. Leading that expedition — planning it, preparing for it, making mistakes and then living it day by day — showed me what disciplined leadership could achieve far beyond the boardroom.
It also planted a seed.
What I didn’t know then was that this expedition would ignite something lasting. It gave me the bug for 50 years of adventure — and the confidence to pursue challenges far beyond the military.
And ultimately, it carried me to the summit of Mount Everest.
