With thanks to Johnny Latimer, we have been able to release two further interviews in the Audio Archive. In both cases, the interviewee is Stuart Whitmey, who was one of Ken Pearce's right-hand men on the 1964 and 1967 Gouffre Berger expeditions.
As many people will be aware, the 1964 expedition didn't achieve its objectives, with flooding preventing the team from reaching the sump, but it was eventful as Stuart recounts in the first interview. In the days of electron ladders and wetsuits, Stuart describes how a continuous eleven day underground session included two days sheltering from flood waters on a ledge, and helping two injured people up the entrance series.
In the second interview, Stuart describes how Ken Pearce got together a larger team for a more organised attempt in 1967. Unfortunately, the shadow of the Mossdale Caverns incident from a couple of months before loomed over it, and the expedition soon began to splinter under the psychological pressure. Pooling resources with the Pegasus expedition led by Peter Watkinson, Pearce managed to pull it back together, and made a successful attempt on the sumps, passing sumps 1 and 2 before being stopped by a pitch.
These are fantastic first-hand accounts of important events in British caving history, and are strongly recommended.
http://caving-library.org.uk/audio/selected.php?id=246
http://caving-library.org.uk/audio/selected.php?id=247