ALPINE CLIMBERS' DEATH

Evening Post, Volume CXXXV, Issue 151, 28 June 1943, Page 4

ALPINE CLIMBERS' DEATH

I An inquest into the deaths of Ser- ! geanf William Patrick Morton and Leading Aircraftman Wilfred Frank Wallis, two members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, who lost their lives while climbing on Mount Malte Brun on March 20, was held at Timaru on Friday, states the "Press." The inquest was held under provisions of section 3 of the Coroners Act, which allows for the holding of an inquest m the event of destruction bf the body, or of the body being situated in such a ! place that it is irrecoverable. The j Coroner (Mr. H. Morgan)' returned a verdict that Morton and Wallis met their deaths on March 20, 1943, while alpine climbing on Mount Malte Brun. He added that while there was no direct evidence to show how the fatality occurred, it seemed probable that they slipped and fell down a rock face. Their bodies might be lodged on the face or in a crevasse of the glacier, but in either case they would be difficult to find and impossible to j recover. . _^ Heavy and steady rain has fallen inj the Taupo area. The total, as recorded at the Road Board office up to Thurs- ; day last, was 31in, but at the Tokaanu end of the lake the gauge recorded 6.65 in for the same period. The lake level has during thatf time risen lOin, but how much of this rise is due to rainfall and how much to the dam is hard to estimate. During the period the six gates were completely closed for two days, in which the lake rose 3in, and for the remainder of the period the gates were only open approximately 2ft each.