 Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born in 1944 and educated at Eton. He served with the Royal Scots Greys for a time before joining the SAS. In 1968 he joined the Army of the Sultan of Oman and in 1970 was awarded the Sultan’s Bravery Medal. In the same year he married his wife, now of twenty-five years, Virginia was the first woman to be awarded the Polar Medal in 1987.
Since 1969 when he led the British Expedition on the White Nile, Sir Ranulph has been at the forefront of many exploratory expeditions. Described in 1984 as the ‘Worlds Greatest Living Explorer’ by the Guinness Book of Records, his expeditions around the world include Transglobe (1979-82) ~ the first surface journey around the World’s Polar Axis; North Polar Unsupported Expedition (1986) ~ furthest North unsupported record; Anglo Soviet North Pole Expedition (1990-91); Ubar Expedition ~ co-leader which in 1991 discovered Ptolemy’s long lost Atlantis of the Sands, the frankincense centre of the world; Pentland South Pole Expedition (1992-93) ~ first unsupported crossing of the of the Antarctic Continent and the longest unsupported polar journey in history. Sir Ranulph’s expeditions have raised over £3 million for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, which has enabled the building of Europe’s first MS research centre in Cambridge. In 1993 he was awarded an OBE for ‘human endeavour and charitable services’. | 
