John Hunt, Baron Hunt
Encyclopedia
Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

 Henry Cecil John Hunt, Baron Hunt KG, PC, CBE, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

, (22 June 1910 – 8 November 1998) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 officer who is best known as the leader of the successful 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...

.

Early life and career

Hunt was born in Simla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...

, British India on 22 June 1910, the son of Captain Cecil Edwin Hunt MC, of the Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

, and a great nephew of the explorer Sir Francis Burton
Richard Francis Burton
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his...

. His father was killed in action during the First World War. As a child, Hunt, from the age of ten, spent much holiday time in the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

, learning some of the mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

 skills he would later hone while taking part in several expeditions in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 while serving in India. He made a guided ascent of Piz Palu
Piz Palü
Piz Palü is a mountain in the Bernina Range in Switzerland and Italy. There are three summits on its main ridge, which runs from east to west...

 at fourteen. He was educated at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...

, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was awarded the King's Gold Medal and the Anson Memorial Sword.

After Sandhurst, Hunt was commissioned as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

 in the King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...

 (KRRC) in 1930. In 1931, the regiment was posted to India. He was promoted lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in 1933. Despite his background he seems not to have been entirely comfortable with the prevailing social climate of the Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

. He preferred Rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 to Polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...

, and having already gained fluency in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 he added Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 and some Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...

. In 1934 he became a Military Intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....

 officer in the Indian Army, with the local rank of captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...

, and was seconded to the Indian police. At this time the Indian independence movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...

 was gaining ground, and Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 was particularly affected. Hunt even worked undercover, gathering intelligence in Chittagong
Chittagong
Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...

 whilst dressed in Indian clothing. He returned to his regiment in 1935, having been awarded the Indian police medal.

Throughout this period Hunt continued to climb in the Himalayas. In 1935, with James Waller's group, he attempted Saltoro Kangri
Saltoro Kangri
Saltoro Kangri is the highest peak of the Saltoro Mountains, better known as the Saltoro Range, which is a minor range of the Karakoram. It is one of the highest mountains on Earth, but it is in a very remote location deep in the Karakoram....

, reaching 24500 feet (7,467.6 m). This exploit led to his election to the Alpine Club
Alpine Club
The first Alpine Club, founded in London in 1857, was once described as:Today, Alpine clubs stage climbing competitions, operate alpine huts and paths, and are active in protecting the Alpine environment...

 and the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...

. He applied to join the 1936 Everest Expedition, but was turned down when an RAF medical discovered a minor heart problem. He married Joy Mowbray-Green on 3 September 1936, and she also took part (along with Reggie Cooke
C. R. Cooke
Lieutenant-Colonel Conrad Reginald Cooke, OBE was an English early Himalayan mountaineer. In 1935, alone and without oxygen, he reached the summit of Kabru North. His achievement remained the highest solo climb until 1953.-References:...

), in Hunt's 1937 Himalayan trip which included reconnaissance of Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain of the world with an elevation of and located along the India-Nepal border in the Himalayas.Kangchenjunga is also the name of the section of the Himalayas and means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over...

, the south-western summit of Nepal Peak
Nepal Peak
Nepal Peak is a peak, 1203 m, at the north end of Goorkha Craters, Cook Mountains. Named by Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in association with Goorkha Craters , a name applied by R.F. Scott, 1901-04. The present day nation of Nepal is the homeland of the Gurkhas....

, and only the third ascent of the Zemu Gap, between Kangchenjunga and Simvo. Here they saw tracks that one of the party's Sherpas
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...

 told them were those of the Yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...

. 1938 saw a further period of secondment to Military Intelligence, and promotion to substantive captain.

Second World War

Upon returning to the United Kingdom in 1940, Hunt became chief instructor at the Commando Mountain and Snow Warfare School, Braemar
Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an altitude of ....

. He returned to regimental duty in 1943 as a war substantive major and acting lieutenant-colonel, commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...

 of the 11th battalion of the KRRC, leading them in the Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...

. In 1944, Hunt received an immediate award of the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 (DSO) for his leadership in bitter fighting on the Sangro river, in addition to his battalion, he commanded attached troops from other arms, and the recommendation for his DSO shows that he was constantly in the forefront of the fighting, organising raids and ambushes to keep the enemy forces on the back foot, and himself leading reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....

 patrols deep behind enemy lines. In October 1944 his battalion was transferred to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, just as the tensions that would lead to the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...

 were becoming evident. In Greece he was appointed temporary brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

 and given command of the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade
11th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade was an Infantry formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in September 1939. In October 1939, it was assigned to the 4th Indian Infantry Division...

 at Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...

. He described attempting to keep the peace between the various factions as, "the most tense and difficult period in all my experience, before or since" For his efforts there he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in June 1945. In contrast to Italy, he was ordered not to take the initiative, and had to cope with large hostile forces threatening him, and infiltration by armed civilians and increasing numbers of insults to his troops. He kept the situation calm, and when finally allowed to act, and reinforced he planned and executed a successful operation. He then attended Staff College
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army from 1802 to 1997, with periods of closure during major wars. In 1997 it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.-Origins:...

 in 1946, followed by various staff appointments in the Middle East and Europe. He was granted the substantive rank of major in 1946, and substantive colonel in 1952.

Everest

Hunt was employed on the staff at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force , was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was in command of SHAEF throughout its existence...

 (SHAEF) when the surprise invitation to lead the 1953 British Everest expedition. It had been expected that Eric Shipton
Eric Shipton
Eric Earle Shipton CBE was a distinguished British Himalayan mountaineer.-Early years:Born in Ceylon in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. His mother buried her grief by taking Eric and his sister Marge and travelling constantly for the next five years...

 would lead the expedition, as he had led the (unsuccessful) British attempt on Cho Oyu
Cho Oyu
Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu lies in the Himalayas and is 20 km west of Mount Everest, at the border between China and Nepal...

 the previous year from which the majority of the climbers were drawn. However, the Joint Himalayan Committee
Joint Himalayan Committee
The Joint Himalayan Committee was the name given in 1947 to the body that was previously known as the Mount Everest Committee. Like its predecessor, it was composed of high-ranking members of the Alpine Club and the Royal Geographical Society....

 of the Alpine Club and Royal Geographic Society which oversaw British attempts on Everest decided that Hunt's military leadership experience and undoubted climbing credentials would provide the best hope for success. It was felt to be critical that this expedition should be successful as the French had permission to mount an expedition in 1954 and the Swiss in 1955, meaning that the British would not have another opportunity until 1956 at the earliest.

Many members of the expedition felt a strong loyalty to Shipton, and were unhappy with his replacement. Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, KG, ONZ, KBE , was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953 at the age of 33, he and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers known to have reached the summit of Mount Everest – see Timeline of climbing Mount Everest...

 was one of those most opposed to the change, but was soon won round by Hunt's personality and frank admission that the change had been badly handled.

Base Camp
Everest Base Camp
There are two base camps on opposite sides of Mount Everest. South Base Camp is in Nepal at an altitude of , and North Base Camp is in Tibet at ). These camps are rudimentary campsites on Mount Everest that are used by mountain climbers during their ascent and descent...

 was established on April 12, 1953. The next few days were taken up with establishing a route through the Khumbu Icefall
Khumbu Icefall
The Khumbu Icefall is an icefall at the head of the Khumbu Glacier.The icefall is found at on the Nepali slopes of Mount Everest not far above Base Camp and southwest of the summit. The icefall is regarded as one of the most dangerous stages of the South Col route to Everest's summit...

, and once opened, teams of Sherpas moved tons of supplies up the mountain. A succession of advanced camps were created, slowly forging higher up the mountain. By May 21, Wilfrid Noyce
Wilfrid Noyce
Cuthbert Wilfrid Francis Noyce was an English mountaineer and author...

 and Annullu had reached the psychological milestone of the South Col
South Col
The South Col usually refers to the southern col between Mount Everest and Lhotse, the first and fourth highest mountains in the world. When climbers attempt to climb Everest from the southeast ridge in Nepal, their final camp is situated on the South Col...

. Hunt had selected two climbing pairs to attempt the summit. The first pair (Tom Bourdillon
Tom Bourdillon
Thomas Duncan Bourdillon, known as Tom Bourdillon , was an English mountaineer, a member of the team which made the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953....

 and Charles Evans) set out on May 26 but were forced to turn back after becoming exhausted high on the mountain. On May 27, the expedition made its second and final assault on the summit with the second climbing pair. The summit was eventually reached at 11:30 am on 29 May 1953 by the New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

er Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay
Tenzing Norgay
Padma Bhushan, Supradipta-Manyabara-Nepal-Tara Tenzing Norgay, GM born Namgyal Wangdi and often referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer...

 from Nepal (Norgay had previously ascended to a record mark on Everest with a Swiss expedition of 1952).

News of the expedition's success reached London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

's coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...

. Returning to Kathmandu a few days later, they discovered that Hillary was made a KBE, and Hunt a Knight Bachelor
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...

 for their efforts. He received his knighthood on his return to London, in July 1953. Further honours were showered on Hunt and the expedition team: the Hubbard Medal
Hubbard Medal
The Hubbard Medal is awarded by the National Geographic Society for distinction in exploration, discovery, and research. The medal is named for Gardiner Greene Hubbard, first National Geographic Society president.-Recipients:...

 of the National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...

, the first time the medal was awarded on a collective basis, though individual bronze replicas were made for Hunt, Hillary and Norgay; the Founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society; the Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...

 medal of the Royal Central Asian Society; and honorary degrees from Aberdeen, Durham
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

, and London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 universities.

Later life

Sir John then returned to active duty in the army, being posted as assistant commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...

 of Sandhurst. Following his retirement from the army in 1956, when he was granted the honorary rank of brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....

, he became the first Director of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, a post he held for ten years. In the 1966 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...

 he was made a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...

 for his work with young people. His title was gazetted
London Gazette
The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...

 as Baron Hunt, of Llanfair Waterdine
Llanfair Waterdine
Llanfair Waterdine, sometimes written as Llanvair Waterdine interpreted as Saint Mary's Waterdine, is a small village and parish in Shropshire, England, on the north side of the Teme valley and just a few hundred metres from the modern Wales-England border.-Place name:"Llanfair" is a typical Welsh...

 in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

. He also became the first Chairman of the Parole Board
Parole Board
A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and the United...

, and his advisory work on policing in Northern Ireland led to the Hunt Report
Hunt Report
The Hunt Report was produced by Baron Hunt in 1969 to "examine the recruitment, organisation, structure and composition of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Special Constabulary and their respective functions and to recommend as necessary what changes are required to provide for the...

 with its recommendation for the disbanding of the B-Specials and creation of a purely military reserve force, which was created as the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...

. In 1974 he was appointed to the Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...

 on the Press. He was created a Knight of the Garter in 1979. Lord Hunt died on 8 November 1998 aged 88 in Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...

, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

.
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