'Two Birkenhead men in the party'

12th January 1924

Paper clipping of the Birkenhead news, January 12 1924, preserved by Willie Irvine, Sandy's father.

When did Mallory and Irvine become associated in people's mind? When was the iconic couple formed? While Mallory's final choice to climb with Sandy came as a surprise to many (and its reasons are still debated), it was not the first time that their names were associated. In particular, just at the beginning of the expedition, the local press had made much of the fact that Sandy and Mallory were both Birkenhead men and had already been fantasizing about the possibility of the two of them standing on the summit of the world together.

The Liverpool Post had published the names of the 1924 expedition members on 12 January 1924 and ran the headline: ‘MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION— TWO BIRKENHEAD MEN IN THE PARTY’ In the minds of the Liverpool press at least, the names of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine were already linked.

Similarly, the Birkenhead news, in its issues of January 12, also reported the news, highlighting how 'the [Everest] expedition this year will have a special interest for Birkenhead people since the party, which will once again be commanded by Brigadier-General the Hon. C. G. Bruce, C.B., includes two members of well-known local families'.