If you were the first New Zealander to visit the South Pole you'd be shouting it from the rooftops, wouldn't you?
Well, not 83 year-old Bill Cranfield.
It turns out Mr Cranfield and two other Kiwis were the first to raise a flag at the pole in December 1957 - a fortnight before Sir Edmund Hillary and his tractors rolled in.
Mr Cranfield was a member of Sir Ed's trans-Antarctic expedition but it wasn't the 'done thing' to steal the explorer's thunder, so he hasn't spoken about that first flying visit until now.
[Story]
Well, not 83 year-old Bill Cranfield.
It turns out Mr Cranfield and two other Kiwis were the first to raise a flag at the pole in December 1957 - a fortnight before Sir Edmund Hillary and his tractors rolled in.
Mr Cranfield was a member of Sir Ed's trans-Antarctic expedition but it wasn't the 'done thing' to steal the explorer's thunder, so he hasn't spoken about that first flying visit until now.
[Story]
