Jeremy Windsor, an anaesthetist and researcher at London's University College Hospital, was a member of the Caudwell Xtreme Medical Research Expedition to Mount Everest.

  You came to the Society to research oxygen equipment. What were you looking for?
I’ve been fascinated by the oxygen equipment used by expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s. I tracked the last surviving 1922 Mount Everest Oxygen Apparatus to the Society. 

Arriving at the Society, part of me expected it to be missing, incomplete or travelling the world and impossible to reach. But no, there it was, under the watchful eyes of the staff.

  What did you do when you found it?
Carefully, wearing white gloves, I took measurements and examined it from all sides. I sketched the valves, switches, tubes and dials, comparing it to the few surviving photographs.

  How does the apparatus compare with today's equipment?
Today’s equipment is much lighter and capable of carrying far more oxygen. However, much of the original design is still in use today. Perhaps with a bit of luck it might have reached the top?

Certainly its designer George Finch thought so, and used it to set a new altitude record on the mountain – nearly 8200m! Finch had been able to climb higher than George Mallory and Howard Somervell who both preferred to go without.

  How has seeing the apparatus helped your research?
My articles have been improved by just spending time with it. But perhaps more importantly, touching this piece of history only makes me want to learn more - thank you to the Society for the inspiration!