Obituary: Dr David Pratt (C3 1938-42)

Dr David Pratt (C3 1938-42), soldier, engineer and adventurer, died on 13th March 2019, aged 94.

After leaving the army in 1948 and then completing his engineering degree at Trinity College, David Pratt became an essential member of the successful Trans-Antarctic expedition in 1955. As Transport and Engineering Officer, he worked with 90 different companies to source the best vehicles and equipment for the adventure. A particular contribution was to solve the problem of crossing the crevasses in the Antartic. He worked with Sir Donald Bailey who had created “portable prefabricated” equipment for the making of bridges to carry tanks and people in the Second World War. After the expedition he was Pratt was awarded the Polar Medal and a mountain in the Shackleton Range of Antarctica — “Pratts Peak” — was named after him.

After the expedition he completed a PhD at Imperial College and went on to head the Engineering department for 30 years at the Commonwealth Develoment Department which saw him travelling the world solving all kinds of problems in all sorts of environments.

He was married to Victoria and had two children, James and Jonathan.

A full obituary can be seen in The Times.