National Geographical officially recognize the first man to the North Pole.

BRITAIN will today officially recognise explorer Sir Wally Herbert as the first man to reach the North Pole on foot.

Controversy has raged for almost a century over whether it was Herbert, who lives in Laggan, Inverness-shire, or American Robert Peary who first got to the Pole.

Until now Peary, who trekked to the North Pole in 1909, has traditionally been given the credit.

But the Royal Geographical Society are now throwing their weight behind 71-year-old Herbert.

At a testimonial tonight, the society will say Peary's navigation was flawed and that he actually missed the Pole by several degrees.

And they will officially credit Herbert with the achievement for his epic 3800-mile journey, with three companions and 40 dogs from Alaska to Spitsbergen.

He reached the pole on April 6, 1969 with the arduous expe-dition taking 16 months, including three months overwintering on the ice cap.

Society spokesman and explorer Hanbury Tenison will make the statement at tonight's testimonial.

He said: "I will say that Peary's navigation was flawed, that he did not reach the North Pole and that the first man to do so was Wally, when he set off from Alaska and walked to Spitsbergen.

"It will upset the Americans rather but they don't know about it yet."

The society have arranged a gala evening tomorrow to honour Herbert, with a large number of British polar explorers expected to attend.

Herbert was the first man to cross the Arctic Ocean on foot and the first - and only-man to map the North Pole Ice Cap.

American-born Frederick Cook was the first man to claim he had walked to the Pole in 1908 but his claim was refuted by Peary when he got there the following year.

Peary's claim, in turn, was questioned by Herbert who "scrutinised" his claims.

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