THE sister of a Merseyside man who went to the Antarctic and never came back will attend a memorial service in his honour.

Beryl Black, from Mossley Hill, will be travelling to St Paul’s Cathedral where the service will take place for all those who lost their lives exploring the British Antarctic Territory.

Her brother, Stanley Black, was just 25 years old when he went missing travelling over sea ice with two other men, Dave Stratham and Geoff Stride, around May 27, 1958.

They had set out from Horseshoe Island with two dog teams to observe the hatching period of an Emperor Penguin rookery on the Dion Islands 37 miles away, but did not return.

Their dogs found their way back to camp in the days that followed.

Their traces (reins) were cut as if they had been released to fend for themselves at a moment of great danger.

Miss Black said: “He was 23 when he went out. He had been there two years.

“It was terrible for the family because we were just waiting and waiting, hoping he would be found but we did not hear any more.

“I’ve since learned a lot more, but I’m the only one of our family left.”

Miss Black was the younger sister of Stanley, who decided to retrain as a meteorologist after serving in the Second World War.

Even though there were more than 10 years between them she was still close to Stanley – as was her other brother, radio presenter Jim Black, who worked on Radio Merseyside, as well as Radios 4 and 5, before his death three years ago.

Miss Black said when they talked about their missing brother, Jim described him as “fearless”.