Minus 30C, snow 6ft deep – 'the toughest soldiering there is'

Published on Tuesday 26 January 2010 18:03

HUNDREDS of Royal Marines are training in temperatures of almost -30C in the Arctic. Fighters with 3 Commando Brigade, headed by Arbroath-based 45 Commando, are being taught extreme cold weather survival skills in snow up to 6ft deep in northern Norway.

• Picture: PA

Lupus II is designed to provide key team-building and extreme environment experience ahead of the unit's next tour of Afghanistan, expected next year.

The temperature in Innset dropped to -20C last week, with the windchill taking it down even further to a low of -28C.

45 Commando commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Lee described it as "the toughest soldiering there is".

He said: "The biggest challenge for them is undoubtedly coping with the very demanding environmental conditions. You pay hard for a mistake here.

"You need to learn the basics, you need to understand how effectively to soldier in these conditions, and these men are rising to that challenge supremely well."

Lt Col Lee, who took up the post in September, added: "For me, this is a magnificent training opportunity, both for the toughest soldiering there is, but also for breeding that teamwork and that camaraderie on which a commando unit is based."

The Commandos have swapped their familiar green berets for fleece-lined hats for the ten-week programme in the Arctic. White sheets over their combat gear act as camouflage and masks are worn to protect their faces from frostbite.

Some are veterans who are simply refreshing their skills, but for many it is their first time in Norway and their first experience on skis.

Their skills will be tested at the end of the programme when they take part in a major international exercise called Cold Response in March.

The operation, which takes place in Norway's Bogen area, involves 5,000 troops including 200 from the US Royal Marine Corps and will include a launch from the water to test the unit's amphibious capabilities.

It is the sixth Norway trip for Corporal Brian O'Connor from Carnoustie in Angus, whose father Jim was a mountain leader with 45 Commando and a veteran of the Norway training.

Cpl O'Connor, 36, who has spent 15 years with the unit, said: "My first couple of winters he was here and he saw me do my first ice-breaking drill, when you cut a big hole in the ice and ski into it.

"It was an extra bit of pressure as there was a bit of a family reputation to protect."

The married father of three added: "He's retired and now when I come out to Norway he asks what has changed and how things are different."

Daniel Murphy, 26, from Bradford, has spent about a year with 45 Commando, and is in Norway for the first time. He said:

"I didn't realise just how cold it would get over here.

"I'm starting to pick up the skiing, but I'm still finding it hard being able to stop and turn left and right. When I first saw the face masks I thought 'What's this?' but they obviously work."

Major Tony Lancashire, who as commander of Zulu Company leads around 100 men, said: "If you can administrate yourself here, survive here and fight here, you can do it anywhere in the world because this is a really cruel environment.

"Most of our lads have been to Afghanistan and we'll go again. If they can look after themselves here, then that will carry forward to Afghanistan as well."

Missing part of a leg, but still fit for Arctic

NICHOLAS Gibson embodies the mental toughness of the Royal Marines training in the Arctic.

The 19-year-old lost his lower leg in a blast in Afghanistan's Helmand province, where 45 Commando were deployed in November 2008.

After a period in intensive care and five operation, Marine Gibbons, from Sheffield, was fitted with a prosthetic limb. Over the past year he has been undergoing physiotherapy but was determined to take part in his unit's first major training course since they returned from Afghanistan last Easter.

He said: "It's another milestone for me. The more you do the more doors you can open. I pushed to come to Norway and now it's a case of, 'What can I do here?' and 'What will come next?'."

He spent around three and a half weeks at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham after the blast but was back in uniform by April.

Marine Gibbons has since been scuba diving in Cyprus with the forces and even trekked to Everest base camp.

Frostbite and skis main Arctic perils

THERE are two main dangers when training in the extreme cold of the Arctic – frostbite and ski injuries.

The ability to travel swiftly across snowy landscapes is vital but many of the 500 marines on the survival course have never skied. Others may be used to the downhill variety and unaccustomed to the longer, narrower planks of cross-country skis.

Injuries such as twisted knees and ankles are therefore not uncommon. More serious falls involving Royal Marines training elsewhere in Norway have resulted in dislocated shoulders and a broken knee.

Army GP Major Tony Dickinson said frostbite poses the greater risk. Major Dickinson, from Lancaster, has spent each day at the training camp tending marines.

He said: "If you expose a digit, for example, to freezing conditions it will get frostbite, which is where you get permanent damage to the tissue."