Marines ready for South Pole trip

The team is following in the footsteps of Captain Scott

A team of Royal Marines is hoping to be the first British military team to complete a return expedition to the South Pole.

The four-man Polar Quest team, who will start on 8 November, is led by Captain Sean Chapple from Taunton, Somerset.

Major Paul Mattin, Marine Craig Hunter of the Royal Marines Commando Training Centre and Royal Navy Surgeon Lt Cdr Andy Brown are all from Devon.

The 1,450 miles trip is expected to take 70 days.

The team hopes to reach the South Pole on Christmas Day, completing a grand slam for the Royal Navy after a successful expedition to the North Pole in May and one to the summit of Mount Everest in 2003.

The outward journey is expected to take 50 days to ski and then on the return trip the team will use giant kites to harness the wind and reduce the journey to 20 days.

Capt Chapple said: "We are looking forward to it, we have been preparing for three years and having been doing physical training for the last six months to a year.

"We've undergone cold weather training as part of being a Royal Marine and we're experienced mountaineers."

The team is following in the footsteps of Captain Robert Falcon Scott - whose unsuccessful 1912 expedition was the last time Service personnel were involved in a trip to the South Pole.