I'm OK now, all my kit has been dried and I've just got a bruise to my back which is getting better Marine Charlie Paton

Perilously short of food in the final days of the expedition, the pair broke into their emergency rations last Friday. They ran out of food a day before reaching the Pole.

They are expected to fly into the Team Polar 2000 base at Resolute Bay, northern Canada on tonight.

The Marines suffered numerous setbacks en route to the Pole, including a tent fire and minor frostbite. The temperature sank as low as -30C.

Team halved by illness

The original four-man team was reduced to two last month after Corporal Jason Garland suffered exhaustion and Corporal Paul Jones pulled out with frostbite.

Marine Paton twice fell into freezing water. In a message posted on the team's website, he reassured those following the expedition that he had escaped virtually unscathed.

"It was quite a scary experience falling in the water but the rest of the team got me out and warmed me up quickly - it feels quite warm in the water compared to the freezing temperatures out of it."

To prepare for the trip, the team acclimatised to the blistering cold at the Institute of Naval Medicine in Hampshire, where they spent a day in a -30C freezer.

Without protective clothing, spending just five minutes at that temperature would leave the hands and feet tingling for the rest of the day.

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