The Royal Navy were for many years at the forefront of Polar exploration in the High Arctic.  In search of a trading route through to the Orient the British High Admiralty sanctioned numerous expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage and the North Pole.

During the height of British Polar exploration in mid 17th century many of the islands and waterways in the Canadian northland were subsequently discovered and named during these Naval voyages.

The last great assault by the Navy upon the Arctic was the Nares Expedition of 1875, during which Commander Albert H. Markham lead a sledging party to reach a new 'farthest north' record.

Next year, I plan to make an unsupported journey on foot to the North Pole. Hauling sledges weighing over 300 lbs we plan to complete the 680 mile journey in 85 days. I have selected Corporal Alan Chambers to join me on this record-breaking quest.

To prepare we recently completed 12-weeks work-up training in the High Arctic conducting equipment trials and rehearsing as many aspects as possible of the attempt.

The first few weeks proved to be the most demanding with daily temperatures of minus 55 degrees and the sun only up for a few hours per day. Tents shrank in the extreme cold making them, at times, impossible to erect. Cookers would not start and hands soon became numb with the cold. Staying close to the Inuit settlement of Resolute Bay we conducted equipment trials and slowly became accustomed to the cold.

After the initial shock we ventured into the Barrow Strait and onto Beechy Island. Hauling individual sledge loads of 200lbs our 170 mile return journey to Beechy Island was also a voyage back in time to the heroic age of Naval Polar exploration.

1845 saw the launch of Sir John Franklin’s Naval Expedition in search of the Northwest Passage. Sir John nor his crew were ever seen again and it took some forty Naval search parties on separate expeditions over the next ten years to reveal the facts of his disappearance. The truth behind this infamous expedition is still shrouded in mystery today.

In 1850 nine vessels left England to probe the Arctic in search of Sir John and his crew.  In August the seafarers, under the command of Sir John Ross, got the first tantalising series of clues to the lost expedition. HMS Assistance and HMS Intrepid had discovered what appeared to be traces of a Royal Navy encampment.  Soon the grim discovery of an Arctic graveyard was made on the headland of Beechy Island.

Three wooden headstones marked the last resting place of three seaman: Chief John Torrington, Seaman John Hartnell and Private William Braine of the Royal Marines.

In a painful minus 70 degrees wind chill we stood in tribute to our forefathers who had ventured into these regions with little protection and little knowledge of what lay aheadTheir headstones have since been replaced with concrete markers but the spot still held a forbidding atmosphere.

Our return journey to Resolute Bay proved to just as demanding as our first encounters with the Arctic. Due to the extreme cold the sledge had little glide across the sea ice. The constantly moving waters forced the ice against the shoreline causing it to buckle and fragment. Boulders of ice piled high around the land up to thirty feet in height, each requiring us to haul the sledges over.

Constant sweating soon became a problem with the perspiration freezing once it came into contact with cold air. Gloves soon filled with moisture that froze and turned hands into useless numb limbs. Eye lashes would freeze shut if we turned into the wind, we soon learnt to close one eye if we needed to look either side.

In amongst the pack ice we soon got into our daily routine of 6 hours man-hauling with a few minutes rest every hour.  Rest breaks were kept to a minimum to ensure that we did not succumb to the bitter Arctic cold. Alternating the lead man, we would become lost in our world with only the constant strain of the sledge for company.

Arriving back in Resolute Bay we welcomed a hot bath and fresh food. Our scientifically designed ration set out to provide fuel for our bodies only and not the tastes and luxuries we were used to. After a brief rest we were soon back on the ice conducting movement trials.

In order to travel over 600 miles unsupported by animal or machine, every item that is carried must be crucial to the walk. Weight is critical and when faced with an eighty day journey each ounce counts. Having selected a 2-mile lane we were able to conduct time trials of our movement. Crossing different types of terrain we were able to calculate our projected daily mileage and make estimates of our supply loads.