Exercise ICE BAMBI, Norway, 2016

Digital photograph by Corporal Jamie Dudding, Royal Logistic Corps, 2016.

Twenty two servicewomen underwent cold weather survival drills in Norway's Arctic Circle in preparation for Exercise ICE MAIDEN where six soldiers spent 62 days covering 1700 km. They were the first all-female team to cross Antarctica using muscle power alone. The expedition was led by Major Nics Wetherill and Major Nat Taylor of the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Exercise ICE BAMBI was one of the selection phases conducted at the Allied Training Centre in Persangermoen. After ten days of challenges including cross country skiing, building snow hole shelters and learning how to react when falling through the ice, the candidates were whittled down to twelve, six of which went on the form the team for Exercise ICE MAIDEN. Around 200 servicewomen originally applied for the mission.

From a collection of digital photographs relating to women in the British Army, 2016.