A TEAM of soldiers from Wattisham Airfield is to undertake an epic cycle ride for injured colleagues cycling the length, and height, of the country.

John Howard

A TEAM of soldiers from Wattisham Airfield is to undertake an epic cycle ride for injured colleagues cycling the length, and height, of the country.

The seven determined troops, including five members of 7 Air Assault Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, based at Wattisham, plus one officer from the Royal Army Medical Corps and one from the Australian Army, will cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats stopping only to climb the three peaks of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis.

Their epic journey will cover 1,100 miles by bike, and on foot they will climb to a total height of 2.1 miles up and down again and they plan to do it all in two weeks from May 4 to 18.

They hope to raise over £5,000 for the charity Help for Heroes which supports wounded soldiers and provides practical direct support to those servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Staff Sergeant Glyn Painter, who is among the team, said: “We've all been on operations where soldiers were injured and we want to make sure their lives are made easier considering the sacrifices they have made.

“We have been training for over three months alongside work commitments and even though we haven't done as much training as we would have liked, it's a challenge we are happy to do to support our fellow soldiers who are brave enough to volunteer to serve their country and are wounded whilst doing so.”

All six UK servicemen have served in Iraq in the last few years and the full team is: Major Paul Taylor, Captain Paul Watson, WO2 Neil O'Brian, Staff Sergeant Glyn Painter, and Lance Corporal James Goldstraw, all from 7 Bn REME, Captain Lloyd Keenan, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, and Captain Sarah Hingston, of the Australian Army.