BULFORD army officer Major Kate Philp is taking part in what is being billed as the largest modern day expedition to the South Pole.

Three teams of war-wounded servicemen and women will race 330km to reach the most southern point on earth, battling sub-zero temperatures and whiteout 60mph blizzards and circumventing treacherous crevasses.

The Walking With The Wounded South Pole Challenge Teams have embarked on a two-week training expedition on the Langjokull Glacier in Iceland to prepare for the similar inhospitable conditions they will face in the Antarctic later this year.

Oxford graduate Maj Philp, who serves with 3 UK Division in Bulford, is hoping to be selected for a team of four British servicemen and women for a race to the South Pole against teams from America and the Commonwealth.

But despite being the first female British soldier to have lost a leg in combat, Maj Philp, 34, insists she is not a hero. “I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said. “It was just unlucky. There's nothing brave or heroic about being injured, unless you are injured in the line or doing something extraordinary.”

Maj Philp, serving with 26 Regiment, Royal Artillery, was halfway through her six-month tour of Afghanistan in 2008 when the vehicle she was commanding from its turret was hit by the roadside explosion. She is the only woman on the UK team, which is sponsored by Glenfiddich.

“We want to push ourselves, and see what we can achieve. We all came together as a team – and that’s the beauty of this.”