Soldiers’ attempting ‘virtually-impossible’ field gun trek

A one-tonne (907kg) field gun is being pulled across the length of Great Britain to raise money for a military cancer charity.

Teams of volunteers totalling 1,300 military and veteran personnel started walking the 1,000 miles (1609km) between John O’Groats to Land’s End on September 1 and are now passing through Somerset.

The aim of the endurance challenge is to raise £150,000 for Military vs Cancer, a charity which helps personnel affected by cancer and their families.

David Bathgate, the charity founder and chairman, said: “We needed something so significant and something that is so tough and it’s virtually impossible to do.”

The feat is expected to take 45 days to complete and has so far raised £40,000.

For the first two weeks only seven personnel were pulling the gun – which weighs the equivalent of a male giraffe – but teams of 30 have been taking part through Somerset.

“We’ve had a fabulous reaction and that’s been all the way down the line, but it’s been particularly good here in Somerset,” Mr Bathgate told BBC Somerset.

“We took it on because it is hard; because it represents the hardship, the battle and the heartache that cancer brings to so many lives.

“We’ve encountered so many things with hills, weather conditions, traffic conditions and it’s just been the determination of the team in front of me – it doesn’t matter if it’s 20 or 25 miles (32 or 40km) to do, there’s not one of them that thinks it can be a mile less than that,” he added.

Diana Keeble, who works for the Navy Regional Headquarters in Bristol, has helped organise the gun’s passage through Somerset.

“Dave got in touch because he was coming through our patch, so we’ve helped support them with accommodation, logistics and route planning; as a local I’ve been able to help them with the best routes,” she said.