There’s a good dash of PR about Guy Martin’s trip to Norway to join cold weather training with the Royal Marines.
But to be fair, there’s truth here as well.
Britain is an important member of Nato and Camp Viking in the Norwegian Arctic Circle is 200 miles from the Russia border.
There are several military threats to western hegemony in the world. China in the Taiwan Straits, North Korea against its southern neighbour and Iran in the Middle East.
But the most pressing is Russia, which is almost three years into its invasion of Ukraine and is sabre rattling about the rest of eastern Europe.
At the start of the Second World War, which is still in living memory, Russia invaded Scandinavia across the Finnish border, and it may well consider something similar again.
Either way, it’s best to be prepared and that’s why Britain rents a base in the frozen north of Norway where it can billet 1,000 soldiers.
Martin, a truck mechanic and former motorbike racer, joins a team of Royal Marines for their winter war training.
The two-week trip was right up his street. He’s been on our screen for a decade making programmes about machines, speed, fighter planes, a tank and some adventure travelling.
“The toughest people, doing the toughest job in the toughest conditions,” was Martin’s assessment of the marines.
First up was getting kitted out from the stores and we found out just why is costs so much to run an army. The basic waterproof winter jacket for a marine costs £700.
Guy then had to memorise the marines’ ‘commando spirit’ - courage, determination, unselfishness and cheerfulness in the face of adversity.
And he managed to remember them after the shock of being plunged into Arctic water with his skies on while it’s -20 outside in the “icebreaker” drill.
The Grimsby lad throws himself into everything in the two-part series. There’s a march across the ice in snowshoes and an overnight camp in freezing conditions.
The platoon stay in the one tent for warmth and to keep an eye on each other. They test their hands and feet for signs of frostbit and have some old school remedies if things aren’t looking well.
They sit facing each other and put their bare feet under the other’s arm pits. The warmest part of the body.
Guy tries driving the specialist Arctic vehicle the BV, which obviously he masters, even while wearing night vision goggles.
And he joins a Nato landing exercise where they are transported to a £130 million assault ship which can hold 700 troops, 150 Land Rovers and 22 tanks.
Martin has to run up the beach from the landing craft with a 50kg Bergen backpack.
He has a small part in directing fire from an assault helicopter in an exercise and finally joins a combat group as they train close fighting retreat in the snow.
There’s a fair bit of selling here and the army must have been rubbing its hands in glee as to what Martin would do for recruitment.
Arctic Warrior emphasises how the British army will do everything possible to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield while the Russians let their men die.
We’re told the toilets are spotlessly clean, the food is outstanding, and we’re even given the figures for pay progression as we see the officers and men working out in the on-site gym.
The marines, he says, specialise in “being exceptional at the basics”.
Martin also lionizes the moto, saying all our lives would be better if we stuck to them, particularly smiling in the face of adversity. It’s hard to disagree with that.
- Guy Martin: Arctic Warrior is available to stream at channel4.com
