A REDDITCH soldier has created history after her Antarctica trek team of six became the first all-female group to cross the icy continent by muscle power alone.

Major Sandy Hennis and five others from the British Army’s ‘Ice Maiden’ Expedition team completed their feat on Saturday, January 20, just before 10am UK time.

The group spent 62 days on the ice, travelling up to 43 kilometres a day whilst pulling sledges weighing up to 80kg and battling temperatures as low as -40°C.

Speaking at the finish line, Major Sandy Hennis said: “I’m very much looking forward to talking in schools about our journey and what you can achieve if you believe in yourself and are willing to try.

“I know crossing Antarctica won’t be at the top of many people’s lists but I hope we have encouraged someone to try something different.”

Starting on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf on the 20th November 2017, the team climbed up the Transantarctic Mountains, via the Leverett Glacier, to reach the polar plateau.

After a re-supply at the South Pole, the team turned north-west towards Hercules Inlet, skiing 600km across uneven ground, and spending Christmas Day on the ice before reaching their final re-supply point at the base of the Thiel Mountains.

From there, they descended to the Hercules Inlet and the finish line.

Group leader Major Nics Wetherill, said: “I’m just so incredibly proud of the team. I can’t believe how far we’ve come.

“This journey has had good times, bad times and great times for all concerned, and each of them, I know, has made us better people.

“I now know my five companions so well as to be able to almost tell just from the back of their heads whether they are smiling or crying, although determining this when facing them can be just as difficult with their faces obscured by hoods, goggles and masks!”

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson congratulated the team for their “heroic” feat.

He said: "I want to congratulate the heroic Ice Maidens on their formidable and trailblazing trek across Antarctica.

“They are an inspiration to us all and are role models to young people across the country.”