Anthony Blyth in the hills of Crete Picture: MATTHEW PORTEOUS

A GROUP of former servicemen are braving extreme conditions on a trek across a desolate Cretan mountain range in aid of Holidays for Heroes Jersey.

The group, led by former paratrooper Anthony Blyth, will undertake a six-day walk in September across the Levka Ori mountains to support injured ex-servicemen and women.

Mr Blyth (63) said that as well as raising money for a worthy cause, they would also be following in the footsteps of his father, who trekked across Crete fleeing the German advance during the Second World War.

Mr Blyth said that the trek would not be for the faint-hearted. ‘The mountains are barren, desolate and harsh,’ he said.

‘The terrain is just the same as it is in Afghanistan – extremely hot, very arid, there are no trees or bushes and there are no streams or rivers, so you have to know where the waterholes are.

‘It is 50 or 60 miles in total, which sounds like nothing on the flat but it is very different when you are going up and down.

‘I have taken people before and they never stop talking about what a magnificent experience it is, but it is also very difficult and people certainly learn a few things about themselves.’

Also going on the trek are Stuart Sullivan (former RAF), Daniel Le Cheminant and Steven Hayes (both former Army).

Mr Blyth said that he wanted to find someone from the Royal Navy to join the group so that they could represent all arms of the services.

And because the area has not been mapped properly, he has had to take a novel approach to navigation.

He said: ‘I have been going for 30 or 40 years. There are no modern maps. In fact, it is still not fully mapped. I learned how to get across from shepherds, who showed me how to get from A to B, and where the waterholes were.

‘Every time I went I took a camera and took photographs along the way, looking forward and back, and then I got a marker pen and put a black line across the route.’
Mr Blyth undertook the trek with his son, Matthew Porteous, last year and has done many of the major treks and climbs in Europe. But he says that at the age of 63, time is catching up him. His birthday is in June, so by the time that the trip comes around in September, he will be in his 65th year.

‘I think that this will be the last one I do,’ he said. ‘I have gone all over the place and done lots of the major routes in Europe. But I’m coming to the end of that, so I really want to do something that is going to help people, and Holidays for Heroes Jersey helps people who really deserve it.’

Anyone wishing to support the trek can contact Mr Blyth by email at jerseyflyer@hotmail.com or by post at 11 Clos du Val, Bel Royal, St Lawrence, JE3 1JT.