When Cpl Wolfie Rolfe decided to drop in on his son for an unannounced visit, he got rather more than he bargained for.

He was invited to take a dip with his son, Mne Ashley Rolfe – but not down at the local leisure centre, of course. In a hole cut through the ice into a lake inside the Arctic Circle.

Mne Rolfe was on exercise with the Royal Marines in northern Norway, and Wolfie had hoped to offer his son a bit of moral encouragement when he went through the arduous icebreaking drill – stepping into the water through a hole in the ice in full kit, then clambering out as quickly as possible.

But dad quickly found himself the victim of a set-up.

“I was all set to spectate, watching my ‘little boy’ – he’s 6ft 2in – go icebreaking,” said Wolfie.

But colleagues decided a picture of father and son in the water would make an excellent feature in publicity material for the RM.

“I was out-ranked, out-voted and in a total ‘no win’ situation. What started out as a trip to surprise my son rapidly changed – much to the amusement of many and not myself. I didn’t want to get too cold at my age.”

Wolfie knew all the protestations in the world couldn’t spare him the test of physical and mental endurance, so he lined up alongside his son at Evenes, the logistical hub of Exercise Joint Winter between Narvik and Harstad.

Dad found the ordeal less daunting than expected. “Give your name, rank and number, then out, roll over and it’s all done,” he explained.

“It could be a first for the Corps – father and son in Norway, in the same ice hole at the same time. I don’t know if it is, but it was definitely the last time for dad and the first for son.”