Their gruelling 700-mile trek took 70 days to complete and food supplies on their sledges started to run out towards their ordeal's end.

We made our luck by persevering

Alan Chambers Expedition leader

The pair said their only luxuries on the trip were two half-litre hip flasks of Johnny Walker whisky, which they had to ration, and a radio, through which relatives passed on encouragement.

Alan Chambers, 31, from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, recalled: "At minus 50 degrees, you are in a tent and the only sound outside is of cracking ice...so it was brilliant to hear our team on the radio relaying messages from family".

The successful duo were joined at the news conference by Corporal Paul Jones, 27, from west Wales, who had to be flown off the ice with frostbite after 36 days, and Corporal Jason Garland, 29, from Taunton, Somerset, who was airlifted at the same time and flown to the UK for treatment.

Birthday treat

Marine Paton said he and his team leader were stuck on "a piece of ice" for two days in late April - as his 30th birthday approached.

Charlie Paton: a frozen 30th birthday

He said Cpl Chambers produced a birthday cake, a card, chocolates and a balloon packed by his girlfriend.

Cpl Chambers said: "We broke our whisky ration that day".

The pair said they never thought their lives were in danger, and attributed that to careful preparation and back-up from their support team.

"We made our luck by persevering at the end but teamwork was the overriding factor," he said.

The men said they had no disagreements during their 70 days together, although Cpl Chambers admitted isolation was a recurring problem.

Alan Chambers: feelings of total isolation

"There could have been a world war going on and we would not have known about it," he said.

He said the worst part of their trek was towards the end when they fell into some freezing water at a point when fuel and food supplies were running low.

A highlight was hearing that his girlfriend was pregnant with his son, who is due in August.

"At least it's stopped me thinking about girls for a while," he joked.

'Learning curve'

Marine Paton described his fall into water as "quite a shock" and said he struggled to clamber back onto firm ground as the "ice was crumbling all around me".

He had been the only member of the team not to have undergone Royal Marine training in the Arctic prior to the trip, and he conceded that he had been on a "steep learning curve".

The pair found a crashed plane close to their journey's end and Cpl Chambers said they shared two frozen Rolo chocolates Marine Paton found on the craft's floor.

That plane's occupants had recently been rescued, with food supplies left behind for the Marine team.

Cpl Chambers said: "We were living on porridge by that stage, so we dropped to our knees and were quite happy to stay there for a couple of days but our [team support] plane came and spoiled the fun."