AN Army captain has led a team of injured soldiers across the Atlantic in a rowing boat.

Former Colchester paratrooper, Captain Alex Mackenzie, was one of six who set off more than 50 days ago on a 3,000-nautical-mile transatlantic adventure.

For most, this would be the challenge of a lifetime but four of the six had lost limbs fighting for their country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Capt Mackenzie was the co-founder of the challenge. He served with Colchester’s 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, for six years, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2006, he was mentioned in despatches for leadership and again showed these skills on the water.

He was joined by Lieutenant Will Dixon who lost a leg in a blast in 2009, Corporal Neil Heritage, who lost both legs in Iraq in 2004, Corporal Rory Mackenzie, who lost a leg in Basra in 2007, Lance Corporal Carl Anstey, who needs a leg brace to walk after being hit with a rocket-propelled grenade in 2009, and co-founder Ed Janvrin.

Colchester’s Alex Mackenzie and Ed Janvrin came up with the idea after their experiences in the Army and decided to try to raise £1million for injured soldiers and their families.

At the beginning of December they put the plan into action and the six of them began rowing across the Atlantic.

Fifty-one days later, they arrived in Barbados.

Rory Mackenzie, with the finish line is sight, wrote on his blog: “I feel like I can take on the world. My band of brothers in this boat completed our mission to row across the Atlantic.

“I feel alive, like I have never felt alive before. It is the most awesome feeling.

“I would not swap the last 51 days for anything. It has been the most incredible thing I have ever achieved in my life and it just goes to show there is life after serious injury.”

In one of his rowing blogs, Alex Mackenzie added: “When you’ve done a tour of Afghanistan, or been blown up by a suicide bomber in Iraq and survived, you tend to develop reasonably robust coping strategies.

“We all knew we’d have some tough moments on this trip, and we have had, but we also have a plan in place and we have an outstanding team.”

The team are now relaxing in Barbados surrounded by family, friends and celebrities, including Sir Cliff Richard.