THREE members of the British Army, including a serviceman from North Devon, leapt thousands of feet from the Eiger in the Swiss Alps to raise money for injured servicemen and women.

Major Alastair Macartney, Warrant Officer Class One Spencer Hogg and Corporal Deane Smith completed the daring base jump on Friday morning in aid of charity Help for Heroes.

Base jumping is the sport of parachuting from fixed objects, and the team had to propel themselves into freefall and fly their bodies away from the cliff face in order to carry out the jump.

WO Hogg, who recently returned from Afghanistan with the North Devon-based Commando Logistic Regiment, described it as an awesome experience.

He said: "This was amazing. Having never made a base jump before and now having jumped from the Eiger is the most fantastic feeling ever.

"The challenge was immense."

Cpl Smith, a Royal Engineer, who also recently served in Afghanistan, said: "This was the biggest accomplishment in my life so far.

"My legs were trembling, stood on the edge, but once we exited, I was purely focused on the task in hand, flying my body away from the cliff and piloting to a safe landing in a clearing on the side of the mountain."

Maj Macartney, the current National Skydiving Champion and a member of the Royal Logistic Corps, said it was a huge challenge, but worth it. He said: "Base jumping from the Eiger, one of the six great north faces of the Alps, controlling ourselves in freefall to literally fly away from the dominating cliff face and then conducting a safe landing was hugely demanding but extremely exciting.

"Doing this to raise money for Help for Heroes is the least we can do to support our wounded soldiers."

After training for the challenge last month in Norway, the team members travelled to Switzerland where they had been conducting training jumps in difficult weather conditions at heights up to 2,000 feet.

As soon as a small weather window opened up, the trio immediately got started and completed the challenge.

They have raised more than £1,500 for Help for Heroes so far and their fundraising target is £25,000.

Help for Heroes provides practical direct support to servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To sponsor the men, visit www.just giving.com/jumptheeiger and for more information about the challenge, visit www.jump4heroes.com