A female soldier was allowed to continue on an Army selection course even though she failed a vital fitness test – triggering a rebellion among male troops who had passed.

Corporal Daisy Dougherty was hoping to become one of the Army’s first female infantry instructors following the landmark decision last year to let women join combat units and Special Forces.

The first stage in the selection process required her to prove her fitness by completing an eight-mile march in under two hours over arduous terrain while carrying a heavy pack and a rifle.

Corporal Daisy Dougherty was hoping to become one of the Army’s first female infantry instructors

Despite being a qualified personal fitness trainer and a member of the Army’s athletics squad, the 29-year-old took too long to finish the challenge. Under course rules, she should have been immediately ejected and sent back to her unit.

But Cpl Dougherty – the only woman on the course – and 14 others who also failed were told they could carry on, sparking a furious backlash among the 75 soldiers who passed the test.

The soldiers rounded on commanders at the Infantry Battle School in Brecon, Mid-Wales, accusing them of lowering standards to suit women. When top brass refused to back down, troops contacted The Mail on Sunday to expose what they claimed was ‘positive discrimination’.

Fearing a public backlash if they allowed her result to stand, commanders backed down and asked Cpl Dougherty and the other soldiers who failed the march to leave.

Last night, a soldier on the course said: ‘The blokes were livid because it is written in black and white in the course handbook that if you fail the march, you’re pulled off the PSBC [Platoon Sergeants’ Battle Course] immediately. There is no review.

‘Commanders wanted to get Cpl Dougherty through the course, almost at any cost, even if she wasn’t fit enough and even if that meant leniency being shown to weaker male soldiers who also failed the march. We couldn’t believe they were still on the base and attending classes. It took a revolt among the troops and some people going to the Press to get this stopped.’

Instructor who reduced recruit to tears given MBE Sergeant Martin Hunt, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was filmed verbally attacking a female recruit An Army instructor who filmed a weeping female recruit as he verbally attacked her has been cleared of bullying – and awarded the MBE. Sergeant Martin Hunt, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, berated her for her poor performance during bayonet training. In shocking footage, left, watched online more than 250,000 times, he describes the tearful recruit as ‘f****** weak’. After sarcastically feigning sympathy for her distress, he tries to trick her into thinking she has passed the test – only to launch another verbal attack. Despite calls for his dismissal, Sgt Hunt has been cleared after a seven-month investigation. MoD officials have also ruled the video should not stop Sgt Hunt receiving an MBE for raising £50,000 for charities. Advertisement

When Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson announced last year that women could join infantry regiments, officials insisted standards would not be relaxed and said female candidates would have to be as fit as male soldiers.

Former SAS commander Tim Collins said that the Army faced a stark choice: ‘We can either abandon our ability to complete gruelling military operations in order to fall into line with political correctness or accept that there are some things females cannot do biologically.

‘If standards are modified to accommodate women, this will be utterly misguided.’

Cpl Dougherty, from Bulford, Wiltshire, has now returned to her unit in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps. It was unclear last night whether she intends to tackle the PSBC course again.

To date, only one woman has passed the seven-week course, which includes arduous field exercises, military tactics and weapons skills.

Official MoD sources admitted last night there had been ‘uproar’ on the course following the march and that it had taken more than a day for a decision to be taken on the fate of the 15 soldiers, including Cpl Dougherty. They added that she had been taken off the course following a ‘review’ of her result.

Last night, Colonel Peter Stitt, Commandant of the School of Infantry, said: ‘Infantry courses are some of the most demanding in the Army and not everyone is ready to undertake them at their first attempt.

‘Those not making the initial standard will receive feedback on their performance and have the opportunity to attempt the course again later on in their career.’

MoD wanted to make Paras look less fierce on TV The Ministry of Defence tried to censor a documentary about the Parachute Regiment – for fear that it made members of the elite regiment look too aggressive. Whitehall mandarins pleaded with officers to curb their violent behaviour and foul language when cameras were filming them training their troops – but the battle-hardened veterans refused. Defence chiefs also wanted to cut scenes in which Paras mocked troops from other regiments for not being as tough as them. And the producers of ITV’s The Paras: Men Of War refused to tone down their programme, which showed instructors manhandling junior soldiers and screaming in their faces. The scenes, seen by more than two million viewers, fly in the face of the MoD’s moves to soften the image of the Army and its current recruitment drive encouraging sensitive ‘snowflakes’ to enlist to plug shortages in troop numbers. Para commanders ignored the mandarins’ requests, insisting their proven methods should be represented accurately on screen. A Para source said: ‘We were asked by the MoD to tone it down a bit and cut down the intimidation but we were not going to change. Para selection has always been rough. People in other parts of the Army don’t always appreciate that. ‘If people watching at home on their TV sets are offended by that so be it, because people like them wouldn’t be any use to us. They’re not potential paratroopers.’ Thursday night’s opening episode showed an instructor grabbing a recruit by his collar during a march, while in another scene an instructor bawled at a man after he repeatedly failed to pack his kit properly. Nick Betts, who produced the documentary for Avanti Media, added: ‘We would not sugar-coat the truth, even if that truth would occasionally be unpalatable.’ Last night, an Army spokesman said: ‘The Paras documentary shows the rigorous and rewarding training and selection process that all our recruits into the regiment must undertake.’ Advertisement

The face of equality, or an encounter with bruising reality?: TV viewers are shocked as they see a woman being badly beaten by a male contestant on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins

The decision to allow women into all parts of the military was widely hailed as a victory for female equality.

But TV viewers are likely to be shocked tonight when they see a woman being badly beaten by a male contestant on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins.

The incident will raise further questions about how appropriate it is to recruit women alongside men as frontline soldiers. Midwife Louise Gabbitas, 29, is one of the first women to appear on the C4 show, which puts contestants through SAS-style training. She deliberately chooses to fight 27-year-old student Nathaniel rather than take on another woman in the ring.

Midwife Louise Gabbitas, 29, a woman contestant, can be seen being badly beaten by a male contestant on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins

While the pair, wearing protective headgear, square up to each other, the chief instructor on the show, former Special Forces sniper Ant Middleton, tells them: ‘The best form of defence is attack. Is that understood?’

Nathaniel does not hold back, smashing Miss Gabbitas in the face several times before landing hard blows to her head until she falls down.

The episode leaves her dishevelled, bruised and teary, prompting Middleton to tell the recruits: ‘The enemy doesn’t care what gender, race or religion you are.’

Later, he told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The fact is, in general, men are stronger than females. It doesn’t mean better, we are just better at certain jobs and women are better at jobs than certain males. If national security and real lives are put at risk, then that is dangerous.’

It is Nathaniel who appears to be the more emotional after the boxing contest. ‘I was trying to not go too aggressive,’ he tells Miss Gabbitas. ‘It was the hardest thing to do. It’s a head f***.’ Miss Gabbitas reassures him, saying: ‘I’m not crying because you hurt me. I’m fine.’

The episode leaves her dishevelled, bruised and teary, prompting former Special Forces sniper Ant Middleton to tell the recruits: ‘The enemy doesn’t care what gender, race or religion you are.’

This is the first time women have been allowed to compete in the show’s four-year history, a change prompted by the Ministry of Defence decision to allow women to become frontline troops and even join the SAS.

The recruits were treated equally throughout their time at a tough two-week military training camp based in the Andes, Chile, during winter.

‘We slept together, ate together, went to the toilet together, carried the same weight and did exactly the same tasks as one another,’ Miss Gabbitas said. She admits she found the process ‘absolutely brutal’.

Middleton has been outspoken about women joining the SAS in the past. He previously told the MoS: ‘It’s not about the [SAS] course itself, but the brutal, violent and aggressive realities of war.

‘I believe that level – it’s beyond the frontline, it’s humans hunting humans – is not a place for women.’