A BRITISH Army officer has drowned during a kayaking expedition in New Zealand.

Captain James Acton, 27, a qualified white-water canoe instructor, was shooting the rapids on the notorious Waikaia River when he was forced under by the current.

His companions, Tony Roberts, of Surrey, and George Fell, of West Yorkshire, managed to secure a rope to Captain Acton’s kayak, but he was swept away.

The three were midway through their holiday on Sunday when they tackled the Waikaia, which is rated at grade five. Grade six is the toughest.

Captain Acton’s friends hacked their way through bush and mountainous terrain to reach a remote farm and raise the alarm. A helicopter crew discovered the body downstream three hours later.

A resident, Ray Christie, said: “It’s a mean, mean piece of water up there.”

Captain Acton, the eldest of four children, was a graduate of Oxford University. He passed out of Sandhurst in 1999 with the Queen’s Medal, which is presented to the graduate with the best academic record, and served in Bosnia and Kosovo before being made second in command of 232 Signals Squadron in Germany.

His mother, Anne, 54, said at her home in Standerwick, near Frome in Somerset: “He was a person of so many parts. It is a very emotional time.

“He was presented with the Queen’s Medal and didn’t have the time to pick it up. It was the same with his degree from Oxford. From the age of 14 the Army was the life he loved.”

His father Robin said: “James lived for the Army and whitewater canoeing. He was a highly qualified canoe instructor and led several university and army canoeing expeditions to the Alps and Norway.”

Captain Acton, who was also an accomplished skier and cricketer, was on leave at the time of the tragedy and was not due to serve in the Gulf. The New Zealand Maritime Safety Authority has started an investigation.

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