Air crews return to RAF Mildenhall

Airmen receive a warm welcome from their colleagues and families

More than 100 US air crew from the 100th Air Refuelling Wing have begun touching down at their home base in England.

Four KC-135 tanker mid-air refuelling crews were deployed in support of the war in Iraq.

The pilots, maintenance crews, and support staff who started arriving on Tuesday are normally based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk.

The crews left the UK in mid-February.

They were deployed to a classified location in the Mediterranean as part of the 401st Air Expeditionary Wing.

Couple reunited

Captain Naresh Shah, a tanker pilot, has been reunited with his wife of less than a year, Ria.

He said the war in Iraq had been a "learning experience".

"For most of us it was our first time in combat or combat support," he said.

"Your training just kicks in."

Ria Shah said: "Today's been very nerve-wracking - whether they've been coming or not."

RAF bomber crews at RAF Marham in Norfolk are also returning to the region on Tuesday after their flight was delayed overnight.