Several of the well-wishers at the airport were elderly men and women who believe they may be related to Mr Tamas.

Locating Tamas's relatives will be difficult

He is expected to stay at the medical institute in Hungary for at least two months.

The Hungarian authorities hope that under their care they can establish his exact identity and origins.

But they are still not sure that Andras Tamas is his real name.

Red Army

He is believed to have been captured by the Red Army when he was aged 19.

He was sent first to a prison camp before being transferred to hospital.

His plight was uncovered when a visiting doctor worked out his origins, and a Hungarian psychiatrist was called in.

Mr Tamas flew from Moscow to Budapest

Mr Tamas may have been one of 150,000 soldiers in the second Hungarian army, which fought alongside the Germans during WWII.

But they were routed by the Russians at the River Don in January 1943.

Uncertainty over relatives

Mr Tamas' return to Hungary has been agreed by the Russian and Hungarian authorities in a bid to help him recover his memory.

While he is being treated at the medical institute, he will also receive a prosthesis to replace his right leg which was amputated three years ago.

Psychiatrists will continue the conversations with him begun 18 months ago in Russia.

Several possible relatives have already come forward.

But as tens of thousands of Hungarians died or were captured on the eastern front, the process of finding out for certain who he is and where he comes from could be a slow one.