By John Andrew BBC News

A memorial fund has been set up to help the soldiers Troops return from 'toughest tour'

One mother particularly pleased to see them home was Billie Mulreany.

Her son, Private James Medlock survived a so-called friendly fire incident in which three of his fellow soldiers died.

They were killed in August when a US plane dropped a 500lb bomb on their position as they were engaged in a firefight with the Taleban.

She had an anxious wait before learning James was safe.

"I was having a panic attack when the phone rang. It was my son. He was alright apart from a few scratches, but it was awful for him. He knew the dead soldiers very well.

"I just felt hysterical and I cried over the phone, something I wouldn't normally do. I just wanted him home."

Banners and cheers

There were banners and cheers and a supply of beer laid on by a local brewery as Pte Medlock and 120 of his colleagues arrived at the Surrey base to be reunited with their families.

There were plenty of smiles and some tears too. Some returning soldiers declined to talk to reporters, too tired after their long journey home or wanting to share the moment in private with their loved ones.

For the soldiers, it had been a gruelling tour. More than one million pounds of ammunition were fired in 350 engagements with the Taliban.

Some battles lasted as long as 12 hours and in temperatures reaching 50C or more.

To the rifle platoons, much of the fighting was no different to conventional warfare conducted by the British infantry over the past 100 years, and included regular use of the bayonet.

Their proudest moment was in securing the strategic town of Sangin and clearing it of Taleban fighters.

A number of reconstruction projects are already under way there, including the repair of electricity transformers and the opening of schools and medical clinics.

Homecoming parades

The battalion adjutant Major Mark Nicholas accepted that their casualty rate of more than 10 per cent dead or wounded was high but said that the fallen would never be forgotten and a memorial would be built to remember them.

A fund has been established to raise more than �100,0000 by Christmas and has already reached the halfway point. He agreed with the recent comments by the head of the Army General Sir Richard Dannatt about the dismissive or lukewarm reception given to some returning soldiers.

But he said he was confident that the people of East Anglia, where all the soldiers come from, will give them a warm welcome and that Norwich and Bury St Edmunds would be "brought to a standstill" when they hold homecoming parades next month.

The junior defence minister Derek Twigg MP, who was there to show his support, said he wanted to see better recognition of their work.

He's written to the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears to ask her to highlight the issue with local councils, not just in terms of homecoming parades but about general recognition of the soldiers' work.