The soldiers are returning from a three-month tour of duty

The Territorial Army medics were deployed to the field hospital at Camp Bastion in Helmand province.

More than 60 soldiers from Liverpool were met by their families, as were returning troops from Ellesmere Port and Blackpool.

The group arrived back at Territorial Army Barracks in Liverpool at 1930 BST.

'Saving lives'

Major Alistair Bond, who arrived back on Monday, said: "It feels marvellous to be back.

"It was a hard tour of duty. It was all about being part of a team you have good days and bad days."

The return of 208 Field Hospital comes after figures revealed that more British servicemen were seriously injured in Afghanistan in the first nine months of 2007 than in the whole of the rest of the present conflict.

But the head of battlefield medicine for the armed forces said as recently as five years ago many would not have returned home alive if it was not for Army medics.

He said more soldiers than ever were surviving wounds that would have previously proved fatal.

Captain Tracy Smith Stranie, who works in an NHS laboratory said out in Afghanistan she got a lot of hands on medical experience.