Libya Tornado crews return home

Tornado aircrews arrived back on home soil today (PA)

Tornado aircrews arrived back on home soil today after completing their mission in the skies over Libya.

Crews from RAF Marham, Norfolk, and RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland, were deployed on March 19 as strikes in support of the rebel movement began.

Based at Gioia del Colle in Southern Italy, they played a key role in the 3,000 UK sorties, more than 2,100 of which were strike attacks on around 640 targets.

The final seven GR4 Tornados landed at Marham this morning after the first nine arrived home on Friday.

Wing commander Andy Turk was greeted by his wife Abi and their two young sons.

He said: "It is fantastic to be back with the family and the little ones but more importantly it's fantastic to bring the squadron back.

"They did an amazing job over the skies of Libya as part of the wider RAF efforts.

"It's been inspirational to see the momentous events over the last month.

"Because there were no British troops, it was very important that the RAF maintained our intelligence and surveillance.

"We got a real sense of connection to what was going on on the ground.

"We feel a real sense of achievement and it shows the flexibility of the equipment we have in service to take these sorts of conflict head on."

Among the crew who landed today was Flight Lieutenant Steve Morris who was reunited with spaniel Jezebel. He said: "It's great to be back."

PA