Airmen return to Yorkshire welcome after Afghan tour

RAF Leeming’s Number 2 Force Protection Wing (2FP), 34 Squadron RAF Regiment and airmen from 609 (West Riding) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, have returned from a seven-month tour of duty during which they endured extreme weather and hostile conditions.

About 750 pupils from local schools, 350 servicemen from RAF Leeming and more than 1,500 other well-wishers lined the market place in Bedale for the homecoming parade yesterday.

Squadron Leader Morgan Williams, the officer commanding Number 34 Squadron RAF Regiment, said: “If I count this as almost the final point of the tour, the high point for me is this. All of my men are back safely and the job was achieved.”

The Band of the Royal Air Force College from RAF Cranwell led the parade, and, as if on cue, the sun came out as the medal ceremony began.

Senior Aircraftsman Jamie Whitaker, from Bedale, said “Today has shown that there is a lot of support out there for us and we received so many parcels from back home, even from people we don’t know. It means a lot to us.”