Hero’s welcome as minesweeper returns home

The crew of a Royal Navy minehunter were given a hero’s welcome by family and friends as they returned from a mission in the Middle East.

Children held signs which said “Welcome Home Daddy” while other loved ones carried balloons and gifts as the crew of HMS Pembroke disembarked at HM Naval Base Clyde, in Faslane, Argyll, yesterday morning.

Different crews have manned the 52-metre long ship during its three-year operation in the Arabian Gulf, ensuring safe passage for merchant and civilian vessels.

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For many of the sailors, it was the first time they had seen their families for more than seven months.

Deputy marine engineer chief petty officer Mike Jack, 35, from Largoward, Fife, was deployed to the Gulf just six weeks after his daughter Eilidh, now nine months old, was born.

“She was six weeks old when I left, so I was just feeding her her first bottle the night before we went away,” he said. “It was really hard. It’s the first time I’ve had to do it – to go away and leave a little one. She’s huge now.”

Mr Jack was also welcomed home by his wife Alison, 38, stepson Jack, 10, and nine-year-old daughter Holly, who said she was “very excited” to have her “daddy back”.

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Leading Engineer Technician Andrew Lee, 34, from Larkhall, Lanarkshire, stepped on the dock to be reunited with his new fiancée, Elaine Bolton, 29.

The pair got engaged when Ms Bolton flew over to Dubai halfway through LET Lee’s deployment.

HMS Pembroke, which left the Clyde in October 2009, also supported forces from the US, France and Oman, and took part in training exercises with them.

After leaving Bahrain five weeks ago, the ship was making its 7,000-mile journey home when it was deployed again on July 27 to help guard a merchant vessel from the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The ship, Delhi Express, suffered an engine failure between Somalia and Yemen, an area where pirates are known to operate.

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