FAMILIES across Worcestershire are welcoming home their sons from Afghanistan.

Members of the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) have been arriving back to their barracks in Northern Ireland this week following a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.

Soldiers without families at the base will this weekend be able to go home to spend time with their loved ones.

Corporal Jamie Groom, aged 28, from Pershore, said one of the hardest things to cope with when he was in Afghanistan was being separated from his three-year-old son Cain.

“We have got a world map and we point to where I am so he just thinks I am at work,” said Cpl Groom.

“But I just cannot wait to get home and see my little boy.”

For the past six months, Cpl Groom has been part of the Mercian’s AVA Platoon, protecting logistic convoys across the treacherous Afghan desert.

The platoon, commanded by Worcester-born Lieutenant Jack Bellfield, was attacked countless times by the Taliban and its vehicles were hit by the terrorists’ deadliest weapon – the roadside bomb.

The battalion lost five men, including 23-year-old Private Jason Williams, of Sunnyside Road, Worcester, and Private Robbie Laws, of Bromsgrove. Twenty soldiers were also seriously injured.

The leader of Worcestershire County Council Dr George Lord yesterday sent a message to the troops, welcoming them home.

"We are proud to welcome home the brave soldiers from Worcestershire who have been fighting, often in dangerous and difficult environments,” he said.

"But we must also remember those members of the regiment who have lost their lives in conflict and spare a thought for those families who won’t be preparing to meet their loved ones on their return.”