SOLDIERS from Marchwood military port will be back home with their families tomorrow after more than four months of overcoming wind, rain, sandstorms and scorching temperatures in Iraq.

Despite atrocious conditions, the soldiers of 17 Port and Maritime Regiment succeeded in getting supplies of all shapes and sizes through to coalition troops.

They were among the first British troops to arrive in Iraq in mid-January and they didn't have to wait long for their first taste of atrocious conditions.

"The rain and wind and sandstorms were so strong in their early days out there that they had to temporarily suspend the cranes for safety reasons," an Army spokesman explained.

A spokesman in Iraq this week told the Daily Echo that temperatures have recently soared to an incredible 44C.

"It is like being in a sauna and not being able to get out of it," she said.

The men and women from Port and Maritime are believed to have come through the conflict unscathed.

Their responsibilities included unloading troops and heavy equipment from the UK and Germany for the invasion and they took over running the southern port of Umm Qasr, which was the coalition's main port in Iraq.

They also played a major role in bringing humanitarian aid into the country and helping to prevent looting of food and supplies by guarding the main grain silos

Offloading aid from Marchwood's Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Sir Galahad and reopening the railway line between Umm Qasr and Basra were also successfully carried out.

The 67 soldiers returning on Sunday are the last of the 275-strong group who took part in the operation to come home. They have been replaced by the Territorial Army's 165 (Volunteers) Port Regiment, which had taken over the running of Marchwood in their absence.

See Monday's Daily Echo for extensive coverage of the homecoming.