IT was the saddest of homecomings, a tear-stained reunion of the sort that no one ever wishes for.

The first of Britain's fallen war heroes returned to these shores on a cheerless day to a sombre ceremony on the wide grey carpet of tarmac that is RAF Brize Norton.

And yesterday, they were resting in a makeshift mortuary at the base after the mourning families that greeted them dispersed to start trying to rebuild their lives.

Among the ten flag-draped coffins was that of Captain Philip Guy, the Royal Marine from the Yorkshire Dales, who was killed in a US helicopter crash in the Kuwaiti desert ten days ago.

His wife, Helen, was unable to travel to Oxfordshire as she is heavily pregnant with their second child.

But his parents, Stuart and Anne, from Bishopdale, made the sad journey south to welcome their son home for the last time.

A family friend said yesterday: "It was very emotional, but they were very happy with the way the military treated the occasion."

The bodies were flown home in an RAF C-17 Globemaster, which touched down shortly after midday on Saturday after a 14-hour flight from the Gulf.

The Duke of York and Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon were among those waiting for the aircraft as it came into land.

Each coffin was then carried from the aircraft by Royal Marines and placed in hearses, before being driven to the temporary mortuary.

Three senior chaplains from the Armed Forces said prayers and a Royal Marines band played funeral marches by Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

But there was no official service or speeches from any of the military officials during the ceremony.

Watching all the time were the anxious eyes of the gathered relatives, many of whom were unable to hold back their tears.

A curtained viewing room was set up beside the mortuary to allow the families to view the bodies of their loved ones or sit with their coffins.

The bodies will not be released to their families for funerals until examinations have been completed, but all are expected to be released within the next fortnight.

All the families have been offered full military funerals but no decisions have yet been made.

31/03/2003