A WIRRAL mother will welcome home her three eldest sons after a six- month tour of duty in Iraq.

The band of brothers have made it back to their base in Catterick, North Yorkshire, along with hundreds of other soldiers from 1st Battalion The Mercian Regiment (Cheshire).

The battalion of around 600 soldiers was sent to Iraq in November 2007. Duties for the Battalion have been split between Basra Province and Baghdad.

Christopher Kilby, 21, was deployed in a separate location to brothers Michael, 20, and Darren, 18, to reduce the chances of family tragedy.

But yesterday mother Jane, who works at Cole Street primary school in Birkenhead, confessed to being nervous about her sons’ tours.

The regiment, created on September 1, deployed on November 11 and 17.

The Kilby brothers answered to Regiment Sergeant Major Vince Gough, who has praised the whole Kilby family for their commitment to the regiment.

He said in November: “After 22 years of service and numerous tours, you begin to understand how difficult it is for the parents, wives, girlfriends and children left behind. To have three sons away on the same tour must be very difficult but I can reassure Mrs Kilby that her boys will be with their second family.”

Sniper Michael married a Northwich woman less than three months before he set off for Southern Iraq.