Thursday, April 5:

The 15 released sailors and Marines arrive at Heathrow just after midday where they are flown straight to the Royal Marines Base in Chivenor, north Devon. They then undergo medical checks and are debriefed by senior officers. At 6pm, they issue a brief statement describing returning to the UK as a "dream come true".

Friday, April 6:

Six of the group face reporters at the base in an organised press conference. In a statement they reveal they were blindfolded, bound and subjected to “constant psychological pressure”, as well as being threatened with jail. Later that day, Marine Joe Tindell, 21, of South London, becomes the first to give a private media interview when he appears on BBC News 24. He describes the moment he thought one of his colleagues had been executed by having his throat cut.

Saturday, April 7:

Iran dismisses the press conference as “theatrical propaganda”, as the sailors begin two weeks of compassionate leave with their families. A further interview with Corporal Dean Harris 24, of Trevaughan, Carmarthen, West Wales, is published in the South Wales Evening Post. Marine Danny Masterston, 26, from Ayrshire, meanwhile, gives an interview to the Sunday Mail in which he describes being blindfolded and handcuffed.

Later that evening, it emerges that members of the group have been given special permission by the MoD to sell their stories. In a statement, the MoD said: “Serving personnel are not allowed to enter into financial arrangements with media organisations. However, in exceptional circumstances such as the award of a Victoria Cross or events such as those in recent days, permission can be granted by commanding officers and the MoD." It emerges that Leading Seaman Turney has sold her story to The Sun newspaper and ITV1’s Tonight With Trevor McDonald. It is speculated that she may receive a six-figure sum.

Sunday, April 8:

Questions are raised over the MoD’s decision with William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, saying that there is a risk the decision could erode respect for the Armed Forces.

The relatives of soldiers killed in action also criticise the decision. Mike Aston, whose 30-year-old son, Corporal Russell Aston, was one of six military policemen killed by a mob in Majar al-Kabir, Iraq, in June 2003, says he is “absolutely amazed” by the decision. Rose Gentle, whose son, 19-year-old Fusilier Gordon Gentle, was killed in Basra in June 2004, said it is “wrong”. In addition, Colonel Bob Stewart, former first British UN Commander in Bosnia, says the idea made him “sick”.

Later, the MoD defends the decision. In a statement, a spokesman says: “It was clear that the stories they had to tell were likely to have emerged via family and friends regardless of any decision the Navy took. It was therefore decided to grant permission to speak to the media to those personnel that sought it, in order to ensure that the Navy and the MoD had sight of what they were going to say, as well as providing proper media support to the sailors and marines in the same way as would have been the case in more ordinary circumstances.”

Monday, April 9:

In an interview printed in The Sun, Leading Seaman Turney tells how she feared she was being measured for her coffin before being killed. An interview with Operator Mechanic Arthur Batchelor, the youngest member of the group, appears in the Daily Mirror newspaper. He reveals guards mockingly nicknamed him Mr Bean. Lieutenant Felix Carman admits in an interview on GMTV that he found the fact that some of the crew had sold their stories “a little unsavoury”. An extended interview with LS Turney is broadcast on Tonight With Trevor McDonald.

Later, Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, initiates a ban on all Armed Forces personnel selling stories to the media, and orders a review. He stresses that the original decision had been made by the Navy.

Tuesday, April 10:

More of Leading Seaman Turney’s story is published in The Sun, in which she describes being reunited with her three-year-old daughter, Molly - whom she feared she would never see again - and feeling guilty for what she had put her family through. Downing Street refuses to be drawn on Conservative demands to know which politicians were behind the embarrassing U-turn and the initial decision to allow the servicemen to sell their stories.

Wednesday, April 11:

The Times reports that the heads of all three Armed Forces will help to redraft the Queen's regulations to remove the right of service personnel to sell their stories. Mr Browne gives a pooled interview accepting responsibility for the initial decision and subsequent U-turn, and attempting to explain it.

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