Wootton Bassett marks end of repatriation days

Wiltshire town holds sunset ceremony before mourning of war dead moves to Carterton in Oxfordshire The pattern was a familiar one. The bikers turned up first and parked next to the war memorial. Regulars who had travelled from far afield grabbed a cup of tea and a sandwich before making sure of their places. The locals came last, arriving by car, foot and mobility scooter to take part in a ceremony to mark the passing on of a sad honour. As the sun set on Wootton Bassett, the Wiltshire town that, over the past four years, has become a focus for the nation’s grief at the loss of the lives of service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, the union flag fluttering next to the war memorial was lowered. It was carefully folded and left overnight on the altar of St Bartholomew’s church before being handed over to the people of Carterton across the border in Oxfordshire, the town which will, from now on, bear witness to the return of coffins carrying men and women killed while on active service abroad. “I’m sure the people of Carterton will do them proud,” said Ken Scott, 95, who made it his job to collect and preserve the messages, cards and photographs left at the memorial by bereaved families and friends. “It doesn’t matter whether they come back through Wootton Bassett or wherever. What does matter is that those poor boys and girls are honoured.” Since 2007, the bodies of service personnel have been repatriated via RAF Lyneham and taken on to a hospital in Oxford via Wootton Bassett’s high street. To honour the dead, the people of Bassett, as everyone here calls it, took to pausing in their everyday life when a cortege passed. Over the months and years they were joined by an ever-growing number of bereaved families, veterans’ groups and ordinary people (including a fair few leather-clad bikers), some of whom travelled many miles to pay tribute. By 2009, at the height of the conflict in Afghanistan , thousands of people were lining the streets of this modest little town. Lyneham is closing – the coincidence of more RAF and army job losses being announced was not lost – and a new repatriation centre has been opened at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, along with a memorial garden in Carterton where that union flag will be hoisted. David Cameron led the praise for Wootton Bassett, sending a “heartfelt thank you” to its people. “I think they have done a magnificent job. What happened at Wootton Bassett was spontaneous. It was a very beautiful thing,” said the prime minister. The Wootton Bassett phenomenon has been extraordinary. It began almost by chance when a former mayor, Percy Miles, was out shopping with his wife in the spring of 2007. Someone from the town council ran out to tell him that a cortege was coming through. Nothing had been planned but he dashed home, put on his mayoral robes and stood to attention as the body was driven through. “I was amazed it became such a huge thing. Bassett has done wonders over the years,” said Miles. “I didn’t go to all of them because it hurt too much and I won’t go to Brize Norton for the same reason. I get too emotional. I feel strongly we shouldn’t be out in Afghanistan in the first place.” Everyone has their own vivid memories of repatriations. Kevin Dunn, a window cleaner from Swindon, has only missed five of the 167 repatriations (comprising 345 men and women as many involved more than one body). He recalls in particular the return of a Fijian soldier’s body. “His whole village was there by the town hall, it seemed. They sang from 9am to 5pm without stopping for a drink or food – amazing.” Wiltshire councillor Allison Bucknell remembers watching a group of young men mourning one of their friends. “They didn’t know what to do with their grief. I just walked over with a packet of tissues and handed it to them. I didn’t know how else to help. I was a soggy mess myself afterwards,” she said. Wootton Bassett’s current mayor, Paul Heaphy, admits there was a fear that the “repat days” had become too big. “In 2009, when casualties were coming back in horrific numbers, the world’s media caught hold of it and we were accused of being ghoulish and turning the whole thing into a circus,” he said. “But it was always just about paying respect to the fallen and giving the families the support we could.” There was also a time when some people were uneasy about the very public expressions of grief shown by some bereaved families. It became common for flowers to be thrown on to hearses and for the corteges to be applauded as they passed. But the Wootton Bassett residents never tried to stop the public outpourings. Bereaved families were grateful and many joined the prime minister to pay tribute. Terry Burgan, whose son Lance Sergeant Mark Burgan was killed earlier this year and repatriated through Wootton Bassett, said: “It was a fantastic day. The welcome we got was overwhelming.” Former paratrooper Dave Soane said: “I think it was great that families, media, the armed services, local people were all in the same place mixing together. It’s as if barriers were broken down and that’s got to be a good thing.” The final repatriation took place on August 18 when the town marked the return of the body of 24-year-old Daniel Clack, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand. Most of those at the sunset ceremony expressed mixed emotions – pride at what Wootton Bassett had achieved, sadness that it would no longer be able to offer the support it has – and some relief that the baton had been passed on. The town council will now begin planning for one last set piece event when it is accorded royal status in October. The honour, bestowed in March, was, according to Cameron, “an enduring symbol of the nation’s admiration and our gratitude to the people of that town”. After the naming ceremony, most in the town hope to bow out of the public spotlight. Canon Thomas Woodhouse, vicar of Wootton Bassett, said he felt now was time to reflect – which had not always been easy to do when repatriation after repatriation was coming through. “This is an ending of part our history,” he said. “Now we’re looking forward to getting on with the rest of our history.” Military Afghanistan Steven Morris guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 31, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.