The Report of the Iraq Inquiry

395. From April 2007, due to essential repair work at RAF Brize Norton, ceremonial

repatriations took place through RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.

396. Corteges departing RAF Lyneham passed through Wootton Bassett. The Royal

British Legion reported in June 2011 how the town had responded:

“The first [repatriation] was acknowledged by a few members of the public which

included members of the Royal British Legion ...

“Over the past four years the number of people has increased and where we were

once paying tribute on a more personal basis we have now come to represent the

country.

“The repatriation tributes were never and are still not organised – things just happen,

such as the Church Bell which started when a bell‑ringing practise was taking place

just before the repatriation was due, and as a mark of respect the one bell was tolled

on that occasion.

...

“When the cortege is about to leave Lyneham, the police alert us here in Wootton

Bassett. The Standard Bearers form an orderly line, spacing themselves at equal

distances down the opposite side of the road to the War memorial ... When the

cortege reaches the edge of town the bell‑ringer is notified and the Church Bell

starts to toll and the town falls silent. Shopkeepers close their premises and join

the crowds and there is not a sound to be heard.”262

397. A military parade was held in Wootton Bassett in October 2008 to thank

the town.263

398. In March 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that The Queen had

agreed “to confer the title ‘Royal’ upon the town, as an enduring symbol of the nation’s

admiration and gratitude”.264

399. In July 2002, following a meeting with the parents of a deceased Serviceman,

Mr Hoon asked the MOD to consider whether he or the Prime Minister should routinely

write to the next of kin of Service Personnel killed on operations.265

262 The Royal British Legion website, June 2011.

263 Daily Express, 13 October 2008, Military pays tribute to respectful residents of Wootton Bassett.

264 GOV.UK, 16 March 2011, Prime Minister announces ‘Royal’ Wootton Bassett.

265 Minute McLoughlin to APS/SofS [MOD], 17 September 2002, ‘Letters to next of kin (NOK)’.

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