Wootton Bassett - A Town's Duty Done

Welcome to Wootton Bassett. Four years ago most people had not heard

of this town. But, in 2007, repatriation flights from

Afghanistan and Iraq started coming in just a few miles down the road.

The cortege would make its way from the airbase to Oxford to the John

Radcliffe Hospital where post- mortem examinations would be

carried out. When people saw the coffins coming through, they

started standing in the High Street in silence to pay their respects.

They have done that more than 160 times. But now the repatriation

flights are going back to RAF Brize Norton, which means the

extraordinary scenes we had seen here are coming to an end. In this

special programme, we will look back at what we have seen here. We

will ask how it started and how it There was no direct order that we

should do this or that. Everything just fell into place. We will hear

from a couple whose teenage son was killed in Afghanistan. We will hear

about the experience about coming here to grieve. It is a place we

would not like to go back to for obvious, painful reasons. We will

find out what is going to happen now that repatriations are

returning to Brize Norton. How do people living there plan to pay

their respects? These people have given the ultimate sacrifice, so if

we cannot go and stand in the rain to pay our respects, that will not

be an issue. -- that would be an issue. But, first, let us have a

look back through the archives, at some of the unprecedented scenes we

have witnessed here. Where I am April 2007, one of the very first

repatriations through Wootton Back then just a few passers-by,

Little did they know what they were Regardless of rank, or how they

died, regardless of the time of The people of Wootton Bassett

turned out in their hundreds every It never started as an organised

event, just the local British Legion, but it grew and grew. Just

an impromptu gathering. There was no order that we should just do

this or that. Everything fell into place, it has been a series of

accidents. We thought it would be our little group. There was no

restriction on how many people came. Whoever wanted to join us and show

their sympathy, and pay their respects, they were welcomed.

the months went by, more and more people in Wootton Bassett chose to

join them. Just ringing to let you know there is another repatriation

on Friday... Every time a repatriation flight came into RAF

Lyneham, they would call one another and arranged to stand in

silence on the high street. People do usually come in smart dress.

Before long, Wootton Bassett was attracting huge crowds and

international attention. What has touched so many about what this

town is doing is that it is so spontaneous, there was no politics

involved. This show of respect has become the focus of national

interest. Soon, grieving military families would come and stand with

the people of Wootton Bassett as well as many others from outside

the town. They do not have to be from Wiltshire. You do not have to

be from Wootton Bassett. You do not have to be military or even a

friend or family member. You can be anybody and turn up here. What

happens in Wootton Bassett is totally divorced from politics. If

you want to complain about the war, and get a message about whether it

is right or wrong, the place to do that is Westminster. The

politicians make the decisions, not the guys who were coming back

through Wootton Bassett in their coffins. And it is not their

families, they are as much victims as everyone else. There has been

some comment about what happens in Wootton Bassett justifies war. But

what I find is that people who make these comments have never been here

for the repatriation. If they were to stand on the high street and

listen to the bell tolling, listening to the families crying

and waving on some occasions, watching the families putting

flowers onto the tops of fear or hearses as they go down high street,

they would know that what we do has nothing to do with glory. It is not

just in Wootton Bassett itself, but all along the 40 mile route from

RAF Lyneham to Oxford. They are not there because of the TV and media.

There is no media out in the countryside. It is absolutely

incredible that people in today's society, always in a rush, stop for

that short period of time. They show a bit of honour for the fallen.

There is a lot of things wrong in society, but I think we have got

That archive footage gathered by news crews and by a BBC documentary

team earlier this year. Every time there is a repatriation through

Wootton Bassett High Street, that pub opens just for the families and

friends of the fallen. It is just another way that this community

responds and fulfils its role, providing a sanctuary to relatives.

Today is just a normal market day, so it is only the locals who are in

here. Let us have a chat with this man. He is wearing his medals.

Hello to both of you. Let me ask you, you have been involved with

the repatriation since the beginning, how have they changed

this town? Well, I think it has changed it for the better on many

occasions. It has always been a very friendly town but it is closer

together now than it has ever been. There is a lovely ambience about

the town. Before, people asked where did you come from? You'd say

Wooton Bassett, where's that? But now everybody knows. It is all

about showing respect for those who have given their lives to preserve

freedom. You were the mayor of the town when they started, we have

seen the footage when you were standing on the high street. You

said you felt it perhaps has become too big, too much coverage. I think

that is just about right. You are getting people coming in just to

have a look about what is going on. For all the best reasons in the

world, you can always get someone who does not belong here. Grief

tourists? Yes, that sums it up. Soon it will be back to normal, the

repatriation is coming to an end, but you are becoming Royal Wootton

Bassett - the first new Royal Town in more than a hundred years, what

do you think of that? I think it is wonderful. While the disappointment

is that I will be on holiday when it happens. Could not ask for

anything better for the town. did not ask for it. We do not do

what we do for recognition. It is for the people of this country. It

is the wish of the people of this country and from further afield.

They want us to become Royal Wootton Bassett. We have to

graciously accept that honour. Thank you both very much. I know

the royal ceremony is in October. Thank you. So, we heard from the

people who are soon to be Royal Wootton Bassett. What about the

thousands of relatives to come here after losing a loved one over the

last four years? One of the repatriations I remember most

clearly was just before Remembrance Sunday, 2009, when the bodies of

six servicemen returned here along the High Street. Among them was an

18-year-old Guardsman from Cleethorpes. His parents now tell

their story in their own words. About coming to Wootton Bassett

This is James's stuff kept in the bedroom. This is to remember him by.

This is his football memorabilia and all his Army stuff. This has

been collected over the last 18 months. He was a comedian, liked

life. He enjoyed life to the full. He loved his football and his

sports and going out drinking with his mates. He lived life like any

18-year-old would. He wanted something different and looked into

the Army. He did the rest and joined up when he was 17. We had to

sign the permission because he was under 18. He would have signed up

at 18 anyway, he wanted to do it and we would not stop him. We were

very proud to see what he had He trained really well. The British

I wait till everyone is asleep and then spend some time in here. It is

my way of dealing with it. Everyone is different. This is just a

tribute. It is something I'll carry for the rest of my life. My wife

gives it a kiss when she falls asleep at night. He was 18 on 3rd

November when he was killed. He was with four other soldiers in

Afghanistan. They had been in the country three weeks. They were

murdered by somebody they were trying to train. There was a knock

on the door. I said to my wife, I hate knocks on the door and that

time of night. My daughter went to the door first. There was a young

chap there. He had a grey suit on and had a poppy in the lapel. I

said, was it Jimmy? She said, yes. I asked if Jimmy had been killed

and she said, yes. That is when your life falls apart. I walked

back into the kitchen and grabbed my wife and told her what had

happened, that Jimmy had been I did not believe it, I said to the

woman on the night, you are lying. That is how it was. The journey

down, I just thought about it. is tunnel vision, you do not see

things around you, you just think about that all the time. Heart-

wrenching. Wasn't it? Yes. It does not even bear thinking about, does

it? To see your son one day come You just get that plummeting in

your stomach, thinking you will never see him again and never hold

him again and it is very difficult. We never thought one day we would

be stood at Wootton Bassett. When you hear the church bells ring,

anyone who has been there will tell you, there is a deadly silence.

Utter silence, you can hear a pin drop. It is weird because when the

That would have meant the world. We put a T-shirt on and a load of

flowers. It means a lot to be able to stand there with your family and

let the family be there as well. It makes it feel real when they are

coming through Wootton Bassett, but when you get back in the car to go

out, I went back to the hotel and I saw it on the telly and I broke

down because it was not real. It was not hours and I was watching

coming through. I do not know, you just blank. It was not our son. But

feelings are hurt and dread that you have to go through the rest of

your life. You get that tunnel vision, you do not see what is

going on around you, you miss a lot of what is going on around you.

Just that dread you have to go through the rest of your life with

one of your family who has gone. I think it is a good thing what they

do there. Everybody travels a long way up to Wootton Bassett. It is an

expense by them as well. It is a place where everybody can pay their

respects to the soldiers. It is not where people stand to look. They do

not do it to be famous, they do it to help. It shows how people

support the soldiers and their families. The local shops,

everything close, apart from the places that were putting on tea or

coffee or refreshments. It puts you a little bit at ease when you come

through there and see how many people either supporting the

families and the soldiers. respect that was shown, Wootton

Bassett will always stick in our minds. It is a place I would never

like to go back to for certain reasons, but we will always

remember that day for us long as we live. I just do not hope families

and parents have to go through what we have been through and what

others are going through at the moment. Adrian and teenager

remembering their son Jamie, who was killed in Afghanistan just

under two years ago. We have moved a couple of miles up the road to

the gates of RAF Lyneham and it is because repatriation flights

started coming into this space four years ago that Wootton Bassett

suddenly found itself part of this whole process. But this was only

ever and a temporary measure whilst Brize Norton was undergoing repair

work. Now that Brize Norton is up and running again, the flights will

return there. But how is the community around that base now

planning to show its respects? Robert Hall reports on the legacy

A wet day in Boggart, his lieutenant makes his final journey

through Wootton Bassett. -- a wet day in August. As the bright

flowers are laid it on the rain St KERS, some among the crowd are

already planning to do their duty in another town 30 miles to the

North East. We were doing it here and my colleagues from Wales have

come a long way and have decided to go and I shall follow them and go

with them. Until we have been, we will not know how it feels. It will

have its own feeling. It will be different, but it will have its own

feeling and its own way of showing respect. From the outset, it has

been clear that respect has no boundaries. The RAF and the people

of Oxfordshire have spent many months preparing to shoulder their

new responsibilities. On the outskirts of Brize Norton village

families will find a new date to be huge RAF base. Inside, facilities

designed to offer them comfort and support. We have got a lounge for

the families and we are trying to achieve a quiet and reflective

atmosphere. We also have all the facilities we might need to support

them through their time here. Linehan's experience help you?

very much. We have worked very closely with the staff at Lyneham

and we have managed to get everything into one facilities here,

and it has been designed specifically for the purpose. For

example, we have a chapel in the building. It makes it better for

the families. Yes, it makes it much better for the families and it is a

smoother process for them, which will enable them to get through the

ceremony with full support. From September 1st repatriations will

travel through Brize Norton. It will be passed the perimeter of the

airfield, around the neighbouring town of Carterton, to the new

memorial garden, creating a new focus for national remembrance. It

has on occasions produced a bumpy ride. There has been fierce debate

in this area about whether the Cortes should pass through a local

community and it so, which one? About what sort of site should be

built and about whether any side could create Wootton Bassett's

special atmosphere. In the end at a cost of �40,000, this is a

compromise it is hoped will satisfy everyone's concerns. We can

organise it as much as we like, but it is the people who turn up who

make it right. I would echo those sentiments exactly. There is no way

you can plan, we just have to wait and see on the day. Our main

concern is to show respect and sympathy for the families. Jason

Mackie lost his life in 2009. His mother, whose return to Wootton

Bassett on many occasions since then, is leading efforts to add a

bell tower to the new memorial. When that bell starts tolling it

gives people time with their thoughts. They know that the Cortes

is arriving. I thought, this is something I would really like to do.

-- Court tears. As they try to prepare for what the future might

bring, every councillor, every police officer, every villager is

committed to a ceremony which will offer dignity and access to all.

You cannot turn round and cut supping off. We have had 300

soldiers plus come back from Afghanistan at the moment where the

general public paid their respects. You cannot forget about the rest.

These people have given the ultimate sacrifice. If we cannot

stand in the rain at the side of the road to pay our respect for

those, it would be an issue. will be the dedication of ordinary

people that brings the greatest comfort. I have driven back from

Wootton Bassett. It does not matter whether it is a lay-by off a

pavement outside a police station, if people want to pay their

respects, they will make the effort and they will be there because they

want to be there. Robert Hall reporting. Here in Wootton Bassett

the next few days and weeks will see his services of thanksgiving

and of remembrance. But when all that is past, this place can

finally return to its quiet normality. Having said that, in

Royal Wootton Bassett and the repatriations might have gone, but

Good afternoon. Much of the UK is having a dry afternoon. Despite the

cloud, the showers are pretty hard to come by. We started the day with

decent sunshine, but notice how the cloud has built, leaving the

Southern Counties with breaks in the cloud for the rest of the

evening. In Northern Ireland there will be some glimmers of sunshine

coming through as the afternoon goes on. We have got showers coming

through north-west England stretching into the Midlands. We

have some in northern Scotland and they will gather in the north-west

later to give more general outbreaks of rain. A few brighter

breaks the further south you are. In north-west England we keep the

cloud and the showers drift into the Midlands. In East Anglia and

the south-east, are here to every now and then the sun makes an

appearance. The temperatures are gradually dropping a wave. There is

decent sunshine in south-west England. It is the sunniest place

in the UK as we go into the evening. Brighter breaks in southern and

eastern counties of Wales. For Northern Ireland it is largely dry.

You might get to see the sun from time to time. As for the Notting

Hill Carnival, it is going to be dry and the temperature is around

18 or 19 before gradually trailing offer this evening. The trailing

off in temperature overnight will accelerate. By the end of the night

in the countryside it will be quite chilly, down to five or six degrees.

In Scotland we keep a lot of cloud and the rain will be more

widespread later on in the night. Elsewhere, sunshine, summed cloud

building, but despite that most of us will stay dry. Those

temperatures are still stubbornly rooted in the teens, but a degree

or so higher compared to today. The quiet weather continues on

Wednesday and Thursday. But there will still be a good deal of cloud