In just 7 months a west London regiment has lost five soldiers in Afghanistan.
Today was an opportunity for hundreds to pay their respects to them, and to welcome home to Hounslow their comrades from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
Piers Hopkirk was there.
The commanding officer of 1st Battalion The Welsh Guards, Lieutenant Colonel Dino Bossi, said he was pleased to be back at their barracks in Hounslow after an eight-month deployment in Afghanistan.
It may be farthest West London and echo to the sound of the Heathrow jets overhead but this morning Hounslow became a corner of Wales as the borough welcomed back its home regiment, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
Hundreds lined the streets to applaud as 350 soldiers, led by a 60 piece regimental band, marched through the High Street.
The regiment, which is based in Hounslow, has just returned from a seven month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
For many, it was a day of mixed emotions as the Regiment lost five soldiers in this latest deployment.
They were remembered as the regiment gathered at Hounslow's Lampton Park for a brief ceremony in which the Last Post was followed by a minute's silence in tribute to the fallen.
The people of Hounslow have turned out in their hundreds for the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards' homecoming parade.
A 60 piece regimental band led 350 soldiers through the streets of the regiment's home town.
