Mixed emotions as soldiers return home

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.