Wootton
Bassett pays respects again
Swindon Advertiser
www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk
16th November 2007
By Sarah Hilley
It has been five weeks since Wootton Bassett paid tribute to
a lost serviceman. The town hoped it was a sign that the war
in Afghanistan was easing, but yesterday another young man's
body passed
through in a hearse.
Lance Corporal Jake Alderton, 22, an engineer from Bexley,
was killed on November 10. He had been in Afghanistan for
nearly two months when the vehicle he was travelling in left
the road and rolled off
a bridge in Helmand province. He was taking part in an operation
supporting the Afghan National Army.
In Wootton Bassett, many people who didn't know his name
stopped and bowed their heads in tribute after his body was
flown back to RAF Lyneham. Chatter turned to silence as the
black hearse stopped at the town's cenotaph for one minute.
Gwen Gray said she always turned out to honour dead servicemen
if she was off work. "I find it choking when I come," said
the 58-year-old. I don't know how their families cope,
as many are youngsters."
Wootton Bassett British Legion secretary Anne Bevis said: "I
find it very emotional, it is a very sad thing. "We
want to honour our servicemen and pay tribute, to let their
families know they don't die in vain. It is not about
duty - we just want them to know we all care. We never know
them personally, but people still
care. People from the shops also come out. People stop
what they are doing, and some travel from Malmesbury, Chippenham
and Trowbridge to be here." Malmesbury British Legion
chairman Derek Tilney said: "We
get informed from people in Wootton Bassett about repatriations
so we come to pay our respects. We are all parents
and we feel so bad about what is going on."
Town mayor Audrey Wannell said: "It is a good turn-out
- the people of the town always pay their respects." North
Wiltshire District Council vice-chairman Ian Henderson was
paying tribute for the first time. "It is significant
to be here and I have put on my poppy for the occasion," he
said. "It is important to honour the lives of our servicemen
and women."
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