Use your lunch break to support our troops – that’s the message from the Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council as final preparations are made for a welcome home march by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards
The Battalion will parade through Bridgend town centre on Tuesday 16 March and Councillor Mel Nott hopes as many residents as possible will turn out in support for the servicemen and women.
Councillor Nott said: “Bridgend County Borough has a proud tradition of supporting our troops and we always have an excellent turnout for the likes of Remembrance Sunday and Armed Forces Day.
“This march honours the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards who have recently completed an operation in Afghanistan. We have scheduled it around lunchtime in the hope that we will have plenty of people lining the streets to support them.
“These men and women courageously undertake their duties in some of the world’s most dangerous places and we should never forget or underestimate their bravery.”
Over the last eight years the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards have completed tours to Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and most recently Afghanistan.
Although members and sub-units of the Welsh Guards have been deployed to Afghanistan during the last two years, the Battalion undertook its first operational tour to Helmand Province in June 2009 as part of 19 (Light) Brigade.
In the summer of 2009 as the national elections in Afghanistan approached, thousands of British, American and Afghan soldiers conducted a joint operation to clear the Taliban from an area north of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand. The Panther’s Claw offensive cleared the insurgency from that area of Helmand province, freeing 90,000 local residents from Taliban control.
Tragically the Battalion lost seven men in the campaign, including Lance Corporal Dane Elson, 22, and Lance-Sergeant Tobie Fasfous, 29, both from the Bridgend area.
Councillor Nott added: “Although the march will be one of celebration, it will also commemorate all those who lost their lives in Afghanistan, not least Dane and Tobie who served their Battalion both bravely and who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”
Following a presentation in the council chamber, the Welsh Guards will begin their march from Bridgend Recreation Centre at 12.30pm. They will march along Angel Street to Civic Offices where the Mayor of Bridgend County Borough, Councillor Jefferson Tildesley will receive the salute in front of the flags.
The Battalion will turn and march across the bridge at Water Street and along Queen Street, Caroline Street, Adare Street and Wyndham Street to the war memorial at Dunraven Place, saluting the Mayor outside Barclays Bank before finally marching back over the Water Street bridge.
There will be a number of road closures while the parade is taking place. Signage will be erected and the South Wales Police will be on hand to advise drivers.
The Bowls Hall car park behind Bridgend Recreation Centre will also be closed, although the leisure pool car parks and the main car park in front of the recreation centre will be open as normal.
