Thousands of well-wishers lined the streets of Edinburgh to welcome home troops from the 3 Rifles battlegroup following their gruelling tour of Afghanistan.
As the men of the 3 Rifles marched smartly along the Royal Mile, still tanned by six months under a harsh Afghan sun, crowds stood six deep to welcome them back.
And it was a heartfelt welcome. Many standing to watch, wave and cheer them on were their own families, the strain of six months of waiting and worrying only just beginning to wear off.
The emotion was too much for some – one rifleman’s young daughter burst into tears as her father marched past.
At Holyrood Palace, a more sombre atmosphere reigned as the families of at least 20 of the 30 men who died in this battlegroup’s unimaginably tough tour of Helmand waited to take the salute from the men who did come home.
It was an unusual tribute from the battlegroup, and one aimed at making public their own gratitude to, and respect for, the men who had served with them and made the ultimate sacrifice.
Battle injuries
Watching the families as they stood in dignified silence, we could only begin to wonder at the strength it must take to watch and welcome others’ sons, fathers and husbands as they marked their return home, while still mourning the loss of their own.
At the medals parade at Redford Barracks later, the same stoicism and fortitude was on display.
Some 80 men suffered battle injuries in Helmand; 17 of them with life-changing injuries, ranging from lost limbs to young spines shattered by enemy bullets.
A huge cheer went up from family and friends as those too badly-injured to march on to the parade ground came forward slowly, some on crutches and others in wheelchairs, to receive their campaign medal alongside their comrades.
The six months this battlegroup spent in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, saw some of the harshest challenges for any soldier in the British Army, in one of the most hostile areas of all.
The soldiers and officers here, many barely in their 20s, continued to carry out their jobs, going out on patrol each day even after losing friends and comrades.
Their commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Nick Kitson was praised by many of the well-wishers for his inspirational leadership in Sangin.
But he, like all here, was keen to stress that the sacrifices had not been in vain and that the men of 3 Rifles themselves felt a real sense of progress in Sangin, despite the challenges.
In his own introduction to the medals parade, Lt Col Kitson paid tribute to his men, to the injured, and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and their families.
He ended by saying: "And we salute our courageous wounded comrades, re-united today on parade after those frenetic moments together on some dusty or muddy battlefield.
"Some have already achieved more than they ever thought possible. Some have a long journey of unfamiliar challenges ahead."
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