City salutes heroic soldiers

Heroic soldiers marched through Wolverhampton today in an historic parade to mark their safe return from Iraq.

Hundreds of people lined streets to welcome back The First Battalion of the Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales) from their second tour in Basra.

They were greeted with applause and cheers from the crowd, including relatives, well-wishers and war veterans.

Some of the crowd were reduced to tears of pride as the soldiers passed by, accompanied by drums and with bayonets fixed, from near the Civic Hall and through Queen Square.

It is the last time the regiment will march through the city before being merged after 300 years.

The soldiers were keen to also remember 21-year-old Private Jonathon Wysoczan, who was killed while on patrol in March.

The regiment lost three other soldiers during the first tour. Sgt Tony Harris, who has been in the Army for 13 years, said: "We want to thank the people of Wolverhampton for all the support they have given us over the last six months while we have been in Iraq.

"It is very important to have this support from people back home when you are over there.

"It was a tough time. Our living conditions were okay and we had a lot of amenities but there were a lot of people willing to attack us. However, we achieved what we wanted to achieve.

"It is absolutely fantastic to be back home."

The soldiers will be in Lichfield tomorrow in a last parade before the regiment becomes the 3rd Battalion The Mercian Regiment in a merger with the Cheshire and Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters regiments in September.