Wootton Bassett Repatriations
In April 2007 the first repatriation takes place through Wootton Bassett. Mayor Percy Miles decides to wear his mayoral robes to watch the cortege pass. The first soldiers to be honoured are Aaron Lincoln, 18, and Danny Wilson, 28. As more service men and women are repatriated from Afghanistan the crowds wishing to pay their respects grow exponentially until thousands can be seen lining the high street and along the route to the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. In March 2011 Prime Minister David Cameron announces that Wootton Bassett will become the first town in over 100 years to receive Royal status for the way in which it honoured fallen service personnel. In August 2011 the 167th and final repatriation takes place. 345 men and women were repatriated through the town. These images were taken between February 2010 and August 2011.
This body of work was acquired in its entirety in 2018 by the Imperial War Museum in London for its Contemporary War Photography archive.