Borough's Welcome Home 'an inspiration to others'

The Royal Borough's Welcome Home parade for the 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards has been described as 'an inspiration to others' by the Army's top man.

General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff at the Ministry of Defence has written to the Mayor, Cllr Leo Walters, to express his sincere gratitude for the council's Welcome Home banner and event on Saturday April 26 and to say how much they were appreciated by the service men and women themselves.

He wrote:
"There has been a lot of media coverage in recent months on the issue of the support shown by the Nation to the Armed Forces, but not all of the reporting made it clear that the Army, indeed all the Armed Forces, are enormously grateful to those who do help – and I know that Windsor has been deeply supportive of the Army, and the Household Division, for a long time.  In many respects, it is the things that cost nothing that are the ones that are most important – a friendly greeting in the street, a prayer, a reference in the local paper or people paying their respects to those soldiers who have fallen in battle.  I also know that your support for the soldiers of 1st Battalion The Coldstream Guards was greatly appreciated by their families – it is, after all, they who are the unsung heroes in these operationally busy times, and for them to know that their local community supports their loved ones is a major fillip.

"Thank you once again.  Your example is, I hope, an inspiration to others."

Cllr Walters said he was extremely pleased by the letter from the professional head of the British Army.

He said:  "The Welcome Home parade was the Royal Borough's way of demonstrating – on behalf of everyone in our community – the great debt we owe to the service men and women who serve our country in very dangerous circumstances.  To receive a letter of thanks from General Sir Richard Dannatt is very much valued by all councillors and officers who played a part in the Windsor celebrations.

"With so many members of the forces continuing to serve in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places of war and conflict, we must remember them in our thoughts and prayers and continue to show our support and appreciation."