THE skies were heavy and overcast the day York soldier Matthew Hatton returned.

In the small Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett, the people gathered in their hundreds to pay final respects to the Lance Bombardier and his two colleagues, Rifleman Daniel Wild, 19, and Captain Mark Hale, 42, as their military cortege passed through the main street.

Veterans lined the road with flags lowered to half mast. As the cortege approached, the bell of St Bartholomew and All Saints’ Church began to toll. Voices hushed and the waiting people, standing five to ten deep, stood with heads bowed, in respectful silence. Veterans saluted, and children grew still.

Moments like this have become all too common for this Wiltshire town as the death toll in Afghanistan has mounted.

“It has been going on for so many years now, it has become something we do,” said the town’s Mayoress, Wiltshire councillor Alison Bucknall.

“As soon as you have another death, people say ‘when is the repatriation going to be?’ But it is an important thing for people to do.

“There seems to be no end in sight. We are told things are going to get worse before they get better. We don’t want to be here. We want this to be over. But it is important to show respect to everybody who comes through. I think most people in the town are very proud at being able to pay their respects like this.”

L Bombardier Hatton, Rifleman Wild and Capt Hale died while providing security for a meeting ahead of Afghanistan’s key presidential elections this week.

L Bombardier Hatton, of 40 Regiment Royal Artillery, was hit by a makeshift explosive in Helmand province last Thursday and wounded.

Rifleman Wild and Capt Hale rushed to save him but were caught by a second blast as they were carrying him to a helicopter landing zone.

L Bombardier Hatton and Rifleman Wild were killed. Capt Hale died of his injuries later in hospital.

News of their deaths came shortly before the death toll in Afghanistan passed 200.

The hundreds of people lining the streets of Wootton Bassett yesterday came not just from the Wiltshire town, but from across the region.

All had a single desire: to show their respect to the returning soldiers, and to demonstrate to the grieving relatives that they were not alone.

“I have been 30 times,” said RAF veteran Brian Ford, 71, from nearby Chippenham, who served in Aden and Malaysia. “I just want to support some of the families. We don’t want them to come through town and there is nobody there.”

Steve Blundell is a leather-clad biker with black hair in a long ponytail. But he too is an RAF veteran, and a member of the British Legion Rider’s Branch.

“I’m just very saddened for the families, but I’m immensely proud to be here,” he said. “They (L Bombardier Hatton, Rifleman Wild and Captain Hale) have done their jobs.

“They served out there, doing a very difficult job. They deserve our respect.”

At the Cross Keys pub on the town’s high street, the bar was open all day, offering free tea, coffee and refreshments to relatives of the three soldiers.

“I never get used to this,” said acting manager Michelle McGowan. “I still cry at every repatriation. Your heart goes out for the families.”

Not everybody agreed with the reasons for fighting in Afghanistan, she said. But that was politics.

The soldiers coming back home in coffins were just young men who had been doing their job and serving Queen and country.

“What can you do but show your support and sympathy, it’s human nature. I feel proud of what we do.”