IT never gets any easier for the people working behind the scenes at Wootton Bassett.

Today the town will witness the 100th repatriation.

And for the police officers, military staff, town councillors, chaplain and townspeople, the emotional toll is heavy.

But they remain determined to fulfill their duties to the devastated friends and family of the fallen.

Sergeant Martin Alvis, who heads the policing presence in the town, says he and his officers are touched each time the hearses roll down the High Street.

He said: “It’s a very moving and humbling experience no matter how many you have done before.

“The experience of the whole town lining the road and the silence falling over the town with just the dong of the bells is quite moving.

“It is very difficult to put into words what everyone feels when you are watching the hearses come into the town.

“What is also quite touching is that after the repatriation people in town collect the family flowers that have fallen from the hearses and then take them back into the town and place them on the war memorial.

“We have around 15 police officers on duty at each repatriation and they all take their duties very seriously and we will continue to do so.”

Taxi driver Barry Matthews, who lives in the town, is usually the first port of all for family members and friends of the fallen soldiers when they arrive at Swindon railway station.

He said: “It is heartbreaking really and is almost like you are taking them to a funeral.

“It does not get any easier and I think the respect that the town shows each and every time speaks volumes.

“I cannot imagine the grief these families are feeling and so I will always do what I can to make it more bearable if that is possible.”

At times, thousands have flanked the main street during repatriations, drawing a sharp contrast with the repatriation ceremony in America which is closed to the public. The media were only permitted this year after President Obama lifted an 18-year ban.

Anne Bevis, the treasurer of the Royal British Legion branch in the town, said she would like the repatriations to remain how they started.

She said: “This all started purely by chance, because Brize Norton was having its runway done up, the repatriations began to come through Lyneham.”

She that small elements have started and been built into the ceremony, such as the bell toll, which only started by chance because the bellringers were practicing when a repatriation took place.

“Little things like that have built up and made it what it is,” said Mrs Bevis.

“We don’t want organisation and we don’t want militarisation. It happens and then the town returns to its normal everyday life. That's how we want it.”

The town’s branch of the British Legion has been presented with a certificate of appreciation presented by the Royal British Legion’s board “in appreciation of the outstanding service given by the branch in honouring fallen servicemen and women”.