It is the first town the corteges reach as they travel from Lyneham to the M4 motorway en route to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where post mortem examinations are carried out.

More than 100 times in the past 18 months residents have dropped whatever they are doing and turned out to watch the Union Flag-covered coffins being driven through their town.

The “thank you” began with a fly-past of a C-130 Hercules transporter based at Lyneham. That was followed by a parade including the Prince of Wales Divisional Band of the Army, the Central Band of the RAF, and the HMS Collingwood volunteer band of the Royal Navy.

Another 102 military personnel lined the streets during the 40-minute parade along the High Street.

The ceremony ended at the Town Hall where Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader, commander-in-chief of Air Command, gave a speech thanking the citizens of the town for their continued honour and support.

Expressing his “sincere gratitude” in an open letter to the town, the head of the British Armed Forces, General Sir Richard Dannatt, said: “In many respects, it is the things that cost nothing that are the ones that are the most important – a friendly greeting in the street, a prayer in church. But the gestures shown by the people of Wootton Bassett surpass these at every level.”

The town’s mayor, Mike Leighfield, pledged the town’s continued commitment to honouring fallen soldiers.

Anne Bevis, of the local Royal British Legion, said: “All we can do is spare a few moments of our lives. They’ve given theirs, so a few moments of ours is nothing.”