The Allens, from Cardiff, supported soldiers Matthew and Christopher Allen, who are part of the same family, and filmed the parade for relatives who could not make it.

Staff at the Welsh Centre, opposite Cardiff Castle, shut the shop to watch the parade. Maureen Thomas said: "We had to - we felt strongly about showing our support".

Maureen Stannard, from Cwmbran, said she had gone to the ceremony to honour her 18-year-old grandson Kieran Flowers, who was injured in Iraq.

Christine Green, from Cardiff, said she worried about her son Richard Green every time news of the Iraq war was shown on the television.

Sarah Hawthorne, mother of Adam Evans, 20, from Blackwood, said the parade was a reward for all the hard times the soldiers had gone through in Iraq.

Estena Thomas, mother of Daniel Thomas, 21, from Cwmbran, said her son had not spoken much about what he went through in Iraq.