A HOMECOMING parade for the soldiers based at Beachley Barracks who have returned home after an 18-month deployment in Iraq took place last week.

The 1st Battalion The Rifles have been deployed as part of Operation Shader, the UK’s involvement in support of counter Da’esh (so called Islamic State) operations in Iraq, since August 2015.

The role of 1Rifles has been training the Iraqi and Kurdish security forces to fight and defeat Da’esh. The training comprised infantry tactics, bomb disposal, field engineering and first aid.

Over the period of deployment in Iraq the soldiers have help train more than 30,000 Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga. Training was also given to the forces who will secure Iraq in the longer term once Da’esh has been defeated.

The Commanding Officer Lt Col Charlie Grist and senior inspecting officer Lt Gen Ben Hodges, the commander of US Army Europe, were quick to praise the efforts and professionalism of the Riflemen who stood before them.

An Army spokesman said: "By the end of the 18-month commitment, 1 Rifles will have deployed in its entirety, with some soldiers deploying twice.

"The battlegroup will have trained tens of thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga and Iraqi Army Soldiers to counter Da’esh.

“Not only will this help defeat Da’esh in Iraq, but it will also contribute to securing Britain from this threat in the future.”